The Midwest Junior Hockey League was an American Junior hockey league in the American Midwest.
History[]
The league got its start when American investors made a deal with the Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League, changing the league's name to the Thunder Bay-Minnesota League in 1971-72 and admitting a single American team. In 1972, the league changed its name to the Can-AM Junior Hockey League, which still ran under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.
In 1973, the core of the teams broke away from the CAHA and started a new league called the Midwest Junior Hockey League. It would feature all American teams, except for the first year where it still had the CAHA-affiliated Thunder Bay Hurricanes.
By the late 1970s, the league merged with the United States Hockey League. This move turned the USHL from a Semi-Professional league to what would be USA Hockey's premier Junior hockey league within a handful of years.
Teams[]
| Teams | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team | Arena | Location | Tenure | Fate | |||||||||||||||
| Chicago Nordics | 1973-1974 | fold | |||||||||||||||||
| Fargo-Moorhead Sugar Kings | Fargo, North Dakota | John E. Carlson Coliseum | 1973-1975 | fold | |||||||||||||||
| Minnesota Jr. Stars | Bloomington, Minnesota | Bloomington Ice Garden | 1973-1975 | renamed Bloomington Jr. Stars | |||||||||||||||
| St. Cloud Jr. Blues | St. Cloud, Minnesota | St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex | 1973-1975 | fold | |||||||||||||||
| St. Paul Vulcans | St. Paul, Minnesota | Ed Saugestad Rink | 1973-1977 | join United States Hockey League | |||||||||||||||
| Thunder Bay Hurricanes | Thunder Bay, Ontario | Fort William Gardens | 1973-1974 | join Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League | |||||||||||||||
| Austin Mavericks | Austin, Minnesota | Riverside Arena | 1974-1977 | join United States Hockey League | |||||||||||||||
| Bloomington Jr. Stars | Bloomington, Minnesota | Bloomington Ice Garden | 1975-1977 | join United States Hockey League | |||||||||||||||
| Hennepin Nordiques | New Hope, Minnesota | New Hope Ice Arena | 1975-1977 | suspend operations for 1977 to 1979; join United States Hockey League for 1979-80 season | |||||||||||||||