The River Falls Renegades was a Tier III junior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team that played first in the

Minnesota Junior Hockey League The Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey league operated out of Minneapolis-Saint Paul. History Established in 1974, the MnJHL developed players 20 years old and younger for over 40 years ...

(MnJHL) and then the

United States Premier Hockey League The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is an American ice hockey league. Founded in 2012, the USPHL has grown to over 60 organizations from across the United States fielding teams in the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), ...

(USPHL). The team was not listed among the USPHL membership in 2017–18.

History

The team was founded in 2007 as part of the

(MnJHL) as the Hudson Crusaders in

Hudson, Wisconsin Hudson is a city in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, its population was 12,719. It is part of the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The village of North Hudson is direct ...

. Their highest achievement was advancing to the 2011 USA Hockey National Tournament where they defeated the

Seattle Totems The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. Under several names prior to 1958, the franchise was a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (renamed the Western Hockey League in 1952) between 1944 and 19 ...

of the

Northern Pacific Hockey League The Northern Pacific Hockey League (NPHL) was an American Tier III junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. Its championship trophy was the Cascade Cup. History Established in 2000 as the NorPac Junior Hockey League, the league was ...

becoming the only team to win a game at Nationals with a losing regular season record (the unusual circumstance stemming from the Crusaders winning the bronze medal game, the MnJHL runners-up

Rochester Ice Hawks The Rochester Grizzlies (formerly the Rochester Ice Hawks) are a junior ice hockey#Tier III, Tier III junior ice hockey team in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The team plays their home games at the 2,600-seat Rochester Recreation Cent ...

automatically qualified as they were hosting the tournament). Prior to the 2012–13 season, the team nearly folded one week before the season was to begin when the team president and board of directors resigned. A local group quickly acquired and reorganized the team and staff to save the franchise. In 2013, the new group also acquired the rights to a Tier II

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

(NAHL) franchise that they relocated to

Richfield, Minnesota Richfield is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling. An inner ring suburb of Minneapolis, it is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minn ...

, and named the

Minnesota Magicians The Wisconsin Windigo are a Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Midwest Division. Based in Eagle River, Wisconsin, the Windigo play their home games at Eagle River Stadium, affectitionately referred to as the "D ...

. This created a direct link for advancement for their players to develop from Tier III to Tier II junior hockey. In 2015, the MnJHL was dissolved as many of the former members left to join the

as part of a new Midwest Division. To go along with the change in leagues, the Crusaders also changed their name to the St. Croix Valley (SCV) Magicians to reflect their direct relationship with their higher level NAHL team. During the 2015–16 season, the team relocated from

, to the Vadnais Sports Center in

Vadnais Heights, Minnesota Vadnais Heights is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 12,302 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It bord ...

. Prior to the 2016–17 season, the USPHL Midwest was divided between the USPHL's Elite and USP3 Divisions with the Magicians going to the Elite Division. On July 28, 2016, the Magicians announced that they had relocated once again to become the River Falls Renegades and play out of the River Falls Youth Hockey Rink in

River Falls, Wisconsin River Falls is a city in Pierce County, Wisconsin, Pierce and St. Croix County, Wisconsin, St. Croix counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is adjacent to the River Falls (town), Wisconsin, Town of River Falls in Pierce County and the Kinnic ...

Season-by-season records

Alumni and advancement

The Crusaders/Magicians/Renegades produced a few alumni that played in higher levels of junior hockey,

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I,

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

, and ACHA

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

programs as well as professional hockey. During the years 2007–2012 they advanced fifty players to a higher level. From 2013 to 2016, players for the Crusaders/Magicians were also called up to their Tier II affiliate, the

, since they played their home games about thirty minutes away.

References

{{Reflist

External links

River Falls Renegades webpageUSPHL webpage
Amateur ice hockey teams in Wisconsin Amateur ice hockey teams in Minnesota