SUPERIOR INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
SIJHL MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Proposed SIJHL franchise in Thief River Falls reaches lease agreement with city
THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The proposed Superior International Junior Hockey League franchise in Thief River Falls, Minn., is one-step closer to reality.
The yet to be named club has reached an agreement with the City of Thief River Falls on a lease to play out of Ralph Engelstadt Arena in time for the 2016-17 season.
Among those in the Thief River Falls’ ownership group is local businessman Dave Beito along with former NHLer Tim Berglund and Kevin McCallum.
McCallum will also serve as general manager and director of hockey operations for the team.
“Our ownership group is very excited to come to terms with the city of Thief River Falls,” offered McCallum.
“We believe council and the entire city are behind this and want to see us be successful both on and off the ice,” stated the TRF GM.
Thief River Falls earlier received unanimous approval from the SIJHL board of governors to join the league and were also granted permission from USA Hockey to become members.
The league has also filed paperwork with Hockey Northwestern Ontario earlier this month for Hockey Canada approval and hopes to hear back on that in early April.
“We will be holding a contest to name the team very soon and are working with Hockey Tech, the official website and statistical provider of the SIJHL, for an upcoming launch of our website, added McCallum.
Thief River Falls is also actively looking to complete the process of securing the services of a head coach for the club in the coming weeks.
The following is a video link courtesy of WDAZ TV in nearby Grand Forks, N.D. on the announcement of the lease agreement between the proposed SIJHL team and the city:
Click here to view Thief River Falls Lease Agreement courtesy WDAZ TV – Grand Fork, N.D.