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 |