Prior to the 1949/50 season, the MAHL made a number of announcements regarding new teams, a new league, and two new rivalry trophies. 

Roseau and Warroad announced they would play for the "Victory Bell" which is painted half in Roseau's green and yellow and the other half in Warroad's blue and red, the winning team gets to keep the bell for the year; the winner of the bell will be decided by which team wins more games head to head (in the current regular season schedule they would play each other 3-4 times a year, if the season series is tied goal differential in the series is the tiebreaker). The other rivalry trophy was announced between the Ely Black Bears and the Soudan Miners who will battle for the "Miners Hard Hat" or "The Hard Hat" for short. This trophy was picked by the coaches of either team who decided it would be a fun idea to compete for something in an attempt to grow a rivalry between the two since they are closer to each other than any other teams. A hard hat was chosen due to both cities being mining communities, and since most players from both teams are actually miners. This trophy is won by the team who wins more games head to head or if the series is tied, who scored more head to head goals. 

The league announced that there would be 3 new teams set to join the league for the coming season as well as a new league, the "Valley Hockey League" will begin play this season with 5 found members; Rochester (which will be league HQ), Red Wing, Albert Lea, and 2 expansion teams that we will get to in a moment. 

Up first we have Austin. Austin is a fairly large city in the area with a population around 23,000. This large population can be attributed in large part to the major corporation based in the city, SPAM, which became a major company after WW2. The nickname "Mavericks" was chosen because of the cities meat packing industry. Their logo is a stylized A, representing the city of Austin. The team colors are blue, yellow, and white.

  

Fort Frances, Ontario, is located just across the Canadian border from International Falls. They are almost identical to their neighbors across the border in population and in their love for hockey. The Trappers and Ice are already off to what could become one of the fiercest rivalries in the league with International Falls voting against allowing Fort Frances into the Northland League, they ultimately were granted permission to join, so it will be interesting to see how games between these two play out in the future. The nickname "Trappers" was chosen due to the cities long history of trappers and fur traders. Their logo is a Trappers head and the team colors are red, yellow, and white. 

 

La Crosse, Wisconsin is a major hub in the region, with a population around 47,000. Located on the other side of the Mississippi, the Brewers will become the second Wisconsin team in the MAHL. The nickname "Brewers" was chosen due to the cities reputation as a brewing center for the area. Their logo is an oval with the city on top and the team name below, inside is a strand of wheat, the oval is meant to resemble brewery and beer logos and labels. The team colors are brown and yellow. 

 

Last edited by Section30 (7/12/2019 3:55 pm)

Due to a 5th league, the MAHL redesigned the playoff format yet again. The top 4 teams from each league make the playoffs, but each team has a ranking based on their regular season record. Teams that finished in the top two in the regular season, and the two 3 seeds with the best record, get an automatic bye past the knockout round. There are two sides to the bracket, the only way to play a team from the other bracket is by making the finals. Unlike in past years, the playoffs have nothing to do with your regular season league, ranking is the only thing that matters. 1950 Playoffs Knockout Round:

• The Voyageurs easily beat the Chiefs 5-0.
• Grand Rapids came out on top over the Brewers, ending their first season.
• The Mighty Millers get the better of the Giants thanks in large part to the home ice advantage, they will play the Saints in the second round.
• International Falls knocks out an underachieving Vulcans team and moves on.

• The top seeded Reds make quick work of the Voyageurs, sweeping them.
• The Victorias were able to squeeze past Warroad in 3 games.
• The Hornets are just too good for the Moose, completely dominating them all series long.
• The Defending champs look to repeat last season, sweeping the Greyhounds.
• Second seeded St. Paul has a scare as the Millers forced the deciding game 3 to overtime, but the Saints were able to come out on top in the end.
• In one of the best series in recent memory, the Black Bears and Stars battled for three games with Ely getting the better of Roseau in game 3.
• In a huge upset, the Ice upset the #3 seeded Bear Cats and move on to the quarter finals.
• In a Valley League match up, the Mustangs showed the Dragoons why they won the league, sweeping the series.

• St. Paul shocks the Reds in 4 games to move on to the semi's.
• In the "Battle for the Bridge" the Hornets came out over the defending champs.
• Ely looks like their teams of old when knocking off the second seeded Saints.
• International Falls incredible run continues as they knock of the Mustangs and reach the semi finals.
• (All 4 semi finalists turned out to be from different leagues which I thought was pretty cool)

• Riding the wave of momentum after beating their cross state rivals, the Hornets were able to take care of the Victorias and reach the finals.
• The Ice stun the state when they man handle the Black Bears, taking the series 4-1 and reaching the finals.

Last edited by Section30 (7/12/2019 3:58 pm)

All the new sweaters look great, I especially love that Eveleth one with the cardinal.

Prior to the 1950/51 season, the MAHL announced that there would be a new trophy, the "Tschida Trophy" will be granted to the most valuable player in the league, this will include players from every league and it includes both the regular season and postseason. It is named after the great coach/player of the Twin Cities Vulcans who announced his retirement this off-season.

The League also announced that three new franchises would be joining for the upcoming season. Alexandria will join the Northland Hockey League, White Bear Lake will join the Twin Cities Hockey League, and Winona will join the Valley Hockey League.  

Alexandria is a slightly larger than average sized town for the area with a population just above 6,000. With their relative closeness to Fergus Falls and St. Cloud, locals felt they deserved a team as well. The nickname "Norsemen" was chosen due to the huge population of Scandinavian immigrants in the city. Their logo is a capital A for Alexandria, wearing a winged helmet, based off of old drawings and sculptures of Norse gods. The team colors are black, red, and white. 



 White Bear Lake is a very small city compared to the rest of the Twin Cities League with a population of less than 4,000. But residents of the city have a history of hockey going back to Elwyn "Doc" Romnes who played professionally from 1928-1940, and Frank "Moose" Goheen who has become a legend in the city, playing semi pro in the 20's and 30's. The nickname "Braves" goes way back to the origin story of the cities name. The story in short tells the tale of a Brave of one tribe and the Chiefs daughter of another tribe falling in love, when the Brave is on his way to meet the chiefs daughter in their spot, he discovers her being attacked by a white bear. The Brave stabs and kills the bear, but in doing so died himself.
Their logo is a B for Braves with feathers. The team colors are navy and orange. 

 

Winona is one of the largest cities in the southern part of the state, with a population around 25,000. With almost all of the other large cities in the region getting teams, a group of locals decided to form their own team and join the Valley League. The team will be called the "Wildcats". Their logo is a front facing wildcat growling. The team colors are black, and blue. 

 

Last edited by Section30 (7/14/2019 7:26 pm)

1951 Playoffs Knockout Round:

• Thunder Bay easily takes care of the Brewers.
• The Voyageurs "upset" Austin, advancing to face their division rivals from Superior.
• The Waves impressive season comes to an end after the Stars shut them out 3-0.
• Warroad knocks off Virginia and advances.

• The top seeded Bear Cats are just too much for the Giants to handle as they get swept.
• International Falls looks to repeat last years playoffs, and they're off to a good start after beating Hibbing and advancing.
• In a rivalry game, the Lakers just got the better of Duluth.
• The Defending champs faced off with Ely and showed the Bears why they are considered a threat to go back to back, sweeping Ely.
• The ever powerful Reds dominated Roseau all series, only giving up 31 shots in the two game sweep.
• The Saints met up with the Dragoons for a very physical series which saw St. Paul walk of in overtime in game 3.
• In a major upset, the Warroad Lakers knock off the 3 seeded Victorias.
• Rochester won their league, but still had a difficult time with the Millers who forced overtime in game 3, the Mustangs luckily were able to light the lamp and reach the quarter finals.

• St. Cloud avenges last years heartbreaking upset loss to the Ice, winning the series 3-1.
• In a rematch of last years "Battle of the Bridge", the Hornets again got the better of their rivals and reached the semis.
• The Saints and Reds had a series to remember, the offense was on display all series, with an average of 9 combined goals per game, the Reds ultimately came out on top and will advance.
• The Lakers continue their run, this time sweeping the winners of the Valley league.

• Coming off of a big series win, the Hornets just didn't seem to have the energy they had against the Lakers, St. Cloud took advantage and took the series 4-2.
• Warroad looked like they could really do it after winning game one in Eveleth, but things changed quickly, the Reds went on to win the next 4 and won the series.

Last edited by Section30 (7/14/2019 7:28 pm)