Zenith City Polo Club
The Zenith City Polo Club is based in Duluth, MN. Duluth is a city of over 50,000 and is the county seat of St. Louis County. Duluth has a history of winter sports dating back to 1893 when the Duluth Polo Club played the Zenith City Polo Club in a game called Ice Polo. Both of those clubs have continued to play Ice Polo every year since, but the Zenith City team felt that they were good enough skaters that they could play this new sport called ice hockey just as well as anyone, so they put it to the test. The captain of the polo team represented the club at the AHA founders meeting and officially joined his club as members of the newly formed hockey league. Despite now playing both ice polo and ice hockey, the club has decided to keep the “Polo Club” distinction at the end of their name to honor their origins. Speaking of their name, why Zenith City? Duluth has been called the “Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas” since 1868 due to the city's position at the westernmost point of the Great Lakes. Their sweaters are primarily white with red stripes and the club's Crescent & Star emblem on the chest. The Crescent & Star has been a symbol synonymous with Duluth and more specifically the Zenith City nickname since 1893 when it was first used by The Marshall-Wells Hardware Company’s Zenith brand of tools but has since grown into a symbol for the city. The Zeniths will play their home games outdoors at Piedmont Park.

Park Rapids Hockey Club
The Park Rapids Hockey Club is based in Park Rapids, MN. Park Rapids is a city of 1,300 and the county seat of Hubbard County. It is located 25 miles south of Lake Itasca, the headwaters for the Mississippi River, and has grown into one of the biggest logging centers in the state. Main street was actually made extra wide to accommodate horse-drawn teams pulling lumber through town. The team wears navy with a PR monogram on the front for Park Rapids. They will play their home games on the water at Red Bridge Park where fans huddle on the Red Bridge to watch the action taking place just a few feet from them.

I'm loving Queen City! That Q is fantastic, I hope they stick around. Zenith City is also awesome, I love how they're a Polo Club, haha. I love the flannels for Brainerd as well!

I'm so happy to see Superior return in the new MAHL. I also appreciate the Arrowhead Hockey Association name. That's a nifty change from what I'm used to.

There were five Independent ice hockey games played in Minnesota during the winter of 1889/99, let’s take a look at how those went.

Brainerd Hockey Club vs Bemidji Hockey Club
A small crowd of Lumberjacks and their families came out to watch their friends play this new game called Ice Hockey for the first time. Brainerd had formed a team and challenged Bemidji to a contest in early November of 1898. It was a hard fought match and after 60 minutes of play the scoreboard was even, ending in a 5-5 tie.

Bemidji Hockey Club vs Brainerd Hockey Club
Bemidji got to host Brainerd a few weeks later and they looked like a completely different team. They worked together much more effectively and looked like the more experienced side (which they were). The final whistle blew and Brainerd was sent back home with an 8-3 loss to Bemidji.

St. Cloud Hockey Club vs Brainerd Hockey Club
St. Cloud welcomed Brainerd to the Granite City on New Years Eve for an afternoon meeting on Lake George. Brainerd were a step or two quicker than the hosts, perhaps thanks to their two prior contests with Bemidji, and jumped out to an early lead. St. Cloud hung on but was unable to mount a comeback as Brainerd held on to win by a score of 8-5.

Bemidji Hockey Club vs St. Cloud Hockey Club
Just a week after New Years the St. Cloud Hockey Club was back on the ice, this time up on Lake Bemidji. It had been over a month since Bemidji had last played a competitive match and it showed as St. Cloud dominated the early goings of the game. Bemidji finally got their first goal by the time St. Cloud had already netted four. The second half was even with both teams going back and forth with little to no defensive structure whatsoever. When the dust settled and the final whistle blew the score read 9-6 in favor of St. Cloud.

Park Rapids Hockey Club vs Bemidji Hockey Club
The final Independent game of the year was played on a cold northern day in Park Rapids with a group of local Lumbermen forming a team to challenge the Bemidji Hockey Club just 45 miles to the north. The game was not pretty with the more experienced Bemidji squad skating circles around Park Rapids… literally. The Park Rapids team’s skating level was so far behind Bemidji’s that the visitors started playing keep away to kill the clock after going up 10-0. They added one last goal in the final minute for good measure to secure a blowout 11-0 victory, thoroughly embarrassing the Park Rapids team in their first hockey game.