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