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Jr Varsity Regular Season Champions | Jr Varsity Year-End Tournament Champions |
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History of the |
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Humble Beginnings Prior to the formation of the League, club hockey teams at the high school level competed in the Des Moines Metro League for several years. Sioux City and Waterloo fielded teams at the Junior level. In the fall of 1975, both the Waterloo Warriors and Waterloo Columbus commenced playing high school hockey as a full-fledged varsity sport and this provided additional impetus to the already functioning Des Moines Metro League. Up on the northern border of the state interested citizens of Mason City were forming a youth hockey program under the most trying of circumstances, the lack of an indoor ice arena.
IHSHL Early Years
In the fall of 1979 Mason City, Ames, Ankeny and Des Moines Lincoln joined the other seven teams to form a single division. The 1980s In 1980, the Iowa High School Hockey League was incorporated as a non-profit corporation under Chapter 504A of the Code of Iowa. The stated purposes of the League at that time were to organize and maintain an ongoing program for high school hockey in Iowa, to encourage and improve the standards of play, to encourage sportsmanship and playing proficiency, to provide a league structure for varsity competition at the high school level, and all other acts for the expansion and development of hockey.
1989 was a pivotal year for the League. Restated Articles of Incorporation were filed with the State of Iowa for the purpose of expanding the League to include teams outside of the State of Iowa. The Omaha Gladiators were admitted to the League at the Varsity and Junior Varsity level. The Omaha Junior Lancers were admitted at the Junior Varsity level. The League affiliated with USA Hockey as a sanctioning body. During this time the League began participating in the Chicago Showcase. The Showcase is a national tournament of all-star high school players from throughout the entire country. The players picked to play in this tournament over the past years have been a source of pride for the League and the Affiliate. They have earned the well-deserved respect of Junior A and college coaches and scouts who attend the tournament. The 1990s
2000: Silver Anniversary The League celebrated its 25th Anniversary Varsity State Tournament in the year 2000. That same year it was petitioned for membership by a team from Davenport, Iowa. The Quad City Presidents began League play during the 2000-01 season, while the St. Joseph team opted to exit the League leaving 12 teams.
During the 2003-04 season, Omaha Gladiators’ officials announced that the team would be exiting the League indefinitely. Also in 2003, the Cedar Rapids Mustangs joined ranks with Dubuque to strengthen the Devils roster and to experience the IHSHL before joining the League on their own. The next season saw the Kansas City Jr. Blades change their name to Kansas City Jr. Outlaws. Prior to the 2005-2006 season, League officials voted to retire the Iowa High School Hockey League moniker, adopting the Midwest High School Hockey League as the official name to begin the 2006-07 season. The Board also voted to turn over management of Team Tri-State (Chicago Showcase) to the Tri-State Amateur Hockey Association. The addition of an independent Cedar Rapids squad brought the total number of teams up to 12 as Dubuque continued to field a team as well. New Era Begins Serving the Midwest for 30 years, the IHSHL provided hockey players with a competitive environment while emphasizing academics, skill development, competition, community and family. Beginning with the 2006-2007 season, 12 teams will compete in the newly named Midwest High School Hockey League. Due to the great efforts and extreme perseverance of many dedicated supporters through the years, the sport of ice hockey has been accepted throughout the Midwest. The most encouraging result is how participating players have continued to compete at the Junior, Intercollegiate, and even the professional level. Two new teams joined the League in 2007-08: the Kansas City Stars and Tri-City Jr. Storm from Kearney, Nebraska. The Omaha Jr. Lancers exited the League to participate in the Central States Developmental Hockey League, bringing the number of teams for the 07-08 season to 13. Each team will play each other 3 times for a 36-game schedule. The 07-08 season will begin the eventual centralization of both the Varsity and JV year-end tournaments when the 2008 JV MHSHL Championship Tournament is staged in Ames, Iowa. The 2008 Varsity MHSHL Championship Tournament will be hosted by the Quad City Blues. This will mark the final time a team hosts the event. 2008-09 The League welcomes back an Omaha-based team known as the Omaha Energy, a representative of the Gladiators organization. The team will play their home games at Sidner Ice Arena in Fremont, Nebraska. With the addition of Omaha, there are a total of 14 League teams that will be divided into the East and West divisions. Each team will play teams in their own division three times and play teams in the other division two times, for a total of 32 games per team. The two divisions will also be used to divide the All-Star teams. However, all 14 teams will be grouped together in the standings with the top eight teams qualifying for the Varsity and JV year-end tournaments. In 2009 both the Varsity and JV year-end tournaments will be held in Ames and hosted by the League, completing the centralization process for both tournaments. 2009-10 After two seasons, the Tri-City Jr. Storm opted out of the League due to declining number of players. Replacing the Jr. Storm in the West Division will be the Sioux Fall Flyers. The Flyers competed in the South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association and were nine-time Varsity tournament champions. The association's top players will compete at the Varsity and JV level in the MHSHL, while additional Varsity and JV teams will continue to compete in the South Dakota league. The Cedar Rapids Mustangs changed their team name to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. The change signaled a new partnership between high school hockey and the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders United States Hockey League team.
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While a blizzard raged over the state one weekend in late February of 1975, an invitational state high school hockey tournament, organized by Iowa State University hockey coach Al Murdoch, was held at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. In an exciting final game Waterloo Columbus defeated Sioux City to claim the State Championship. This tournament was the foundation for the state tournament as it occurs today.
The Iowa High School Hockey League commenced play in the fall of 1976 with two divisions. The A division included Dowling, Hoover-Roosevelt, Urbandale and Valley of the old Des Moines Metro league along with the Waterloo Warriors, Waterloo Columbus and Sioux City. The B division included Mason City, Ames, Ankeny and Des Moines Lincoln.
In 1981 Ames hosted an invitational Junior Varsity Tournament. In 1983, the League began the format of moving the state tournament from city to city so that all participating cities could have their chance at hosting the tournament. That year, Mason City in a new arena, began the circle. In 1984 the League adopted the Junior Varsity Tournament. 1988 saw the Dubuque Devils rejoining the League after a four-year absence.
In 1990 the St. Joseph Griffons were admitted to the League at the Varsity and Junior Varsity levels. 1995 saw the admission of the Kansas City Junior Blades. Their admission brought the total number of teams in the IHSHL to ten located in four states. 1998 brought two new teams to the IHSHL. The Lincoln Junior Stars became the third team in the League from the State of Nebraska while the entrance of the Des Moines Oak Leafs signaled a welcome growth trend for the sport and revived a time-honored name from Des Moines hockey heritage.
In 2002-03 the Quad City Presidents became the Quad City Blues. 1st Team, 2nd Team, 3rd Team and Honorable Mention All-State Awards were discontinued and replaced with "All League" Awards acknowledging the League's 6 best players, including 1 goaltender, 2 defensemen and 3 forwards.