The 1947/48 season concluded and here are the stories.

Iron Range Hockey League: The Eveleth Reds reclaimed the top spot in the league, winning their 11th league title, the most of any team in the MAHL. The Moose took the second spot thanks to a solid season by their 19 year old star goaltender Sam Baker who finished the season with a .924 save percentage.  Last years leaders fell to third place, but the Miners will remain in the playoffs as the 3 seed. Ely improved from last season jumping to fourth, but still suffering a losing season and missing the playoffs. Hibbing looked better than they had in recent memory, which isn't saying much as they still had a horrible record, despite finishing fifth. The Royals fell quite a bit from last season, and the Flames remained at the bottom of the league for the 6th straight season.



Lake Superior Hockey League: Thunder Bay reclaimed the top spot in the league for the first time since '42. The Hornets were right on their tails, finishing with a very solid 18 wins. Superior bounced back after a poor, injury riddled, season and made the playoffs. Le Bleus just missed the playoffs and had a losing record, they finished fourth. The Broncos and Timberwolves finished at the bottom of the league, and in a league first, a team with more losses finished above a team with less in the standings thanks to one more win (in the MAHL 1 win=3 ties like in European football).



Northland Hockey League: The reigning league champs finished atop the league with a commanding 20 wins, their rivals from Warroad finished in second. St. Cloud was one of the big stories of the season as the Bear Cats came out of seemingly nowhere to be one of the best teams in the Northland League, going an incredible 10-1-1 at home. The Ice impressed the league in their inaugural season, finishing just under .500 an barely missing the playoffs. Bemidji took a big step back after loosing a number of top players to injury. Fergus Falls improved from last season, finishing in last, to finishing second to last. The other expansion team, Thief River Falls, had a tough time in their first year, getting bullied by some of the powerhouses of the league, and finishing with only 5 wins.



Twin Cities Hockey League: The St. Paul Saints took back the top spot in the Cities and look to make a third straight Kellogg Cup Final. The Vulcans, led by Tschida, finished in second with a respectable 15 wins. Rochester jumped up the third place and will compete in the playoffs for the first time. Last years top finishers still finished with a winning record, but just got passed by some top tier teams and missed the playoffs. The Millers had a good season, finishing above .500 and looking like they could do some damage in the next few years with a solid young core. The Mavs looked better than last year, but still look much different than the dominant team from a decade ago. Red Wing took 7th with a lackluster season, and the Bruins remained at the bottom of the table.

 

Last edited by Section30 (7/09/2019 1:57 pm)

1948 Kellogg Cup Finals 

Game 1: The Reds take the first game of the series thanks to a third period comeback victory.

Game 2: The Stars were shutout by Eveleth who takes a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Game 3: Roseau bounces back on home ice and takes the game 3-1.

Game 4: The Reds controlled the flow of the game, but the puck luck was not on their side as the Stars would tie the series thanks to some lucky bounces.

Game 5: Furious at losing a game 4 they deserved to win, the Reds came out and mauled the Stars, putting up 6 on them.

Game 6: Eveleth traveled up to Roseau, and the momentum traveled with them, the Reds were just too much for the Stars. Eveleth knocked around the Stars and put 4 in the back of the net while on the road. The Eveleth Reds would go on to win the game 4-1 and claim their 4th Kellogg Cup, their first in 14 years!

 

Last edited by Section30 (7/09/2019 1:59 pm)

The 1948/49 season concluded and here are the stories. 

Iron Range Hockey League: The Eveleth Reds continue to own the Iron Range, winning another title. The Moose and Baker remained at the second spot. Ely looks to be back, although not as dominant as they had been in the last few decades, the Black Bears had a nice winning season for the first time in  awhile. Hibbing looks to finally be on the rise after a decade, the Hounds took the fourth spot in the league. The Soudan Miners took another big step back, finishing fifth just 2 years after winning the league title. The Virginia and Chisholm did not move from the bottom of the league.



Lake Superior Hockey League: Duluth took back the top spot in the league with an impressive 19 wins. Superior jumped past the third place Giants to secure the second seed, the Lakers look like the real deal this year and could potentially make a push for the cup. The Voyageurs took a step back and are beginning to look more like the "second team" in Duluth rather being the Hornets equal. The Broncos improved slightly but remained in 5th, and the Timberwolves remained at the bottom of the league.



Northland Hockey League: Roseau remained atop the league with the International Falls Ice improving to second and making the playoffs for the first time. St. Cloud stayed at the 3 spot after a solid season. Warroad fell just one win from the playoffs and will not have a chance to avenge their last two playoff defeats to their arch rivals. The Blue Ox had a lackluster season falling below .500 and finishing in 5th. Fergus Falls was just able to squeeze into the 6th place spot thanks to one more tie than the Railers.



Twin Cities Hockey League: The St. Paul Saints retained control of the league with a dominant 20 win season. Rochester looks like a real threat come playoffs, the Mustangs took second this season. The "Mighty Millers" had an excellent season from some of their rising stars, making the playoffs as the 3rd seed. The Vulcans had a difficult season, riddled with injuries and falling out of the playoffs despite having a winning record. The Dragoons shocked the league in their inaugural season, doing much better than anyone would have expected and finishing in 5th. The Victorias had a season to forget, finishing below .500 and getting swept 3-0 in the season series against the Saints, losing the Milk Jug yet again. South St. Paul finished in 7th, and West St. Paul finished one spot behind with one less tie. Red Wing had a poor season finishing with only 4 victories, and the lowly Bruins had a horrible season, only winning 3 games, their one positive this season comes from beating their cross town rival Millers twice. 

 

Last edited by Section30 (7/10/2019 7:47 pm)

1949 Kellogg Cup Finals 

Game 1: Superior came out guns blazing, putting up three in the first period, they just held on from there, notching one more for good measure.

Game 2: The Lakers again came out strong, scoring 56 seconds into the game. St. Cloud put up a fight this time however... literally, in an attempt to do anything to stop the offensive onslaught, the Bear Cats resorted to physical play which led to some fisticuffs. Superior would get the last laugh as they would win the game 3-2.

Game 3: Back on home ice where they have done so well historically, the Bear Cats hoped to bring the series back to within one. The Lakers had other ideas, after falling behind 1-0, Superior answered quickly with one of their own, and then 2 more in the third to take a 3-0 series lead.

Game 4: The Bear Cats finally were able to put something together on defense, holding the Lakers to only one goal and keeping the series and their cup dreams alive.

Game 5: Back in Wisconsin, the Lakers came out to a record setting crowd of 5,466 rowdy fans, and the boys in blue didn't disappoint. Thanks in large part to a huge game by Smith in net, the Lakers were able to shut out St. Cloud and claim their first Kellogg Cup!

 

Last edited by Section30 (7/10/2019 7:49 pm)

That shield for the Dragoons is sharp. Kinda wish they'd update it to have it for the white jersey too. Nice work!