Saturday, May 25, 2013

State of the MWJHL from commissioner Scott Gardiner

Press Release

The future is beyond bright for the Midwest Junior Hockey League.

We have nine teams firmly in place for the 2013-14 season, all with solid ownership groups, coaching staffs, player talent pools and hungry fan bases.

Recently, we have added teams in the hockey-rich Michigan towns of Marquette, Alpena and Traverse City, joining teams already in place in Farmington Hills, Berkley, Holland, Sault Ste. Marie, Allen Park and Bloomington, Ill.

Marquette (Lakeview Arena), Alpena (Northern Lights Arena), Soo (Big Bear Arena) and Traverse City (Centre ICE Arena) play in what I consider to be four of the best rinks in all of Michigan, maybe in all of the Midwest. All four arenas have previously housed franchises from the North American Hockey League and for our league to be able to secure these venues just goes to show you the direction the league is heading.

I am very proud to be leading the MWJHL and based on what I saw at the AAU/UHU national tournament this past April in Las Vegas, we can compete and handle ourselves with some of the best players in the country from the other AAU-level leagues.

We continue to move players to NCAA and ACHA college programs and many players have been heavily scouted and recruited by higher-level junior teams for this coming season.

This is an exciting time to be part of the MWJHL and in looking at the successful season we all experienced in 2012-13, we will raise the bar once more this fall and will build on last season. We have a dedicated and loyal league staff in place and the stability of our nine teams has never been better.

We are moving onward, upward and forward. The MWJHL has proved itself to be a viable place to develop players and will continue that trend.

Let’s drop the puck!

Yours in hockey,

Scott Gardiner
Commissioner, MWJHL

(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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