The Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey league operated out of Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
History 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. 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. 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. 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, 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 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 CentreCentral 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 ArenaDormant 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 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 SeasonLeague/Bush Cup ChampionNational Tournament Qualifier1973–74North St. Paul1974–75West St. Paul1975–76West St. Paul1976–77Bloomington1977–78West St. Paul1978–79Wayzata1979–80West St. Paul1980–81Wayzata1981–82North Suburban1982–83North Suburban1983–84West St. Paul1984–85North Suburban1985-86Edina Jr. StingersEdina Jr. Stingers1986–87Tri-Metro Whalers1987–88Tri-Metro Whalers1988–89North Suburban Hawks1989–90West Suburban KodiaksNorthland Voyageurs1990–91Tri-Metro Whalers1991–92Northland Voyageurs1992–93West Suburban Kodiaks1993–94North Metro Owls1994–95Minneapolis Kodiaks1995–96Minneapolis Kodiaks1996–97Jr. Kodiaks1997–98North Metro OwlsEast Metro Lakers1998-99East Metro Lakers—1999–00Iron Range Yellow Jackets—2000—01Iron Range Yellow Jackets—2001–02Iron Range Yellow Jackets—2002–03Twin Cities Northern LightsDubuque Thunderbirds2003–04Dubuque ThunderbirdsMinnesota Ice Hawks2004–05Minnesota Ice HawksDubuque Thunderbirds2005–06Minnesota Ice HawksTwin Cities Northern Lights2006–07Minnesota Ice HawksMinnesota Owls2007–08Minnesota Ice HawksMinnesota Owls2008–09Minnesota Ice HawksGranite City Lumberjacks2009–10Rochester Ice HawksTwin Cities Northern Lights2010–11Granite City LumberjacksHudson Crusaders, Rochester Ice Hawks2011–12Twin Cities Northern LightsRochester Ice Hawks2012–13Twin Cities Northern Lights—2013–14Marquette RoyalesDells Ducks2014–15Dells DucksDells Ducks
National champions 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
External links MnJHL.com