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27-833: The franchise originally joined the Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL) in May 1996 as the Minnesota Ice Hawks and played in Le Sueur, Minnesota , until 2002. The team was owned and managed by Michael Fatis and coached by Nick Fatis. The franchise moved to Rochester, Minnesota , in 2002 after the Rochester Mustangs of the United States Hockey League ceased operations. They officially changed their name prior to

54-704: 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

81-864: A member of the former Minnesota Junior Hockey League , was added the West Division, and the Louisiana Drillers playing out of Lafayette, Louisiana was added to the South Division. On March 4, 2016, it was formally announced that the North American Hockey League 's other Tier III league, the North American 3 Eastern Hockey League (NA3EHL), would be added to the NA3HL beginning with the 2016–17 season. The former NA3EHL teams became two new divisions within

108-635: The La Crosse Freeze . The NA3HL announced that the Texas Jr. Brahmas would transfer from the Western States Hockey League and join the South Division. The expansion Nashville Junior Predators and Point Mallard Ducks (Decatur, AL) also joined the South Division bringing its total up to six teams. The American West Hockey League moved to the NA3HL to form new Frontier Division. The Battle Creek Revolution announced it

135-681: The Lewiston/Auburn Nordiques . The Cincinnati Thunder, which had already been playing out of Dayton, re-branded as the Dayton Falcons . The Butte Cobras, formerly of the Western States Hockey League (WSHL), purchased the Glacier Nationals franchise in order to join the NA3HL. The schedule was set with 47 teams, however, the Butte Cobras and Billings Bulls would both fold prior to playing a game, while

162-736: The St. Louis Blues ' organization. The league championship trophy is the Fraser Cup. It was originally called the Hurster Cup during the league's time as the Central States Hockey League. In 2012, the cup was then renamed to the Silver Cup. In 2017, the league again renamed the championship to the Fraser Cup after long-time NAHL, NA3HL, and NAPHL Director of Hockey Administration, Robert ‘Fraser’ Ritchie. The winner of

189-506: The United States Hockey League . On November 1, 2010, it was announced that the North American Hockey League would take control of the CSHL. The NAHL-CSHL affiliation intends for a more structured junior hockey system to provide athletes with more opportunities to advance to college and professional hockey, including a draft of CSHL players into the NAHL. At the time of the take over, the league

216-708: The 2009–10 season to the Rochester Ice Hawks . Following the 2014–15 season, most of the active members of the Minnesota Junior Hockey League moved to the United States Premier Hockey League as part of a new Midwest Division. In May, the Ice Hawks were accepted as an expansion team into the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) for the 2015–16 season. In November 2016, head coach Nick Fatis,

243-653: 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,

270-716: The Chicago Jr. Bulldogs, which began play in the NA3HL during the 2013–14 season. Owned by Ken Kestas, the Bulldogs played home games out of Canlan Ice Sports in Romeoville, Illinois. Quad City Jr. Flames (Davenport, Iowa) relocated to Madison, Wisconsin , in May 2013 and were renamed the Wisconsin Whalers . In May 2014, the Flint Jr. Generals were purchased and relocated to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and renamed

297-639: The Dayton Falcons, Nashville Junior Predators , and Jersey Shore Wildcats were also removed from the schedules during the season. In April 2018, the NA3HL announced the entire East Division had left the league including the reigning champions, the Metro Jets , and joined the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). The Butte Cobras were also announced as returning and the Point Mallard Ducks were purchased and relocated to become

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324-929: 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

351-603: The Milwaukee Power. In 2020, the WSHL's Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers purchased the dormant Coulee Region Chill franchise to join the league for 2020 and the El Paso Rhinos announced an agreement to add expansion teams to both the NA3HL in 2020 and the NAHL in 2021. The Coastal and Northeast divisions merged into a new East Division beginning with the 2020–21 season following several teams withdrawing. In 2023,

378-616: 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,

405-744: The NA3HL. On May 21, 2016, the Missoula Bruins youth hockey organization from Missoula, Montana , announced it had been approved as an expansion team in the Frontier Division of the NA3HL. The Missoula Junior Bruins replaced the Missoula Maulers of the Western States Hockey League after arena negotiations with the Maulers' owner fell through. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the Lockport Express relocated to become

432-741: The New Ulm Steel moved to Tomah, Wisconsin , becoming the Wisconsin Woodsmen . With the moved, they were transferred from the West Division to the Central Division. They hired head coach Jon Vaillancourt. In their first season, they placed 4th and made the playoffs, playing the Wausau Cyclones . They got swept, 2-0. In 2024, the Minnesota Loons were sold and moved to Eveleth, Minnesota , and went under

459-991: The Niagara Falls PowerHawks, the Syracuse Stampede relocated to become the Oswego Stampede , and the West Michigan Wolves relocated to become the Lansing Wolves . The Chicago Jr. Bulldogs, Euless Jr. Stars, and L/A Fighting Spirit franchises were sold; the Bulldogs were relocated as the Wausau RiverWolves, the Jr. Stars re-branded as the Mid-Cities Jr. Stars, and the Fighting Spirit re-branded as

486-708: The St. Louis Storm but ceased operations prior to their first season, and the Maple Grove Energy were relocated to become the Blaine Energy . North American 3 Hockey League The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut , Georgia , Illinois , Iowa , Louisiana , Maine , Massachusetts , Minnesota , Missouri , Montana , New Jersey , New Mexico , New York , Oklahoma , South Dakota , Texas , Wisconsin , and Wyoming . Sanctioned by USA Hockey , for most of

513-552: 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

540-533: The franchise to match the Bruins and the team was changed to the Rochester Grizzlies . On April 23, they named Casey Mignone as the new head coach and general manager for the 2018–19 season. After one season, Mignone was hired as an assistant with the St. Cloud Blizzard in the NAHL and was replaced by Chris Ratzloff. Minnesota Junior Hockey League The Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL)

567-685: The league's existence, the winner of the NA3HL playoffs would advance to play for the Tier III National Championship, however, this has not been held since 2015. Originally formed in the early 1970s as a Junior B-level league known as the Central States Hockey League (CSHL), the league evolved into the Metro Detroit Junior Hockey League in the early 1980s. The CSHL name was used again from 1994 until 2010. The league

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594-698: The only head coach in the history of the Ice Hawks franchise, stepped down for personal reasons. He was replaced by assistant Eric Hofmann. Hofmann was replaced by Chris Blaisius, formerly the head coach of the Willmar WarHawks , in December 2017. After the completion of the 2017–18 season, Michael Fatis sold the franchise to the ownership of the Tier II North American Hockey League 's Austin Bruins , consisting of Craig Patrick and Mike Cooper. The new ownership rebranded

621-739: The same umbrella as the NAHL 's Minnesota Wilderness , taking the same name, logo, colors, and uniforms. Similarly, the Maine Nordiques of the NAHL added a NA3HL franchise as an expansion team. Also joining as an expansion team is the Tulsa Jr. Oilers. Many prominent college and pro hockey players have played in the CSHL at one point in their careers, including 2007 Hobey Baker finalist Eric Ehn ( Metro Jets ), St. Louis Blues forward and 2010 and 2014 U.S. Olympian Paul Stastny (St. Louis Jr. Blues) and Chris Butler (St. Louis Jr. Blues), now in

648-579: Was a USA Hockey -sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey league operated out of Minneapolis-Saint Paul . 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

675-727: Was re-branding as the West Michigan Wolves . The Michigan Mountain Cats were sold and relocated to Jamestown, NY, and called the Southern Tier Xpress. In April 2015, the NA3HL announced an expansion team in Evansville, Indiana , called the Thunderbolts, to play in the South Division beginning in the 2015–16 season. On May 21–22 of 2015, two additional expansion teams were announced: Rochester Ice Hawks ,

702-411: Was reclassified from Tier III Junior B to Tier III Junior A in the summer of 2007 by USA Hockey. During the 2008–09 season, it was announced that the Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins would join the CSHL for the 2009–10 season, bringing the number of teams to 13. The league returned to 12 teams for 2010–11, as the Dubuque Thunderbirds franchise folded to make way for the return of the Dubuque Fighting Saints in

729-420: Was renamed to the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). In May 2011, it was announced that the Granite City Lumberjacks , Minnesota Flying Aces , North Iowa Bulls and the Twin City Steel would join the league beginning with the 2011–12 season bringing the total number of teams in the NA3HL to 16. In March 2013, the NA3HL announced that its Board of Governors has accepted the membership application for

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