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The Midwest Junior Hockey League website said it was a proud member of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). MWJHL members have made a commitment to player development, advancement and maintaining a high level operation to achieve sustainable and profitable markets.

The MWJHL league office was headquartered in Sylvania, Ohio. that consisted of six full time employees to support members vision and objectives. The league office will support its member teams with several long-term sustainability initiatives including MWJHL Properties creating league wide licensing arrangements, and centralized ticket sales and corporate sponsorship operation.

During its first league meeting in early July in Deerfield, Illinois the following items were discussed, voted on and passed into the league by laws:

First Season[]

The league was supposed to play with 16 teams of which 6 were gone before the league started play.  The six teams that never played were Erie Blizzard; Lake Erie (Chardon/Mentor, OH) Steelheads; Cincinnati Stache; Ironwood Bears (Linolnshire, IL); Kankakee (IL) Kingfish; and Traverse City, MI.

The following franchises relocated before playing: Lake in the Hills, IL moved to Holland, MI; the St. Ignace, MI franchise moved to Saut Ste. Marie.

The league started play in the fall of 2012 with the following lineup of ten teams: Bloomington Blaze, Dayton Aeros, Great Lakes (Fraser, MI) Lightning, Hartland Hounds, Holland River Bandits, NWO (Northwest Ohio-Toledo), Grrowl, Michigan (Wayne) Ice Dogs, Rhinelander Street Cats, Soo (Sault Ste Marie) Firehawks, and Tennyson (Brownston, MI)  Chevrolet,

The league ended up with the Dayton franchise folding after their November 11, 2012 game. This left the league with nine teams.  The Grrrowl franchise moved from Toledo to Allen Park, MI in mid-January 2013 and were renamed the Michigan Grrrowl.

Second Season[]

The Michigan Ice Dogs moved to Farmington Hills after the 2012-13 season ended.  The Hartland Hounds  moved to Traverse City and were renamed the Cohos only to fold before they next season began.  the Holland River Bandits were suspended by the AAU for a minimum of one year due to the background of their coach.  The Rhinelander Street Cats moved to Alpena and were relabeled as the Alpena Street Cats. The Tennyson Chevrolet team was renamed the Detroit Fighting Irish.  The Great Lakes Lightning moved to Berkley, MI and were renamed the Berkley Bruins  The Michigan Grrrowl faded into extintion after the season, they had forfeited several games late in the season.

The league awarded a team to the Marquette Royals, who withdrew to join the Minnesota Junior Hockey League. Louisville, KY was also awarded an expansion team but apparently fell through.  The Walker based West Michigan Freeze and the Alpena Street Cats were disbanded by the league at their September 11, 2013 meeting. Apparently the decision was modified as Alpena played for the season and West Michigan franchise is listed as dormant on the league's website.

Third Season[]

The league announced on March 25, 2014 that the MC Monarchs, based out of Mount Clemens, MI would join the league for its 2014-15 season. 

On March 8, 2015 it was annouced that all seven of the league's members were joining the United States Premier Hockey League's Mid-West Division for the 2015-16 season.

League Seasons[]

Veteran's Memorial Cup (playoffs) Champions[]

  • 2012-13 Hartland Hounds
  • 2013-14 Traverse City Hounds
  • 2014-15 Traverse City Hounds

Teams[]

Teams
Team Location Arena Tenure Fate
Bloomington Jr. Blaze Bloomington, Illinois U.S. Cellular Coliseum 2012-2014 relocated to Decatur, Illinois as Decatur Blaze
Dayton Aeros Dayton, Ohio Hara Arena 2012-2012 disband November 11, 2012
Great Lakes Lightning Fraser, Michigan Great Lakes Sports City Superior Arena 2012-2013 relocated to Berkley, Michigan as Berkley Bruins
Hartland Hounds Hartland, Michigan Hartland Sports Center 2012-2013 relocated to Traverse City, Michigan as Traverse City Cohos
Holland River Bandits Holland, Michigan Edge Ice Arena 2012-2013 suspended from league
NWO Grrrowl Toledo, Ohio Team Toledo Ice House 2012-2012 relocate to prior to playing
Michigan Ice Dogs Wayne, Michigan (2012-2013)
Farmington Hills, Michigan (2013-2015)
Wayne Community Center (2012-2013), 
Farmington Hills Ice Arena (2013-2015)
2012-2015 join United States Premier Hockey League as Michigan Wild
Rhinelander Street Cats Rhinelander, Wisconsin Rhinelander Ice Arena 2012-2013 relocated to Alpena, Michigan as Alpena Street Cats
Soo Firehawks Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Big Bear Ice Arena 2012-2015 withdrew from junior level competition
Tennyson Chevrolet Brownstown Township, Michigan Ice Box Sports Center 2012-2013 renamed Detroit Fighting Irish
Michigan Grrrowl Allen Park, Michigan Allen Park Civic Arena 2012-2013 fold after forfeiting several games late in season
Alpena Street Cats Alpena, Michigan Northern Lights Arena 2013-2014 fold after forfeiting playoff series
Berkley Bruins Berkley, Michigan Berkley Ice Arena 2013-2014 cease operations November 17, 2014
Detroit Fighting Irish Brownstown Township, Michigan Ice Box Sports Center 2013-2015 join United States Premier Hockey League
Louisville Expansion team Louisville, Kentucky 2013-2013 announced as expansion team but fell through
Marquette Royales Marquette, Michigan Lakeview Arena 2013-2013 withdrew to join Minnesota Junior Hockey League
Traverse City Cohos Traverse City, Michigan Centre Ice Arena 2013-2013 fold before play
Traverse City Hounds Traverse City, Michigan Centre Ice Arena 2013-2015 join United States Premier Hockey League
West Michigan Freeze Walker, Michigan Walker Ice and Fitness Center 2013-2013 folded by league September 11, 2013; re-added for 2014-15 season
Alpena Flyers Alpena, Michigan Northern Lights Arena 2014-2015 join United States Premier Hockey League
Decatur Blaze Decatur, Illinois Decatur Civic Center 2014-2015 join United States Premier Hockey League
MC Monarchs Mount Clemens, Michigan Mount Clemens Ice Arena & Fitness Center 2014-2014 relocated to Fraser, Michigan as expand name to Motor City Monarchs
West Michigan Freeze Walker, Michigan Walker Ice and Fitness Center 2014-2014 cease operations August 20, 2014
Motor City Monarchs Fraser, Michigan Fraser Hockeyland 2014-2015 join United States Premier Hockey League as Motor City Hawks

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