The Southern Oregon Spartans were a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

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 their home games at The RRRink in

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the Me ...

History

On May 25, 2007, it was announced by 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 ...

(NorPac) that two expansion teams would begin play during the 2007–08 season, the

Missoula Maulers The Missoula Maulers were a junior ice hockey#AAU, junior ice hockey team from Missoula, Montana. The team played in the Northern Pacific Hockey League, the American West Hockey League, and the Western States Hockey League. out of Missoula's Glac ...

and the Rogue Valley Wranglers. When the Wranglers franchise was announced, the NorPac was a Tier III Junior B hockey league; however, on July 17, 2007, it was announced that the league and all its teams would be granted Tier III Junior A status. Also on July 17, the team announced the signing of their first player, Robert Reiber, who was later traded to the

Eugene Generals The Eugene Generals are a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey team. The team plays their home games at 2,700-seat the Rink Exchange in the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Oregon. The team announced it is on hiatus for the 2019–20 se ...

. After three seasons as the Wranglers, it was announced on February 20, 2010, that the team had been purchased by new ownership, led by Troy Irving and Forest Sexton, and would be re-established as the Southern Oregon Spartans. The new ownership confirmed that Steve Chelios would be hired on as the general manager and head coach of the team. The team played that evening for the first time as the Spartans and revealed the new team and logo to a crowd of over 900 fans from throughout Southern Oregon. Starting in the 2012–13 season, the Spartans joined the AAU-sanctioned

Western States Hockey League The Western States Hockey League (WSHL) was a junior ice hockey league established in 1993. It was sanctioned by the United Hockey Union, the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union. Previously, it was sanctioned by USA Hockey from 199 ...

(WSHL) and played out of the Northwest Division. In 2019, the Spartans' management posted the franchise was for sale. The team was then sold to Dylan and Brie Martin in June 2019. In 2020, the Spartans left the WSHL and joined another independent junior hockey league, 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), in the Premier Division. Due to local capacity restrictions on indoor events amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Spartans began their 2020–21 season playing in outdoor rinks with limited attendance. As restrictions increased, the team withdrew from the 2020–21 season after six games played on November 18, 2020. Working with the WSHL, their home arena, The RRRink, did not renew their lease with the Spartans in order to begin working with the WSHL again.

Season-by-season records

References

* {{Oregon Sports Sports in Medford, Oregon Ice hockey teams in Oregon Ice hockey clubs established in 2010 2010 establishments in Oregon