1983 Regular Season - North


The Moose are loose! Grand Rapids are IRHL champions for the first time in a decade, bouncing back after missing the playoffs in fifth place a year ago. The Royals were hot on their heels in second, ending two wins short of repeating as champs. Virginia also held onto the Quad City Trophy, but they were unable to hold onto the Miners Pickaxe with Mountain Iron having a really solid season, coming in third and taking the Axe. For the first time since 1948, back in the days of the first incarnation of the Soudan Miners, the black and orange will play playoff hockey. Tower-Soudan has always been a lower tier team in the IRHL ever since their return to the MAHL, their best finish to this point had been a 6th place finish four years ago. Eveleth was the team on the outside looking in missing the cut despite having a top notch hockey team. Ely had a surprisingly solid season, bringing the Miners Hardhat rivalry back a bit with games against the Miners getting very physical. The Black Bears weren't able to get the hat back, but they did have a season to build on, finishing in 6th. Hibbing, Chisholm, and Coleraine all suffered from mediocrity syndrome, being good, but not good enough and finishing right around .500 for all three. There was a bit of a drop to the bottom three, but none of them were necessarily bad, just not at the level of the rest of the league.


Big Red is back on top of the Lake Superior Hockey League, shutting down opponents with their feared defense and top notch goalkeeping. There was a bit of a surprise in the second place finisher this year with Hermantown finally clinching a playoff birth after three years in a row in fifth. People knew the Huskies were a good team, but nobody was expecting them to come second, ahead of the past two Kellogg Cup champions in Superior and Cloquet who finished 3rd and 4th respectively. The LSHL was a bloodbath this year with a number of teams missing the playoffs that could be considered contenders had they been in a weaker league. Both Grand Marais and the Duluth Voyageurs missed the playoffs despite having some of the better squads in the MAHL. Two Harbors got a bit of much needed life into their team, finishing outside the bottom two in the league for the first time in 7 years. The Hornets and Beavers were again, solid teams, but they just didn't have what it took to keep up with the rest of the pack, falling to the bottom of the table. In last are the Spikes yet again, making it 7 last place finishes in their 9 year history.


Fort Frances has won their third Northland Hockey League crown, perhaps the toughest league to win in all of the MAHL. as always it was a war through and through with any team capable of winning on any given day. Warroad bounced back after shockingly missing the playoffs last year, finishing in second and winning back the Victory Bell. Winnipeg came in third, looking as dangerous as ever, and International Falls held onto the 4 spot to return to the post season for the second year in a row. As always there are some powerhouses that miss the cut and this year was no different. Bemidji, Roseau, and to some extent even Baudette and Steinbach are skilled enough to have earned a ranking despite not making it to the show, that is just how competitive this league is. Blackduck wasn't bad, they just weren't able to get any wins strung together, getting one here and there but getting outplayed by the rest of the league most of the season. Kenora suffered a surprising drop to the basement this year in large part to a flu outbreak that the team suffered early in the season, being forced to forfeit much of the first month or so of the season and from there it was too tough to dig themselves out of the hole.


Fargo was the team to beat in the Red River this year, cruising to their third RRHL title as well as both the Metro Bowl and Nodak Cup. Moorhead seems to have built on their recent improvements over the past few seasons, finishing with their highest finish in team history in second place and looking like legitimate contenders. Rounding out the top four we have the cross river rivals with EGF in third and Grand Forks coming in fourth, the Pointers also win back the Giant Fork to tie the all time series 9-9. Next were Detroit Lakes and Thief River Falls who both had solid seasons overall, but weren't able to break the top four. Dilworth made big strides in terms of progress this year, shaking off their early struggles to finish with more than twice as many wins as a year ago. The Crookston Kings were rather forgettable this year, nothing really of note happened with them and they didn't have much to brag about either having a losing record. The Petes were next, but not last with the West Fargo Wasps suffering a shocking drop in the standings after finishing fifth a year ago.

Let me know what you think, comments are appreciated!

Spikes + Basement = Normal

Proctor just keeps getting...

Spiked

YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

1983 Regular Season - Twin Cities North


Make that 4 straight East Metro Hockey League titles in a row for the Roseville Rockets! Roseville led the league in goals scored and are hoping that they'll finally have what it takes to win it all this year. Maplewood had a really strong year as well, sweeping the season series against their arch rivals from White Bear to take home the Barrel and finish comfortably in second. It was a three team race for the final two spots with the more experienced Volunteers and Braves clinching playoff births with the expansion Polars making a bit of noise in their first season, falling just short in fifth. North St. Paul and Little Canada will look to put this year in the past finishing with losing records. Woodbury had a much tougher time than their expansion partners, finishing with only 1 win and 2 ties on the season.


Brainerd is on top once again, claiming their 19th GHL title in team history by beating out Fergus Falls and Sauk Rapids who were each at the top of the table at one point in the season. The aforementioned Cyclones and Bulldogs wound up in second and third with Alexandria holding onto the 4 spot to round out the playoff teams. This left the Bearcats on the outside looking in for the second year in a row, they were able to hold onto the Slab though despite their cross town rivals having a pretty good season finishing in sixth. Mora, Little Falls, and Princeton round out the bottom of the league, all with losing records. The Brickmakers did look a bit better than they had in the past few years though, so there is a bit of hope for their future.


The odd number mystery continues for Plymouth, clinching their second North Metro crown in the process. The Militia have now made the playoffs 4 of the last 7 seasons, all of which happened to come in years ending with an odd number. Last years champs from BP weren't far behind in second, and Anoka was only two games behind them in third. Sliding into the final playoff slot is Brooklyn Center for the first time in team history. The Catamounts were able to go on a tear at the end of the season, winning 9 of their last 11 games to blow past both Coon Rapids and Osseo, and into the post season. Elk River had a year to forget, but they were by no means bad. Maple Grove and Ramsey were the punching bags of the rest of the league for most of the season, combining for 4 wins not against each other.


The first ever Northeast Hockey Association champions are the Mounds View Gunners. The Gunners were just the most solid overall team in what is quite frankly a weak league compared to most others in the MAHL, there's nothing "wow" about the team but they are a solid hockey team. Blaine was also solid this year and it got them their first playoff birth with a second place finish. Lino Lakes turned some heads by outperforming their expectations and finishing in third, ahead of many more experienced squads. New Brighton is doing the Playoff Polka, coming in fourth to return to the playoffs after a 3 year hiatus. The rest of the league was all relatively even so there weren't any big gaps in the standings. On the outside looking in were Fridley, Shoreview, and Columbia Heights followed by newcomers Arden Hills and Spring Lake Park.

Let me know what you think, comments are appreciated!8.6.18.6.1

I haven't posted in the last week or so, but I have been finishing up making every team's center ice design (indoor ice only). I'll now be able to add changes and new designs on a year to year basis which will be nice.

If you're interested in checking them out click here

ProsecutorMilesEdgeworth wrote:

I recognize the New Hope center ice logo...

One quick confirmation brought to you by Safari later...

Please tell me that there will be some sort of reference to the Mighty Ducks movie for New Hope or Crystal!

Haha that will definitely be something I'll consider when the time comes