Though the move was not a surprise, several teams announced Thursday their intention to leave the Minnesota Junior Hockey League next season.
The entire Central Division of the MnJHL is leaving after just a two-year stint in the league. Central Division teams were affiliate members in 2012-13 and played last season and this season as full-fledged MnJHL members.
Also leaving the MnJHL are the Dells Ducks, Hudson Crusaders, Minnesota Owls and Ironwood Yoopers. The Owls (2-24) are the only team from Minnesota leaving the league.
The teams from the Central Division, along with the Ducks, Crusaders, Owls and Yoopers, are joining the U.S. Premier Hockey League.
That league is based on the East Coast and it currently consists of three divisions — the Premier Division, Elite Division and Empire Division.
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"The Premier Division is great, and it's made up mostly of those former (Eastern Junior Hockey League) teams," Ice Hawks coach Nick Fatis said. "The (Elite Division) is a step down and then it's another step down to the Empire Division."
The newly acquired teams from the MnJHL will form their own Division, the Mid-West Division.
Fatis said the timing of the announcement was unexpected. But the move was not.
"We knew it was coming," Fatis said. "That league wasn't something we were interested in, so we are not making the jump."
The MnJHL has five teams committed for next season — the Ice Hawks, Steele County Blades, Forest Lake Lakers, Maple Grove Energy and the Twin Cities Northern Lights, who will return to action next season.
"I know the league has been approached by many, many teams about expansion," Fatis said. "I'll defer to the league on what to do there. But we are committed to the MnJHL. It's where we want to be, and we are confident it will once again be a strong league next season."
The league met Thursday evening to discuss future plans.
"We are moving on like it's business as usual," Fatis said. "Honestly, in the long run, this will be a good move for the league. We lost the two Wisconsin teams and the Yoopers, who didn't make sense geographically for us anyway. It'll all work out."
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The addition of the Mid-West Division of the USPHL has not been approved by USA Hockey.
If USA Hockey does approve the move, the USPHL will have about 50 organizations and the league announced in a press release that it's still taking applications for more teams.
