The Rochester Mustangs were an American junior A

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 h ...

team that was located in Rochester, Minnesota. The Mustangs were in existence from 1986 to 2002. Prior to 1986, the organization was located in

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in, and the county seat of, Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Po ...

, and was known as the

Austin Mavericks The Austin Mavericks are a defunct ice hockey team from Austin, Minnesota. Founded in 1974, they played in the Midwest Junior Hockey League from 1974 to 1977. Lou Vairo coached the Mavericks to two league championships and one national championship ...

. The Mavericks played from 1974 until 1977 in the

Midwest Junior Hockey League The Midwest Junior Hockey League (MWJHL) was an American junior ice hockey league. The MWJHL were members of the United Hockey Union and sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). On March 10, 2015, the league announced it would be joining ...

, before moving to the United States Hockey League in 1978. The Mustangs played their home games in the Rochester Recreation Center, which seated approximately 2,500. The Recreation Center was home to the Mustangs for 17 years. The team ceased operations at the end of the 2001–02 season because of poor attendance numbers and an old arena. The Mustangs won the American National Junior "A" championship in 1987, 1988, and 1998. After ceasing operations, the dormant franchise appears to have changed hands on a number of occasions until it was purchased by the ownership of the Danville Wings, the Mervis family. The Mervis family had purchased the franchise to use as a new USHL team on the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

campus in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metro ...

, and the family sold the Wings to Paul Skjodt. Skjodt relocated that team to create the

Indiana Ice The Indiana Ice was a Tier I junior ice hockey team and member club of the United States Hockey League (USHL) that was formed in 2004 when the Danville Wings were purchased and moved from their location in Danville, Illinois, to Indianapolis, I ...

in 2004. The Mervis family focused on starting the Champaign team, however, the new proposed arena project never took off and the family began to look elsewhere such as La Crosse, Wisconsin, Battle Creek, Michigan, and

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. The franchise was eventually reactivated as an expansion team in 2010 as the

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 ...

Notable alumni

* Keith Aldridge – competed in four games for the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and were founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minne ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

* Jozef Balej – played three season in the NHL for the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

, and

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

* Ralph Barahona – played six games for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

. *

Peter Markle Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

– played in a World Hockey exhibition between

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

* Shjon Podein – played in eleven NHL seasons for the Blues, Flyers,

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...

, and

Oilers Oiler may refer to: Ships * Replenishment oiler * Tanker (ship) Sports * Cape Breton Oilers, a former American Hockey League team * City Oilers, Ugandan basketball team * Edmonton Oilers, a National Hockey League team based in Edmonton, Alberta, ...

References

{{Reflist United States Hockey League teams Sports in Rochester Ice hockey teams in Minnesota Ice hockey clubs established in 1985 1985 establishments in Minnesota