Sometimes, things surprise so much that it sends your head reeling.  The Minnesota Iron Rangers are, according to USA Hockey, an independent team (not Tier I, II, or III).  From a USA view, that is correct; but that is not the whole story.

Hockey Canada in Canada is the equivalent to USA Hockey in the United States when it comes to junior hockey.  From a Hockey Canada view the Minnesota Iron Rangers are a Tier II junior hockey team playing in one of three Ontario Junior Hockey leagues.  The Iron Rangers play in the Superior International Junior Hockey League.  The SIJHL is one for three leagues that compete to win Ontario’s Dudley-Hewitt Cup awarded to the top Ontario Junior Hockey Tier II team.  The Hewitt cup winners go on to compete with the other Canadian Providences for the Royal Bank Cup awarded to the top Tier II Junior Hockey team in Canada.

Some of those cups could reside in the Hoyt Lakes Ice Arena someday.  That is not impossible.  The Wisconsin Wilderness (now the Cloquet Wilderness) won the SIJHL’s Bill Salonen Cup and Ontrairo’s Dudley-Hewitt Cup last season and was crowned the best Tier II team in Ontario.  The Wilderness has a new team this year and are back to defend their title.

This is the stuff that movies are based on; and it gets better.  Last winter, the Iron Rangers played temporarily out of Hoyt Lakes MN and won 30 some games, upset some Canadian Teams in the playoffs, and had a good turnout.  But the owner wanted to move the team.

Chris Walby, the Iron Rangers coach, wanted to keep the team in Hoyt Lakes.  He loved the support he got from the town.  He got some of the teams supporters together and in a single meeting, the supporters, all from Hoyt Lakes, put the money together to buy the team.  These are parents and grandparents living in Hoyt Lakes, ordinary people.  The town has pitched in to help the team in the 2013-2014 season, but not to buy the team.

Now the people of Hoyt Lakes, the town of Hoyt Lakes, and Coach/General Manager Chris Walby are doing the things necessary to make the 2013-2014 season a success. The Hoyt Lakes town has worked out a favorable arena deal for the team’s 2013-2014 season and the Hoyt Lakes people have agreed to volunteer at the rink for games.  Their collective goal is to get the 1,000 people per game they saw during the Mesabi East Giants high school days.

Walby has kept the core together from last year’s winning team.  They will return this season.  He has added some good recruits and has hopes to bring some cups to the arena this year.  And he may have succeeded.  They will know by the end of September where the team is at-they draw the #13 ranked Thunder Bay Northstars (out of 124 Canadian Tier II junior teams) for their season home opener.  The Northstars are the SIJHL favorites this season.

Walby has done a good job of keeping last season’s team together.  In junior hockey, that is always a good sign.  Since the Iron Rangers have no affiliate this season, the team can carry 25 players and suit 20 for each game.  With the strong rivalry that has always existed in hockey at any level between Canada and the USA, it will be a rugged 2013-2014 season.

Defensively, the Iron Rangers remain strong.  They will carry three goalies at the start of the season.  Veteran Patrick Anderson, a 1994er, is out of Fort Worth TX.  Anderson played in 7 games for the Iron Rangers last season posting a 2-1 record. He is 6’5” tall.   Alex Reichle, 6’3” tall, will be on the team.  Reichle played for the Peoria IL Mustangs last season in the NA3HL league (Tier III) posting a 7-7-1 record in 17 regular season games.  The third goalie is Jacob Garvey.  Garvey graduated from Rochester John Marshall last season.  He posted a 27-21-2 record in 53 games.  Garvey gave up an average of 2.5 goals saving 91% of the shots on net in his three seasons playing for the Rockets (a .500 team).

The Iron Rangers’ have size on defense.  Austin Frank, a key returning Ranger, is a 6’5”, 210lb, defense man from Deforest WI.  Frank scored 25 points/7 goals in 51 games with the Iron Rangers last season.

The returning Iron Range forwards are not small either.  Two of their top three leading scorers are returning. Trevor Hoth is 6’0” and weights over 200lbs.  He played 44 games last season scoring 41 points/21 goals for the Iron Rangers.  Hoth is from Stoughton WI.  Jonathon Losurdo, the Rangers’ #3 scorer, posted 36 points/14 goals in 51 games.  Jay Routheau, a 6’2” winger out of Green Bay Southwest high school, played 46 games last season for the Iron Rangers scoring 11 points/8 goals.  Routheau, an aggressive player, played for Team Wisconsin in the 2012 Minnesota Elite High School League.

Local Iron Rangers are on the team.  One is Gus Karkinen who was a two year starter for Eveleth-Mesabi East High School.  Last season, Karkinen played 49 games for the SIJHL team scoring scoring 16 points/8 goals.  Karkinen is a 1995er.

Coach Chris Walby is enthusiastic about the coming season.  It is unique for a small community to own a team and to be able to play Canadian Junior Hockey out of Minnesota.  ”I am excited for Hoyt Lakes area and the new owners.  The community support for the club is great.  We want to give them a winning season”

Open the 2013-2014 season against the Thunder Bay North Stars, currently ranked #13 in Canadian Junior Hockey preseason polls.  That game will be at the Hoyt Lakes arena Tuesday, September 24.  The game starts at 7:00 PM.