Editor’s note: Throughout November, the Pucks and Recreation staff will alphabetically recount every state’s most memorable all-round hockey calendar year. The second installment of the five-part series covers Hawaii through Maryland. In descending priority, we will take into account achievements by major professional, college, minor professional and junior teams plus players born or raised in a given state.
Hawaii: 2007
Only one of the six Hawaii natives listed on the Internet Hockey Database has played Division I, international or professional. Honolulu’s Jessica Koizumi (who later grew up in California) has done all three. And she suited up in two of those ranks 10 years ago.
As a senior captain at Minnesota-Duluth, Koizumi helped the Bulldogs to the 2007 national final. Six months later, she made the top U.S. national team and subsequently partook in her only Four Nations Cup.
Koizumi later parlayed that into a 2008 World Championship appearance, five CWHL seasons and 15 games with the Connecticut Whale. – Al Daniel
Idaho: 2013
Boise hockey folk hero John Olver broke new ice when he coached the Idaho Junior Steelheads to an historic national title. With its 29th consecutive victory, the WSHL juggernaut secured the inaugural United Hockey Union championship.
Olver had previously coached the namesake Idaho Steelheads pro team to the 2004 Kelly Cup in its first ECHL season. Under Brad Ralph, the 2013 edition kept local puckheads in season for another month after their junior counterparts closed up shop in triumph.
The ECHL Steelheads ousted the Colorado Eagles from the first round, clinching with a 3-2 overtime triumph in Game 6. They then topped the Ontario Reign in another six-game epic before falling to Stockton in the Western Conference Final. – A.D.
Illinois: 2007
The best would not come for the modern Blackhawks until the turn of the decade. With that said, a host of hype-worthy developments decorated their 2007 almanac.
After hoisting the Colonial Cup as its UHL swan song, the Rockford IceHogs brand got an AHL upgrade. Same loyal northern Illinois fan base, same crest, new level, new personnel and new partnerships. The Hogs commenced 2007-08 as the Blackhawks’ first primary affiliate to be based in the same state.
Out west, the city of Moline enjoyed the same transformation as Rockford. The UHL’s Quad City Mallards gave way to the AHL’s Quad City Flames. The Flames and IceHogs joined the Peoria Rivermen and Chicago Wolves (who were coming off a Western Conference final) as intrastate rivals.
The Chicago Wolves started their 2007-08 championship season with a 14-game unbeaten streak. That same year, they gained two intrastate rivals, including a new affiliate for the neighboring Blackhawks, who simultaneously began their own renaissance with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. (Photo by Amy Williams/Getty Images)
All of this came two years after the Wolves had been the state’s only Triple-A franchise for nine seasons. But those Wolves reigned supreme on the ice, starting 2007-08 at 13-0-1 and being 23-8-1 by New Year’s Eve. All of that set a tone for their 2008 Calder Cup victory.
Oh, and the Blackhawks drafted Patrick Kane first overall in June. He and Jonathan Toews both made the team and their Chicago debuts out of the subsequent training camp. – A.D.
Indiana
Between the CCHA, IHL and USHL, 2009 was a hat trick year in the Hoosier State. At the collegiate level, Notre Dame earned 31 wins, the second-most in program history. The Fighting Irish won their conference’s regular-season and postseason titles and made the NCAA tournament.
In minor pro, the Fort Wayne Komets led the IHL with 104 regular-season points, then followed up with their second of three straight playoff championships. The great year was topped off in the junior ranks, where the USHL’s Indiana Ice won their first Clark Cup. – Andrew Wisneski
Iowa: 2006
Iowa first received an AHL team in 2005, following a long history as one of the key states for the development of young players in the USHL.
The first full calendar year of pro hockey in Iowa, 2006, was the state’s biggest year for hockey. The Iowa Stars were coming off a playoff berth in their inaugural season, and on their way to a second. In junior, the Des Moines Buccaneers won the Clark Cup, the last in a stretch where Iowa teams won four out of five championships. – Zach Green
Kansas: 1994
Three nights after treating their home crowd to a 6-4 Game 7 thriller over the Dallas Freeze, the Wichita Thunder set a booming tone for the Central League’s Levins Cup Final. A 10-3 thrashing of the visiting Tulsa Oilers precipitated a four-game sweep for Wichita’s first of back-to-back titles.
Given that another championship followed in 1995, the intervening fall is best remembered as when the Thunder kept everything rolling. But when head coach Doug Shedden pursued other opportunities following the second crown, they plummeted out of the playoff picture. In the 22 years since — first 19 more in the CHL and now three going on four in the ECHL — Wichita has failed to hang up any additional banners. – A.D.
Kentucky: 2000
For two seasons and only two, Kentucky had multiple teams at the top level of minor-league hockey. The Louisville Panthers’ entire lifespan (1999-00 to 2000-01) overlapped with the final two years of the Kentucky Thoroughblades’ five-year existence.
This naturally means that Y2K witnessed a plurality of the 28 chapters in the instate AHL rivalry that shared its venues with the Kentucky-Louisville college basketball feud. In 2000, the Panthers hosted the Thoroughblades at Freedom Hall six times. The Blades entertained the Panthers at Rupp Arena five times in that span. And on many occasions, the rancor stemming from the familiarity was self-evident.
Both teams would move following the 2000-01 season, and the AHL has not returned to Kentucky since. – A.D.
Louisiana: 2000
Louisiana had two successful minor-pro teams during the final year of the 20th century. The ECHL’s Louisiana IceGators won the Southwest Division with 95 points in the regular season. They advanced to the Kelly Cup Final, where they lost in six games, but thrice pushed Peoria to overtime. Two of those losses required multiple overtimes to complete.
In the Central League, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs also won their division with 95 points. They then rolled through the playoffs, losing just three games total, defeating the New Mexico Scorpions in the final. This was their second Ray Miron Cup in three years. – A.W.
Maine: 1993
On March 26, the Maine Black Bears waited patiently for their first NCAA tournament opponent after securing a bye. (They topped Minnesota the next day, 6-2, stamping their Frozen Four passport.)
But it was still an eventful day in the state’s hockey community. Portland was named the new home of the Washington Capitals’ AHL affiliate, effective the following fall.
By that autumn, the Black Bears were hoisting their first national championship banner, having capped a 42-1-2 run. Hobey Baker-winning rookie Paul Kariya and linemate Jim Montgomery had teamed on a decisive three third-period scoring plays to deny Lake Superior State a repeat crown in the NCAA final.
Kariya returned for 12 games as a sophomore before joining the 1993-94 Canadian national team. Meanwhile, the new Portland Pirates presaged their 1994 Calder Cup title by going 22-9-5 through October, November and December. – A.D.
Maryland: 1989
Until they got their new arena within Washington city limits in 1997, the Capitals called Maryland home. They spent their first 23 seasons in the D.C. suburb of Landover.
During their stay in Maryland, the Caps did not provide much to cheer for. But they did finish first in the Patrick Division crown in 1989.
This is the main reason 1989 is the best year for hockey in Maryland’s history, though the Caps weren’t the state’s only team at the time. The Baltimore Skipjacks were finishing their first season as Washington’s AHL affiliate, finishing sixth in their division. – Z.G.
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