Entering its 10th season, The Superior International Junior Hockey League is living up to its name.
The SIJHL was granted permission to accept two more teams into the league, both from the United States.
The Duluth Minnesota Clydesdales and the Spooner Wisconsin Wilderness will be added to the schedule along with the Dryden Ice Dogs, the Sioux Lookout Flyers, the Fort Frances Lakers and the Fort William North Stars in the SIJHL league, which means a few new faces will be visiting the Dryden Memorial Arena.
SIJHL President and Commissioner Ron Whitehead says the league was intended to be international and it’s time they went back to being just that.
“We’ve fully intended to be a trans-border league right since day one. We had two American teams in our league the first two years and then lost them so now we have them back. There are not enough towns in Northwestern Ontario, not enough economy right now in Northwestern Ontario to do any expanding and four or five teams is a pretty small league. Our only opportunities to expand were across the border.”
Whitehead adds that although Kenora would have been an obvious choice to expand in Northwestern Ontario, ice time is limited because of high school and AAA Thistle hockey. He says that if the problem of available ice time can be solved, the SIJHL would love to see a Junior A hockey team in Kenora.
For now, moving across the border is the only option for the league.
Bringing teams across the border, however, was not an easy task. While Hockey Canada approved the request to bring American teams into the SIJHL, Hockey USA denied the teams’ request to move north.
Once appealed, the teams were granted permission to play outside of their district but the league wasn’t expecting any complications.
Whitehead says the league is excited to bring in two new teams and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the SIJHL.
“They told us we would never see our first anniversary and we’re going to see our tenth so we have no intention of going anywhere and we’ll continue to fight and make this league as good as we can.”