Minnesota Wilderness

Minnesota Wilderness
City	Cloquet, Minnesota, United States
League	NAHL
Division	Central
Founded	2003
Home arena	Northwoods Credit Union Arena
Colors	Green, black, and white
General manager	David Boitz (2013–14)
Head coach	Dave Boitz (2018–19)
Franchise history
Junior A/Tier III franchise
2000–2004	Northwest Wisconsin Knights
2004–2010	Wisconsin Mustangs
2010–2012	Wisconsin Wilderness
2012–2013	Minnesota Wilderness
Tier II NAHL franchise
2003–2006	Texarkana Bandits
2006–2012	St. Louis Bandits
2013–present	Minnesota Wilderness

The Minnesota Wilderness are an American Tier II junior ice hockey team based in Cloquet, Minnesota, and play in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). The organization formerly fielded teams in the Canada-based Junior A Superior International Junior Hockey League for three seasons and in the American-based Tier III Minnesota Junior Hockey League.

Prior to the 2013–14 season, the Wilderness' owners bought the franchise rights to the St. Louis Bandits of the Tier II North American Hockey League and began play for that season.

History

The organization was founded in 2000 as the Northwest Wisconsin Knights as a Junior B team in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL). In 2004, the Knights changed their name to the Wisconsin Mustangs. In 2006, their league was promoted to Tier III Junior A status by USA Hockey.

2011 Wilderness

From 2001 until 2003, the Knights had an interleague relationship with the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) of Hockey Canada. The 2009–10 season saw them back in an interlock with the SIJHL.

Mustangs' Logo

On May 17, 2010, the Mustangs announced they were officially leaving the MnJHL, their players were released to a dispersal draft.^[1] Soon after they applied for entry into the SIJHL. After a couple months, they were allowed entry. The team dropped the Mustangs logo, colors, and name as the organization entered the new league and became the Wisconsin Wilderness.

On September 17, 2010, the Wilderness played their first ever game as a full member of the SIJHL, on the road, against the Sioux Lookout Flyers. The Wilderness took the game 3–2 to record their first ever win as a full member of the league. On September 24, 2010, the Wilderness became the first American-based full membership SIJHL team to host a regular season game in the United States. The Wilderness defeated the Fort Frances Lakers 4–3. In 2011, the Wilderness won the league championship.

In the summer of 2012, the team relocated to Cloquet, Minnesota, and changed their name to the Minnesota Wilderness.

On May 4, 2013, the Wilderness became the first American team in history to win the Dudley Hewitt Cup by defeating the St. Michael's Buzzers 4–3 in overtime in the Central Canada final. They also became the first American team to compete directly for the Royal Bank Cup, the Canadian National Junior A championship.

After winning the Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Wilderness announced that the 2013 Royal Bank Cup would be their final foray in Canadian junior hockey as they joined the North American Hockey League (NAHL) at the beginning of the 2013–14 season. At the Royal Bank Cup, Minnesota finished fourth in the round-robin with a 1–3 record. In the semifinal, they surrendered a 4–2 third period lead to the Alberta Junior Hockey League's Brooks Bandits to lose 5–4 in overtime. Their loss to Brooks ended their hopes of a national championship and was their final game as members of the Superior International Junior Hockey League.

In 2013, the Wilderness bought the franchise rights of the dormant St. Louis Bandits franchise to obtain entry into the NAHL.

Season-by-season records

References

External links

• Wilderness Webpage
• Superior International JHL Webpage
• Minnesota JHL Webpage