The Metropolitan Boston Hockey League was a youth hockey league founded March 31, 1977, and incorporated in Massachusetts in August 1979. The MBHL was unique in youth hockey. The MBHL was classified as an "AAA" or "Tier I" league. Within the league, modified NCAA rules were played, the same as in U.S. college hockey. Slapshots and body checking were allowed at all age levels. The league believed that it was critical to develop those skills before young players had a chance to develop bad habits in their absence. A core belief of the MBHL was that hockey should be “played the way hockey is meant to be played, at any age and by either gender.” The league was also open to young women who felt they were physically capable to "play Metro" with and against boys.