Idaho IceCats

The Idaho IceCats are a AAU-sanctioned Tier III Junior A ice hockey team based in McCall, Idaho. The IceCats currently play in the Western Division of the WSHL.

Home games had been split between the Idaho Ice World in Boise and the Manchester Ice & Event Centre in nearby McCall, Idaho. Also a few select games at the 5,000-seat Century Link Arena in downtown Boise, home of the Idaho Steelheads ECHL team. The team is now exclusively based out of the Manchester Ice & Event Centre.

The team was founded by Idaho Hockey Foundation Inc. in 2009. Idaho Hockey Foundation is a non-profit entity.

The team is coached by former NHL Draft pick by the Colorado Rockies and former head coach of the Idaho Steelheads, John Olver.

The Jr. Steelheads, like their former ECHL parent club the Idaho Steelheads, are named for a species of seagoing rainbow trout native to Idaho streams and rivers and popular with local anglers.

History
The team was founded by Idaho Hockey Foundation Inc. in 2009 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity. The Junior Steelheads, like their ECHL parent club the Idaho Steelheads, are named for a species of seagoing rainbow trout native to Idaho streams and rivers and popular with local anglers.

On July 27, 2017 at the request of the ECHL team the team changed its name to the IceCats. The change was made to differentiate the team from the youth program based in Boise as well as the ECHL team, which apparently lead to some confusion between the three organizations. The new logo is similar to the former Tacoma Sabercats team from the defunct West Coast Hockey League.

On May 10, 2018 long time coach and general manager John Olver stepped down to take a position with the NorthStar Christian Academy Prep hockey team in Alexandria, Minnesota. This is termed as a leave of absence. The team will apparently be taking the 2018-19 season off.

2009–10 season
In the team's first season, the 2009–10 WSHL season, the Junior Steelheads finished 2nd in the Western Division and clinched their first Thorne Cup playoff spot against the experienced Phoenix Polar Bears. The Junior Steelheads won the first game of the three game series 5-3, but Phoenix rallied winning the second game 3-2 in OT and the third game 2-1.

2009 strip hockey incident
The team received a four-day ban from the city of Boise after an incident at a practice when players missed a shot, they had to take off an article of equipment. An assistant coach told the AP the team was emulating a similar stunt done by the Tampa Bay Lightning

2013 championship
On April 9, 2013, the Junior Steelheads defeated the Bay Area Seals 5-1 to win the first ever United Hockey Union Junior ice hockey championship in a six-team tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.

United Hockey Union National Championship Tournament
AAU Sanctioned Junior A National Championship In 2013 and 2014, the Midwest Junior Hockey League (MWJHL), Northern States Hockey League (NSHL), and the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) advanced two teams each to the tournament. There was no UHU tournament held after the 2015 season.