The Saskatoon Rage were a Tier-II Junior "A" team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who played in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

Minot Americans 1987−1994 Minot Top Guns 1994−1997 Beardy's Rage 1997−1998 Saskatoon Rage 1998−1999

History The Rage franchise originated in 1987 in the city of Minot, North Dakota, originally named the Minot Americans before later becoming the Minot Top Guns in homage to both the 1986 movie Top Gun and the nearby Minot Air Force Base.

The team was never very successful as the SJHL's first and only franchise based in the United States. They faced low attendance and a consistent losing record. During one of their final seasons in Minot, the Top Guns had to play their first 14 games on the road due to bookings at their home arena, then fired their coach after a 20-game losing streak and faced immigration-related issues in finding a replacement.

The franchise was sold to interested parties at the Beardy's 97, Saskatchewan reserve in 1997 after beginning discussions with the team's ownership the previous year. That arrangement lasted one season in 1997-98.

In 1998-99, the team became the Saskatoon Rage and played their home games at Harold Latrace Arena. It marked the SJHL's return to Saskatoon for the first time since the Saskatoon J's folded in 1982, but the Rage would meet a similar fate and folded after one season in Saskatoon due to financial reasons.

Season-by-season standings Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs1987-88 60 20 35 5 - 246 310 45 9th SJHL1988-89 64 32 30 2 - 305 328 66 3rd SJHL South1989-90 68 25 39 4 - 259 334 54 5th SJHL South DNQ1990-91 68 13 52 3 - 219 378 29 6th SJHL South DNQ1991-92 64 21 40 3 - 218 317 45 6th SJHL South DNQ1992-93 64 15 44 5 - 228 357 35 6th SJHL South DNQ1993-94 68 12 49 7 - 193 318 31 7th SJHL South DNQ1994-95 64 24 35 5 - 264 287 53 6th SJHL South DNQ1995-96 64 19 39 6 - 231 304 44 6th SJHL South DNQ1996-97 64 24 33 7 - 219 265 55 4th SJHL South Lost quarter-final1997-98 64 18 43 3 - 185 309 39 7th SJHL North DNQ1998-99 66 9 55 2 - 176 362 20 7th SJHL South DNQ

Playoffs 1988 DNQ 1989 Lost quarter-final Notre Dame Hounds defeated Minot Americans 4-games-to-2 1990 DNQ 1991 DNQ 1992 DNQ 1993 DNQ 1994 DNQ 1995 DNQ 1996 DNQ 1997 Lost preliminary Estevan Bruins defeated Minot Top Guns 2-games-to-none 1998 DNQ 1999 DNQ

References

External links Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League