The St. Paul Vulcans are a defunct 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 hock ...

franchise that was based in Bloomington,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. The franchise was a charter member of 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 ...

(USHL) that started play with the 1979-80 season. The franchise was renamed the Twin Cities Vulcans for the start of the 1995 season. In 2000, the team was renamed the Tri-City Storm and moved to Kearney, Nebraska.

History

The Vulcans franchise began as the Minnesota Jr. Stars of the Thunder Bay-Minnesota Junior A Hockey League in 1971. A year later, the league changed its name to the Can-Am Junior Hockey League. The team also changed their name to the St. Paul Jr. Stars. Their rival, the Thunder Bay Vulcans, sponsored by an organization in St. Paul, dropped their sponsorship of the franchise when they announced they would be playing exclusively in Canada the next season. At the start of the 1973 playoffs, the Vulcan organization began funding the Jr. Stars and their name was changed to the St. Paul Vulcans. Despite the name change, the Vulcans were league champions in 1973 and for their only time in team history, entered into the Canadian

Centennial Cup The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of junior A ice hockey. It is a ten-team round robin featuring the winners of ...

playdowns. In the Eastern Centennial Cup Quarter-final, the Vulcans squared off against the Central Junior A Hockey League's Pembroke Lumber Kings. The Lumber Kings downed the Vulcans 4-games-to-1 to end their playoff run. Due to disagreements between the American and Canadian teams in the CAJHL, the league was divided into the

Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League The Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League (TBJHL) was a Canadian junior ice hockey league that existed from c. 1920 to 1980. The TBJHL operated in Northwestern Ontario, primarily in the Thunder Bay region. The Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League wa ...

(again) and 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 ...

. The Vulcans would be one of the stronger members of the MWJHL. In 1977, the MWJHL would merge into the

- introducing junior hockey to what would become America's top tier of junior hockey. Bloomington ice garden

In 1995, the St. Paul Vulcans were renamed the Twin Cities Vulcans in hopes of broadening the fan base to cover the entire

Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities ...

area.

Jim Johannson James Johannson (March 10, 1964January 21, 2018) was an American ice hockey player, coach and executive. He played for the United States national junior team at the World Juniors in 1983 and 1984, then played for the United States national t ...

was named head coach and general manager of the Vulcans in June 1995. In July 1997, the Vulcans reduced their ticket prices to be the lowest in the USHL at per adult. Johannson stated that the team wanted to raise prices, but it would hurt the program which drew an average of 400 spectators per game, due to competition from other sporting events in the Twin Cities. In May 1998, Jim Hillman was promoted from assistant coach to replace Johannson who remained as the general manager. In September 1999, the USHL approved the sale of the franchise to be moved to

Kearney, Nebraska Kearney is the county seat of Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 30,787 in the 2010 census. It is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The westward push of the railroad as the Civil War ended gave new birt ...

to become the

Tri-City Storm The Tri-City Storm is a Tier I junior ice hockey team based in Kearney, Nebraska, that plays in the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Its name refers to the three central Nebraskan cities of Kearney, Hastings, and G ...

after the season. Johannson stated that the Vulcans were victims of declining attendance and a southward geographical shift of the USHL to Iowa and Nebraska. During the final five years of existence of the Vulcans, they played their home games in

Mariucci Arena 3M Arena at Mariucci is the home arena for the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team of the University of Minnesota. The arena is located on the Minneapolis campus and seats approximately 10,000 fans (9,600 in the main bowl plus club room ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, Wakota Arena in

South St. Paul South St. Paul is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota County, Minnesota, United States, located immediately south and southeast of Saint Paul, Minnesota, St. Paul. It is also east of West St. Paul, Minnesota, West St. Paul. The population ...

Augsburg University Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the u ...

Arena in Minneapolis, Columbia Arena in

Fridley Fridley is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 29,590 at the 2020 census. Fridley was incorporated in 1949 as a village, and became a city in 1957. It is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area as ...

, and then at the Bloomington Ice Gardens in the final season. The Vulcans placed sixth during the 1999–2000 season. In the playoffs, they defeated the

Sioux Falls Stampede The Sioux Falls Stampede are a Tier I junior ice hockey team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Stampede are members of the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team plays home games at the Denny Sanford Premi ...

by three consecutive one-goal victories in the first round, then defeated the

Lincoln Stars The Lincoln Stars are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Stars' home ice is the Ice Box on the former Nebraska State Fair grounds and adjacent to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. History ...

by three games to two in the second round, then lost to

Green Bay Gamblers The Green Bay Gamblers are a Junior ice hockey#Tier I, Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). They play in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, at the Resch Center. History Professional hockey in Gre ...

by four games to one in the Clark Cup finals. The Vulcans qualified for the USA Hockey Junior A National Championship since Green Bay was the host team. The Vulcans defeated the Danville Wings by a 3–0 score in the semifinals, then defeated the Green Bay Gamblers by a 4–1 score in the finals to win the national championship.

Season-by-season results

Playoffs

*1972 ''Lost Final'' :Minnesota Jr. Stars defeated

Westfort Hurricanes The Westfort Hurricanes were a Canadian Junior ice hockey club from Fort William, Ontario. The Herks were members of the Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League and were Abbott Cup finalists once. History In 1972, the Hurricanes broke away from the ...

''2-games-to-none'' : Thunder Bay Vulcans defeated Minnesota Jr. Stars ''4-games-to-none'' *1973 ''Won League, Won TBAHA Jack Adams Trophy final, Lost

Dudley Hewitt Cup The Dudley-Hewitt Cup is a championship ice hockey trophy awarded to the Central Canadian Junior A champion. The trophy is currently decided by round robin tournament format, at the conclusion of the playoffs of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, ...

quarter-final'' :St. Paul Jr. Stars defeated

Minneapolis Bruins The Minneapolis Bruins were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the Central Professional Hockey League (CPHL) from 1963 to 1965. The Bruins were one of the original five teams to enter the newly formed CPHL. Minneapolis operated as a ...

by default (Bruins forfeit late in Game 1) :St. Paul Jr. Stars defeated Thunder Bay Centennials ''4-games-to-none'' CAJHL CHAMPIONS, JACK ADAMS TROPHY CHAMPIONS : Pembroke Lumber Kings ( CJHL) defeated St. Paul Vulcans ''4-games-to-1''

References

External links

Information on Vulcans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Paul Vulcans Defunct ice hockey teams in Minnesota Ice hockey teams in Minnesota