Minnesota Junior Hockey League

Sport| Ice hockey
Founded| 1974
Ceased| 2015
Replaced by| Most teams merged into the USPHL
No. of teams| 17
Country|  United States
Last
champion(s)| Dells Ducks (2014–15)
Most titles| Rochester Ice Hawks (6)
Official website| MNJHL.org

The Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey league operated out of Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

## History

[edit]

Established in 1974, the MnJHL developed players 20 years old and younger for over 40 years. Many MnJHL players, coaches and officials alumni have moved on to college hockey and professional hockey leagues.

Since the inaugural season, the MnJHL had expanded up to 17 teams in the 2014–15 season with teams in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio.

The league has a history of USA Hockey national championship teams. League members won national championships six times in the 1990s.

In 2012, the MnJHL expanded outside of the Minnesota and Wisconsin areas adding teams from the Great Lakes Junior Hockey League. The GLJHL switched from USA Hockey to the Amateur Athletic Union and eight of its teams refused to go with it. The eight Great Lakes Division teams formed their own division in the MnJHL while the original teams compete in the Minnesota Division. The Great Lakes Division would be renamed the Central Division prior to the 2014-15 season.

The league also expanded into southern Minnesota for 2012–13. Steele County Blades, based in Owatonna, were approved by the league board and play out of Four Seasons Centre.

The United States Premier Hockey League announced on December 18, 2014, the formation of a Midwest Division to begin in the 2015-16 season by adding the entire Central Division of the MnJHL.[1] By the end of the season most of the remaining teams in the MnJHL (all teams other than the Rochester Ice Hawks and the dormant Twin Cities Northern Lights) had announced their intentions to join the USPHL Midwest. On April 29, 2015, it was announced that the league had disbanded for the 2015-16 season.[2] On May 21, 2015, the Rochester Ice Hawks were approved to join the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) to begin playing in the 2015–16 season. In June, the Wooster Oilers would drop out of the USPHL and only field a team in the NA3HL using the Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks franchise it had purchased on February 12, 2015.[3][4] Prior to starting their first season in the USPHL, the Ironwood Fighting Yoopers and Minnesota Owls announced they would go dormant for the 2015–16 season due to lack of players, the Crystal Lake Rampage were replaced with the Chicago Cougars, the Fort Wayne Federals were replaced with the Indiana Attack but ceased operations prior to their first season,[5] the Hudson Crusaders were renamed the SCV Magicians, the St. Louis Frontenacs were renamed the St. Louis Storm but ceased operations prior to their first season, and the Maple Grove Energy were relocated to become the Blaine Energy.

## Teams at the conclusion of the 2014–15 season

[edit]

Minnesota Division

Team | City | Arena
Dells Ducks | Lake Delton, Wisconsin | Poppy Waterman Ice Arena
Forest Lake Lakers | Forest Lake, Minnesota | Forest Lake Sports Center
Hudson Crusaders | Hudson, Wisconsin | Hudson Civic Center
Ironwood Fighting Yoopers | Ironwood, Michigan | Pat O'Donnell Center
Maple Grove Energy | Maple Grove, Minnesota | Maple Grove Ice Arena and Community Center
Minnesota Owls | Isanti, Minnesota | David Johnson Civic Arena
Rochester Ice Hawks | Rochester, Minnesota | Rochester Olmstead Recreation Center
Steele County Blades | Owatonna, Minnesota | Four Seasons Centre
Central Division
Team | City | Arena
Illiana Blackbirds | Dyer, Indiana | Midwest Training & Ice Center
Marquette Royales | Marquette, Michigan | Lakeview Arena
St. Louis Frontenacs | St. Louis, Missouri | FSI Shark Tank Arena
Tri-City Ice Hawks | Bay City, Michigan | Bay County Civic Arena
Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings | Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin | South Wood County Rec center
Wooster Oilers | Wooster, Ohio | Alice Noble Ice Arena
Dormant during the 2014–15 season
Crystal Lake Rampage | Crystal Lake, Illinois | Crystal Ice House (CIH)
Ft. Wayne Federals | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Lutheran Health Sportscenter
Twin Cities Northern Lights | Bloomington, Minnesota | Bloomington Ice Garden

### Former teams

[edit]

* Central Wisconsin Saints (2012–2014) - relocated and became the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings
* Chicago Jr. Bulldogs (2012–2013) - joined from GMJHL, moved to NA3HL
* Dubuque Thunderbirds (2000–2006) - moved to CSHL
* Edina Jr. Stingers - folded
* Granite City Lumberjacks (2007–2011) - moved to NA3HL
* Iron Range Yellow Jackets (1999–2002) - folded
* Minnesota Flying Aces (2007–2011) - moved to NA3HL
* Minnesota Wildcats (2005–2011) - folded and replaced with the Maple Grove Energy.
* Jr. Kodiaks (?–2000) – folded
* North Suburban Hawks – folded
* South Suburban Steers – became the Twin Cities Northern Lights
* St. Louis (Twin Bridges) Lightning (2004–2005) - sold & relocated to Maple Grove (Minnesota Wildcats)
* Shattuck-St. Mary's Sabres (?–2003) - team now plays a Midget Major schedule in CSDHL
* Tri-Metro Whalers - folded
* Wisconsin Mustangs (2004–2010) - moved to SIJHL
* Wisconsin Rampage (?–2013) relocated to Crystal Lake, Illinois

## Playoff champions

[edit]

Season  | League/Bush Cup Champion  | National Tournament Qualifier

|
|

1973–74 | North St. Paul[6] |
1974–75 | West St. Paul  |
1975–76 | West St. Paul  |
1976–77 | Bloomington  |
1977–78 | West St. Paul  |
1978–79 | Wayzata  |
1979–80 | West St. Paul  |
1980–81 | Wayzata  |
1981–82 | North Suburban  |
1982–83 | North Suburban  |
1983–84 | West St. Paul  |
1984–85 | North Suburban  |
1985-86 | Edina Jr. Stingers  | Edina Jr. Stingers
1986–87 | Tri-Metro Whalers  |
1987–88 | Tri-Metro Whalers  |
1988–89 | North Suburban Hawks  |
1989–90 | West Suburban Kodiaks  | Northland Voyageurs
1990–91 | Tri-Metro Whalers  |
1991–92 | Northland Voyageurs  |
1992–93 | West Suburban Kodiaks  |
1993–94 | North Metro Owls  |
1994–95 | Minneapolis Kodiaks  |
1995–96 | Minneapolis Kodiaks  |
1996–97 | Jr. Kodiaks  |
1997–98 | North Metro Owls  | East Metro Lakers
1998-99 | East Metro Lakers  | —
1999–00 | Iron Range Yellow Jackets  | —
2000—01 | Iron Range Yellow Jackets[7] | —
2001–02 | Iron Range Yellow Jackets  | —
2002–03 | Twin Cities Northern Lights  | Dubuque Thunderbirds
2003–04 | Dubuque Thunderbirds  | Minnesota Ice Hawks
2004–05 | Minnesota Ice Hawks  | Dubuque Thunderbirds
2005–06 | Minnesota Ice Hawks  | Twin Cities Northern Lights
2006–07 | Minnesota Ice Hawks  | Minnesota Owls
2007–08 | Minnesota Ice Hawks  | Minnesota Owls
2008–09 | Minnesota Ice Hawks  | Granite City Lumberjacks
2009–10 | Rochester Ice Hawks  | Twin Cities Northern Lights
2010–11 | Granite City Lumberjacks  | Hudson Crusaders, Rochester Ice Hawks
2011–12 | Twin Cities Northern Lights  | Rochester Ice Hawks
2012–13 | Twin Cities Northern Lights[8] | —
2013–14 | Marquette Royales  | Dells Ducks
2014–15 | Dells Ducks  | Dells Ducks

## National champions

[edit]

* 1989–90: Northland Voyageurs
* 1991–92: Northland Voyageurs
* 1992–93: West Suburban Kodiaks
* 1994–95: Minneapolis Kodiaks
* 1996–97: Jr. Kodiaks
* 1998–99: East Metro Lakers

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Minnesota Junior Hockey League gets a shakeup". Post Bulletin. 18 December 2014.
2. ^ "DAILY DISH: So long Soo? Not So Fast…, RIP MnJHL - Junior Hockey News". Junior Hockey News. April 29, 2015.
3. ^ "NA3HL approves sale and relocation of Cleveland to Wooster, Ohio". NA3HL. February 12, 2015.
4. ^ "THE DEATH POOL – PAY TO PLAY TEAMS STRUGGLING WITH RECRUITING – ONE DOWN TWENTY TO GO". The Junior Hockey News. June 8, 2015.
5. ^ "THE DEATH POOL – SPECIAL REPORT – INDIANA ATTACK TAKE BULLET TO THE HEAD". The Junior Hockey News. September 10, 2015.
6. ^ "State Champions And Runners-Up" (PDF). Minnesota Hockey. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
7. ^ "Connecticut Clippers Win National Title". Hartford Courant. 11 April 2001.
8. ^ "Jace Childs finds his scoring touch for Twin Cities Northern Lights". USA Hockey. 28 March 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* MnJHL.com

* v
* t
* e

Junior ice hockey leagues in North America

Canadian Hockey League|

| Major Junior|

Ontario Hockey League
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League
Western Hockey League

|

Hockey Canada|

| Junior A|

* Canadian Junior Hockey League
* Alberta
* Central Canada
* Manitoba
* Maritime
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* Ontario
* Quebec
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* Superior International

|

Junior B|

* Calgary
* Capital
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* Capital Region
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* Greater Ontario
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* Island
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* New Brunswick
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* St. John's

Junior C|

* Calgary
* Hanover Tache
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* Laval
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* Montreal
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* Nova Scotia
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* Provincial
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* Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean
* Yamaska-Missisquoi

Other|

* Manitoba Major

USA Hockey|

| Tier I|

* United States Hockey League

|

Tier II|

* North American Hockey League

Tier III|

* North American 3 Hockey League

Independent|

* British Columbia Hockey League
* Vancouver Island
* Can-Am
* EHL (EHL, EHL Premier)
* Greater Metro
* USPHL (NCDC, Premier, Elite)

Related article

List of ice hockey leagues
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