The Muskegon Lumberjacks was an International Hockey League

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 located in

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expa ...

. After the 2010 season, the team folded and Ron Geary, the owner of the Evansville IceMen of the AAHL, purchased the franchise rights of the former Muskegon Lumberjacks from the IHL. Geary then moved the franchise to

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

where they became the

Evansville IceMen The Evansville IceMen were a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL in Evansville, Indiana. The franchise was originally a member of the United Hockey League before it merged into the Central Hockey League in 2010. The franchise has won four po ...

Muskegon Fury (1992–2008)

The Muskegon Fury was an International Hockey League

team located in

. The team's colors were

teal alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue colour. Its name comes from that of a bird — the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'') — which presents a similarly coloured stripe on its head. The word is ofte ...

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...

, and

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

. The Fury were established in 1992 after the original

Muskegon Lumberjacks The Muskegon Lumberjacks are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League. They play in Muskegon, Michigan, at Mercy Health Arena. The Lumberjacks replaced the International Hockey League franchi ...

of the previous International Hockey League relocated to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Up to that point, hockey had been in Muskegon for 32 consecutive seasons and Tony Lisman, owner and president of the Fury, would not let that tradition end. Lisman kept his vow to keep hockey in Muskegon by establishing the Fury in the one-season-old

Colonial Hockey League Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

(CoHL). The Fury made it to the Colonial Cup Finals in their third season after losing in the first round of the playoffs after their first two seasons. However, they lost to the

Thunder Bay Senators The Thunder Bay Thunder Cats was a minor professional ice hockey team based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, and a member of the United Hockey League. The team went through a number of different names prior to being the Thunder Cats, including th ...

in six games. In the 1995–96 season, they won their division but were upset in the first round to the Detroit Falcons in five games. Erin Whitten, one of the few female hockey players to play professionally, played for the Fury during the 1995–96 season before being traded to the

Flint Generals The Flint Generals were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at Perani Arena and Event Center. The Generals won two league championship ...

. The CoHL was renamed to United Hockey League in 1997. In the 1998–99 season, the Fury finished with the best record during the regular season and won their first Colonial Cup by defeating the

Quad City Mallards The Quad City Mallards were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa that competed in the International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL. They were named after the Mallards team ...

in six games. The Fury would win their second title in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. Despite finishing third in their division during the 2003–04 season, the Fury would win their third championship by going undefeated through all eleven games of the three playoff series to claiming the Colonial Cup. They won the regular season championship in 2004–05 and a back-to-back Colonial Cup championship. On August 30, 2006, Bruce Ramsay was named the head coach for the 2006–07 season, replacing Todd Nelson who had accepted the assistant coaching position for the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

a few days earlier after three head coaching seasons in Muskegon. In 2007, the United Hockey League changed names again to the International Hockey League in honor of the now defunct league.

Return of the Lumberjacks

On September 12, 2008, new owners Stacey Patulskey, Jeff Patulskey and Tim Taylor changed the team's name from the Muskegon Fury to the Lumberjacks to reflect back on what many remember as the glory days of hockey in Muskegon. Head coach Bruce Ramsay resigned after the 2008–09 season to become the head coach of the

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

. Ramsay was replaced for the 2009–10 season by Rich Kromm. On February 8, 2010 it was announced that the Lumberjacks franchise would fold following the 2009–10 season. The announcement coincided with the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

awarding an expansion team to Muskegon taking on the name

. On June 23, 2010, the International Hockey League announced that Ron Geary had finalized the transaction to purchase the Muskegon Lumberjacks' IHL franchise from the IHL and move it to

, as the

at the conclusion of the 2009–10 IHL season. However, the IHL would not play another season and the remaining teams, including the new IceMen, joined the Central Hockey League. From 2008 to 2010, the Lumberjacks were affiliated with the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey, hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National H ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL). In 2008, the Evansville IceMen of the All American Hockey League (AAHL) served as a farm team affiliate. In 2009, the

Battle Creek Revolution The Battle Creek Revolution was a professional ice hockey team which played in the All American Hockey League (2008–2011), All American Hockey League. The team played its home games at Revolution Arena in Battle Creek, Michigan. The team was ini ...

of the AAHL served as the farm team affiliate.

Championships

NOTE: The league's name has changed over the years from the Colonial Hockey League (until 1997), United Hockey League (1997–2007), and the International Hockey League (2007–2010).

References

External links

Muskegon Lumberjacks official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muskegon Lumberjacks (1992-2010) International Hockey League (2007–2010) teams Sports in Muskegon, Michigan Professional ice hockey teams in Michigan Ice hockey clubs established in 1992 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2010 1992 establishments in Michigan 2010 disestablishments in Michigan