Minnesota Wilderness | |
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City | Cloquet, Minnesota, United States |
League | North American Hockey League |
Division | Midwest |
Founded | 2003 |
Home arena | Northwoods Credit Union Arena(Did play at St. Luke's Sports and Events Center to start 2023) |
Colors | Gray, Black, and Green |
General manager | David Boitz |
Head coach | David Boitz [1] |
Franchise history | |
Junior A/Tier III franchise | |
2000β2004 | Northwest Wisconsin Knights |
2004β2010 | Wisconsin Mustangs |
2010β2012 | Wisconsin Wilderness |
2012β2013 | Minnesota Wilderness |
Tier II NAHL franchise | |
2003β2006 | Texarkana Bandits |
2006β2012 | St. Louis Bandits |
2013βpresent | Minnesota Wilderness |
The Minnesota Wilderness are a 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 2013β14 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.
In 2024, the Minnesota Loons of the NA3HL were sold and moved from Breezy Point, Minnesota to Eveleth, Minnesota and renamed to the Minnesota Wilderness, putting them under the same umbrella as the NAHL's Minnesota Wilderness. Their logo will be the same. They will play in the West Division in the 3HL, which will allow them to still be one of the 5 Minnesota-Located teams in that Division.
The organization was founded in 2000 as the Northwest Wisconsin Knights in Spooner, Wisconsin, 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, the MnJHL was promoted to Tier III Junior A status by USA Hockey. From 2001 until 2003, the Knights had an interleague relationship with the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) of Hockey Canada. The 2009β10 season saw them back in an interlock with the SIJHL.
On May 17, 2010, the Mustangs announced they were officially leaving the MnJHL, their players were released to a dispersal draft. [2] Soon after they applied for entry into the SIJHL. After a couple months of petitioning USA Hockey to join a Hockey Canada-sanctioned league, they were allowed entry. The team dropped the Mustangs logo, colors, and name as the organization entered the new league as the Wisconsin Wilderness.
On September 17, 2010, the Wilderness played their first game as a full member of the SIJHL, on the road, against the
Sioux Lookout Flyers, winning the game 3β2. 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 4β3. In 2011, the Wilderness won the league championship in their inaugural SIJHL season.
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 to win the Dudley Hewitt Cup by defeating the St. Michael's Buzzers 4β3 in overtime in the Central Canada final. They also became the first American team to participate in the Royal Bank Cup tournament, 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 2013β14 season. At the Royal Bank Cup, Minnesota finished fourth in the round-robin with a 1β3 record. In the semifinal, they surrendered a 4β2 third period lead to the
Alberta Junior Hockey League's
Brooks Bandits to lose 5β4 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.
In July 2022, the Wilderness fired assistant coach Brendan Phelps over allegations that he solicited a 16-year-old boy for sex online. [3] [4] He was also temporarily suspended by the United States Center for SafeSport. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | Playoffs |
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2000β01 | 36 | 26 | 9 | β | 1 | 53 | 192 | 120 | 3rd, MnJHL | |
2001β02 | 42 | 30 | 10 | β | 2 | 62 | 227 | 160 | 2nd, MnJHL | |
2002β03 | 42 | 29 | 10 | β | 3 | 61 | 221 | 132 | 3rd, MnJHL | |
2003β04 | 40 | 14 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 152 | 194 | 5th, MnJHL | |
2004β05 | 48 | 11 | 34 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 151 | 267 | 6th, MnJHL | |
2005β06 | 48 | 21 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 46 | 180 | 196 | 4th, MnJHL | |
2006β07 | 40 | 25 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 53 | 176 | 130 | 3rd, MnJHL | Lost Semifinal |
2007β08 | 48 | 38 | 5 | β | 5 | 81 | 268 | 122 | 2nd, MnJHL | Lost Quarterfinal |
2008β09 | 48 | 29 | 17 | β | 2 | 60 | 219 | 172 | 4th, MnJHL | Lost Semifinal |
2009β10 | 50 | 28 | 18 | β | 4 | 60 | 189 | 148 | 4th, MnJHL | Lost Semifinal |
2010β11 | 56 | 45 | 6 | β | 5 | 95 | 264 | 122 | 1st, SIJHL | Won Super Series, 1β1 (2β1 SO) (
Lakers) Won Semi-final, 4β0 ( North Stars) Won Final, 4β0 ( Ice Dogs) 4th of 4 DHC Round-Robin (0β2β1) |
2011β12 | 56 | 49 | 6 | β | 1 | 99 | 259 | 97 | 1st, SIJHL | Lost Super Series, 1β1 (5β6 SO) (
Lakers) Won Semi-final, 4β0 ( North Stars) Won Final, 4β3 ( Lakers) 4th of 4 DHC Round-Robin (1β0β2) |
2012β13 | 56 | 51 | 3 | β | 2 | 104 | 282 | 85 | 1st, SIJHL | Won Semi-final, 4β0 (
Iron Rangers) Won Final, 4β2 ( Lakers) 1st of 4 DHC Round-Robin (2β0β1) Won DHC Final, 4β3 OT ( Buzzers) 4th of 5 RBC Round-Robin (1β3β0) Lost RBC Semi-final, 4β5 OT ( Bandits) |
North American Hockey League (NAHL) | ||||||||||
2013β14 | 60 | 37 | 14 | β | 9 | 83 | 159 | 115 | 2nd, Midwest | Lost Div. Semifinals, 2β3 vs. Wenatchee Wild |
2014β15 | 60 | 39 | 15 | β | 6 | 84 | 209 | 152 | 2nd, Midwest | Won First Round, 3β2 vs.
Coulee Region Chill Won Quarterfinals, 3β0 vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs Won Semifinals, 2β0 vs. Janesville Jets Won Finals, 2β0 vs. Austin Bruins Robertson Cup Champions |
2015β16 | 60 | 34 | 18 | β | 7 | 76 | 183 | 161 | 3rd, Midwest | Won Div. Semifinals, 3β1 vs.
Janesville Jets Lost Div. Finals, 2β3 vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs |
2016β17 | 60 | 32 | 22 | β | 6 | 70 | 188 | 179 | 2nd, Central | Won Div. Semifinals, 3β2 vs.
Brookings Blizzard Lost Div. Finals, 2β3 vs. Aberdeen Wings |
2017β18 | 60 | 33 | 21 | β | 6 | 72 | 184 | 181 | 3rd, Central | Lost Div. Semifinals, 1β3 vs. Austin Bruins |
2018β19 | 60 | 26 | 29 | β | 5 | 57 | 170 | 189 | 5th, Central | did not qualify |
2019β20 | 52 | 26 | 22 | β | 4 | 56 | 160 | 165 | 5th, Central | Season cancelled |
2020β21 | 56 | 25 | 27 | β | 4 | 54 | 136 | 168 | 3rd, Central | Lost Div. Semifinals, 0β3 vs. Bismarck Bobcats |
2021β22 | 60 | 35 | 23 | β | 2 | 72 | 216 | 203 | 4th of 8, Midwest 12th of 29 NAHL |
Won Div. Semifinals, 3-2 vs.
Fairbanks Ice Dogs Lost Div. Finals 1-3 Anchorage Wolverines |
2022β23 | 60 | 35 | 18 | β | 7 | 77 | 168 | 146 | 2nd of 8, Midwest 8th of 29 NAHL |
Won Div. Semifinals, 3-0 vs.
Kenai River Brown Bears Won Division Finals 3-1 vs. Wisconsin Windigo lost League Semifinals 0-2 vs. Oklahoma Warriors |
2023-24 | 60 | 30 | 25 | - | 5 | 65 | 157 | 170 | 4th of 8 Midwest 20th of 32 NAHL |
Lost Div. Semi-Finals, 1-3 Anchorage Wolverines |
Season | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024-25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | tbd |