The Warroad Lakers were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

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 from Warroad,

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 Lakers played in various Manitoba AHA and Thunder Bay AHA senior and intermediate leagues and were granted special eligibility for the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

and Hardy Cup by the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction include ...

. The Lakers were three-time

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

National Champions, one-time Allan Cup National Finalists, one-time Hardy Cup Canadian National Champions, and one-time Hardy Cup National Finalists.

History

The Lakers were

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

Intermediate "A" Champions in 1964, 1974, and 1977,

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

Intermediate "A" Champions in 1963 and 1964, and Manitoba Intermediate "A" Champions in at least 1971, 1974, and 1977. They were also Thunder Bay Senior "A" Champions in 1965 and Manitoba Senior "A" Champions in at least 1969, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997. At the

1974 Hardy Cup The 1974 Hardy Cup was the 1974 edition of the Canadian intermediate senior ice hockey championship. Final Best of 5 *Warroad 7 Embrun 3 *Warroad 4 Embrun 3 *Warroad 9 Embrun 1 :Warroad Lakers beat Embrun Panthers 3-0 on series. Eastern Playdowns ...

, the Lakers faced the

Ottawa District Hockey Association Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Embrun Panthers The Embrun Panthers are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Embrun, Ontario. They play in the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League. Prior to 2017, the Panthers were members of the National Capital Junior Hockey League. History Founded in ...

. The Lakers swept them 3-games-to-none to win their only Hardy Cup. Three years later, the Lakers faced

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

Campbellton Tigers The Campbellton Tigers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in Campbellton, New Brunswick. They play in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. The team plays their home games at the Memorial Civic Center. Originally founded in 1996 as the Rest ...

at the

1977 Hardy Cup The 1977 Hardy Cup was the 1977 edition of the Canadian intermediate senior ice hockey championship. Final Best of 5 *Campbellton 4 Warroad 3 *Campbellton 5 Warroad 3 *Warroad 7 Campbellton 2 *Campbellton 6 Warroad 3 Campbellton Tigers beat Warroa ...

, but fell 3-games-to-1. The Warroad Lakers are only the second American team in

history to be Canadian National Senior "AAA" Champions. They won the

1994 Allan Cup The 1994 Allan Cup was the Canadian national senior ice hockey championship for the 1993–94 Senior "AAA" season. The event was hosted by the Warroad Lakers in Warroad, Minnesota. The 1994 tournament marked the 86th time that the Allan Cup has b ...

on home ice, the next year they won the

1995 Allan Cup The 1995 Allan Cup was the Canadian national senior ice hockey championship for the 1994-95 Senior "AAA" season. The event was hosted by the Stony Plain Eagles in Stony Plain, Alberta. The 1995 tournament marked the 87th time that the Allan Cup h ...

Stony Plain, Alberta Stony Plain is a town in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Parkland County. It is west of Edmonton adjacent to the City of Spruce Grove and sits on Treaty 6 land. Stony Plain is known for its many painted ...

, and then won the

1996 Allan Cup The 1996 Allan Cup was the Canadian national senior ice hockey championship for the 1995-96 Senior "AAA" season. The event was hosted by the Unity Miners in Unity, Saskatchewan. The 1996 tournament marked the 88th time that the Allan Cup has been ...

Unity, Saskatchewan Unity is a town in the western part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan with a population of 2573. Unity is located at the intersection of Highway 14 and Highway 21, and the intersection of the CNR and CPR main rail lines. Unity is locat ...

to become the only team in history to win three consecutive Allan Cups. A season later, the Lakers failed to defeat the

Powell River Regals The Powell River Regals were a Canadian Senior ice hockey team from Powell River, British Columbia. The Regals played an independent schedule under the supervision of the BC Amateur Hockey Association. The Regals were three-time Allan Cup Natio ...

in the 1997 Allan Cup final, which would have given them four in a row if won. In 1997, after finding themselves without a league to play in, the Warroad Lakers were forced to fold. Around 2001, the team was resurrected and named the Warroad Islanders. They competed in the

2002 Allan Cup The 2002 Allan Cup was the Canadian senior ice hockey championship for the 2001–02 senior "AAA" season. The event was hosted by the Powell River Regals in Powell River, British Columbia. The 2002 tournament marked the 94th year that the All ...

but failed to get out of the round robin. In 2003, the Islanders failed to get past the Ile des Chenes North Stars (who won the 2003 Allan Cup) in the Manitoba playdowns. Soon after, the team fell off the competitive hockey map. All three of the Lakers' Allan Cup winning teams have been inducted into the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named an ...

Season-by-season results

Notable alumni

Henry Boucha Henry Charles Boucha ( ; born June 1, 1951) is an American former professional ice hockey center. Boucha played in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA) between 1971 and 1977. In the NHL he played for the Detro ...

* Bill Christian * Dave Christian * Roger Christian * Blane Comstock * Chad Erickson * Alan Hangsleben * Jim Henry *

Ken Johannson Kenneth Johannson (October 6, 1930November 27, 2018) was a Canadian-born American ice hockey player, coach and executive. A native of Edmonton, he attended the University of North Dakota on a football scholarship, then played for the Fighting ...

* Bob Johnson *

Julian Klymkiw Julian Gregory Klymkiw (July 16, 1933 – August 10, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in one National Hockey League game for the New York Rangers during the 1958–59 NHL season. Klymkiw was working as the De ...

* Ed Kryzanowski * Larry Olimb * Dave Richardson * Clarence Schmidt *

Wyatt Smith Wyatt Carter Smith (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played as a journeyman center in the National Hockey League before finishing his career with ERC Ingolstadt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Play ...

Art Stratton Arthur Stratton (born October 8, 1935) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 95 games in the NHL for 5 separate teams. These included the New York Rangers (18 games), Detroit Red Wings (5 games), Chicago Black Hawks (2 ga ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Allan Cup page
Defunct ice hockey teams in Manitoba Defunct ice hockey teams in Minnesota Roseau County, Minnesota Senior ice hockey teams

History

Season-by-season results

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links