When I saw "Tonka", I was hoping for a yellow/black scheme and the nickname "Truckers".

Section30 wrote:

Dan O'Mac wrote:

When I saw "Tonka", I was hoping for a yellow/black scheme and the nickname "Truckers".

Haha, that could be a fun nickname for them down the line now that you mention it...

There's a high school near where I live that uses the name "Truckers", Clintonville High School. Their logo was absolutely a fire truck.

1961/62 Regular Season; Part 1


Granite Hockey League
The Lumberjacks easily took the top spot this year, clinching the league title with 4 games left to play. The Bearcats finished in second with another solid season with an aging core. Fergus Falls finished third and were just 2 wins behind the Cats. Alexandria took the final playoff spot with Little Falls, St. Cloud, and Sauk Rapids rounding out the league.

Twin Cities Hockey League West
The Mighty Millers took the top spot in the West this season, but fell to the Victorias in the league title match, still expect Minneapolis to be a force come playoffs. The Cake Eaters finally get to return to the playoffs after years of being just outside in the end, finishing in second and looking very dangerous in the process. The Vulcans took the third spot with the Bears hot on their heals in 4th. Osseo overachieved expectations in their first year, nearly making the playoffs, but just missed in the end. Tonka finished in 6th with the Bruins in a distant 6th.

Twin Cities Hockey League East
The ever dominant Victorias claimed their 17th Twin Cities Hockey League title after finishing in first in the east then beating the Millers in the championship game. The Saints took the second spot with the Waves finishing in second. The Volunteers finished in fourth, marking the first time a team from Stillwater reached the postseason. White Bear finished just outside with the Mavs completely collapsing and finishing in far last.

Valley Hockey League
The Mustangs continue their domination of the Valley finishing in first yet again. Their neighbors, the Robins, improved to second and New Ulm took third. It was a battle for the final playoff spot between Mankato and Austin, they battled back and fourth until the very end when they faced off in the 24th game of the season to decide who would get the final playoff spot. It turned out to be an overtime thriller that ultimately ended in a tie, giving Mankato the 4 spot on head to head. Red Wing almost made it a 3 team race for fourth but faded out at the end of the season, falling to 6th. La Crosse, Albert Lea, and Winona finished in the basement, getting bullied by the rest of the league for most of the season.

Let me know what you think, comments are appreciated!

1961/62 Regular Season; Part 2


Iron Range Hockey League
The Moose reign supreme in the Iron Range for the second time ever, the first coming 7 years ago. Led by an explosive season by Didi Miller who was only 4 goals short of surpassing former Eveleth center Marco Palazzari's record of 43, netting 39 including 3 hat tricks and a 4 goal game. Virginia finished in second, claiming the Quad City Trophy for the first time. The defending champs dropped to 3rd and Chisholm rounds out the playoff teams. Ely continues their trend of looking competitive then collapsing and so on and so forth as they fall back out of the playoffs. Eveleth and Soudan round out the bottom of the table.

Lake Superior Hockey League
Millen had a bounce back year after a bit of a sophomore slump last year, leading the Broncos to the league title. Le bleus took the second spot with Superior falling out of second in the last week of the season. The Hornets round out our playoff teams, winning the 3 team race for the final spot with Two Harbors and Thunder Bay who were both less than 3 wins behind.

Northland Hockey League
Warroad had a breakout year, they were around .500 midway through the year with a record of 7-5 but then turned into a real force in the back half of the season, only losing once in the 12 game span. The Lakers arch enemies were on the other side of things, getting passed in the standings near the end of the season to lose out on another league title. Winnipeg finished in third in their first year, the Monarchs are very physical and have garnered a reputation around the league. Fort Frances moves into the fourth spot, sending the Trappers to the playoffs for the first time in 5 years, but the best thing of all in the eyes of the Trappers was being the team to prevent their nemesis, the Ice, from reaching the post season. Bemidji dropped to 6th but still finished .500 and looked solid. Steinbach and Baudette round out the league, neither team looked bad, but are just stuck in a stacked league.

Red River Hockey League
Thief River claimed the first ever Red River Hockey League Title, but it was not as easy as most expected. Grand Forks looked very good for an expansion team, finishing 2 games behind the Railers and far ahead of Crookston in third. Moorhead will get to see the post season for the first time as they beat out Fargo in the standings.

Let me know what you think, comments are appreciated!

If I were a Grand Forks fan I would be very upset with these power rankings. 2 games behind #3 gets you a 16 spot? I’m scared that this might be a fire lit under them that ends in a deep run. Also, hell yea Moose! That’s a hard league to take #1 in.