With the MAHL officially forming, there were a ton of changes around the state. Both the Arrowhead Hockey League and the Central Minnesota Hockey League were disbanded with the former teams splitting off and forming the Central Lakes Hockey League, Headwater Hockey Association, Iron Range Hockey League, & North Shore Hockey Association. A couple teams also split off from the Red River Hockey League to help form the Northland Hockey League up near the Canadian Border. Finally we have the Minneapolis Hockey League & the St. Paul Hockey Association who round out the eight leagues that make up the Minnesota Amateur Hockey League.



With all of these new leagues forming there were a bunch of new clubs that formed to help fill them out, 19 new clubs to be exact, putting the total number of clubs at 77 for the MAHL’s inaugural season. There were also 6 existing teams who made changes to their identities in one way or another.

There were also eight teams making the move to a different rink for the upcoming season. The Grand Rapids Hockey Club is moving off Crystal Lake into the newly built, 500 seat, Grand Rapids Community Rink. Up in Hallock, Minnesota’s first indoor rink had fallen into disrepair in its 12 years of use, leading to it being torn down and rebuilt over the summer. The new home rink of the Kittson County Hockey Club keeps the old name of the Hallock Indoor Rink and still seats about 250. Two Harbors is finally moving off of Lake Superior... barely. The club is moving from Agate Bay to a new rink on the shore called Agate Bay Rink which has bleacher seating for about 250. The Lake Shore Hockey Club will no longer be playing on the Lake Shore as they join Minneapolis, Mill City, & Powderhorn in playing their home games at the home of the Minneapolis Millers baseball team, 4,000 seat Nicollet Park, moving off of a frozen Lake Calhoun. The future home of the upcoming Super Series is also set to house three of the four St. Paul based clubs. Como Park, Phoenix Athletic, & the St. Paul Athletic Club will all play their home games at the St. Paul Hippodrome which can seat up to 6,700 spectators. Finally we have the Hastings Hockey Club who built the 250 seat Hastings City Rink after playing their first season on Lake Isabelle.

Headwater Hockey Association
The more northeastern members of the former CMHL formed their own league called the Headwater Hockey Association. The league is based out of Bemidji and is named after Lake Itasca, the headwaters for the Mississippi River, which is located in the heart of the league’s geographic footprint. The league decided to have each team play the rest of the league 4 times for a season length of 32 games.

The league is made up of former CMHL clubs Bemidji, Blackduck, Detroit, Fergus Falls, Park Rapids, Pelican Rapids, & Wadena along with 2 expansion clubs to round out the league with 9 teams.

The championship trophy for the HHA is the Headwater Cup, a 1lb bronze cup named for the league that competes for it.

North Shore Hockey Association
The only thing keeping the AHA together for these past 3-4 years is the lack of a 6th team in the Twin Ports area. That problem was solved when an expansion club was finally formed in a nearby town, allowing the Iron Range-North Shore split to finally happen which would drastically decrease travel for teams in both new leagues. Founded by the southern members of the former Arrowhead Hockey Association, the North Shore Hockey League is based in Duluth. The league decided to have each team play the rest of the league 6 times for a season length of 30 games. Teams that get three home games against an opponent one year will play three on the road against them the next year.

The league is made up of the former AHA clubs Cloquet, Duluth, Superior, Two Harbors, & Zenith Athletic joined by 1 expansion team to get to the league minimum of 6 members.

With the IRHL getting the Miners Memorial Trophy, the NSHA was left trophyless. The league commissioned an artist from Duluth to make a trophy made of iron as a nod to the iron ore industry that these towns depend on for shipping. The trophy is called the Lake Superior Cup, named after the lake whose shoreline gives the league and region its name.

Red River Hockey League
The oldest hockey league in the state of Minnesota is the first of the pre-existing leagues to be welcomed into the MAHL. The Red River Hockey League is headquartered in Crookston. The league decided to have each team play the rest of the league 4 times for a season length of 32 games.

The RRHL lost three teams to the newly formed NLHL, leaving the league with 9 clubs for the 1906/07 season. Those clubs being Ada, Crookston, East Grand Forks, Fargo, Grand Forks, Moorhead, Red Lake Falls, Thief River Falls, & Warren.

The league will continue to play for the Red River Cup, making it the oldest continually used championship trophy in the state.

St. Paul Hockey Association
The final league joining the MAHL comes from the other side of the Twin Cities, the St. Paul Hockey Association. The league is of course headquartered in the state capital of St. Paul. The SPHA will play the rest of the league 3 times for a season length of 33 games. Teams that get two home games against an opponent one year will play two on the road against them the next year.

Like the Minneapolis League, the St. Paul Hockey Association had no changes to membership for the upcoming season, leaving the league at 12 teams. Those clubs being Como Park, East Side, Hastings, Hudson, North St. Paul, Phoenix Athletic, Rose, South St. Paul, St. Paul Athletic, Stillwater, West St. Paul, & defending champions White Bear Lake.

The championship trophy for the SPHA will continue to be the Capital Cup, a 3 pound cup made of 100% sterling silver.