Heading to the South Region we have one team joining the Corn Belt Hockey Association. With the league now at 10 members, each team will play the rest of the league 4 times for a season length of 36 games.

Sleepy Eye Hockey Club
The Sleepy Eye Hockey Club is based in Sleepy Eye, MN but also draws from the nearby town of Morgan. Sleepy Eye is a city of about 2,300 located just 14 miles west of New Ulm in rural Brown County. The city is named after Sleepy Eye Lake which was named after Chief Sleepy Eye. Chief Sleepy Eye was one of four Sioux Native Americans chosen to meet President James Monroe in 1824 in DC. Later, he was integral in the 1851 signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, which gave all the land but a 10-mile swath on each side of the upper Minnesota River to the U.S. government. His recommendations to traders led to the successful settlement of Mankato and he eventually settled with people in what is now the city of Sleepy Eye. Like most other small rural communities, Sleepy Eye is primarily an agricultural town with the Railroad also playing a role in making it the city it is today.

The club decided on white uniforms with thin orange stripes on the sleeves and socks. The city’s name is spelt out in orange on the front of the sweaters with “Sleepy” arched over “Eye”. The hockey team will share a home with the Sleepy Eye Indians baseball team, playing their home games at Sleepy Eye Ballpark which has grandstand seating for up to 500 fans.

Zumbrota Hockey Club
The Zumbrota Hockey Club is based in Zumbrota, MN (zum-BROH-tuh) but also represents nearby Wanamingo, Mazeppa & Zumbro Falls. Zumbrota is a city of about 1,200 along the North Fork of the Zumbro River from which the city derives its name, touting itself as “the only Zumbrota in the world”. The city is best known for the Zumbrota Covered Bridge, the last functioning covered bridge in the state which was built just one year before the railroad came to town. The city was founded by German and Scandinavian immigrants who were attracted by the area's fertile farmland.

The club adopted cardinal and gray as their official colors, taking the deep red from the city’s iconic covered bridge. Their sweaters are primarily cardinal but features thick gray stripes on the sleeves and socks along with a stylized gray Z for Zumbrota sewn on the front. They will play their home games at the Zumbrota City Rink which can seat up to 250 spectators.




Let me know what you think, comments are always appreciated!

Steelman wrote:

Congrats to Soudan!

Something about that green and burgundy for Morris is very appealing, I think I'll add them to my rooting list. I feel like Sleepy Eye could have some cool logos in the future, so I'll keep an "eye" on them as well. Nice work!

I agree about the green and burgundy. It shouldn't work but for some reason it kinda does. I'm also excited for Sleepy Eye, one of my favorite city names in the state.

Thanks!

Next we head to the Headwater where the defending HHA champs adopted a new look.

Bemidji Hockey Club
The club dropped the block B in favor of “Bemidji” spelt out in full in a new typeface. They also adopted a new number font to match their new logo.




Their new sweaters keep the blue and white stripes but beef them up considerably. The team's new “Bemidji” wordmark sits inside a white stripe on the chest.



Old Jerseys

We had two clubs make changes up in the Northland Hockey League.

Kittson County Hockey Club
The oldest hockey club in the state made their first major uniform change in team history. For the first time ever, the club will wear something besides solid red with their logo in white. Their new sweaters adopt white shoulders while keeping everything else red. The club's KC monogram is kept the same but enlarged and centered rather than small on the upper left chest.



Old Jerseys

Baudette Hockey Club
The Baudette Hockey Club made the decision to drop the BHC monogram they had used since their inception. In its place is a new “Baudette” wordmark in a block font. The team updated their number font to a block font as well.




The team decided to keep the chest stripe but with some changes. The stripe is lowered a bit and is now a northwestern stripe with the club's new wordmark inside. The northwestern stripe is replicated on the sleeves and socks.



Old Jerseys