St. Paul Vulcans

St. Paul Vulcans
City St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
League United States Hockey League
Midwest Junior Hockey League
Can-Am Junior Hockey League
Thunder Bay-Minnesota Junior A Hockey League
Operated 1971 (1971)-2000
Colors Red, Yellow, Black, White
Franchise history
1971-1972 Minnesota Jr. Stars
1972-1973 St. Paul Jr. Stars
1973-1995 St. Paul Vulcans
1995-2000 Twin Cities Vulcans

The St. Paul Vulcans are a defunct Junior A ice hockey franchise that was based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The franchise was a charter member of the United States Hockey League (USHL) that started play with the 1979-80 season. The franchise was renamed the Twin Cities Vulcans for the start 1995 and folded in 2000.

Contents

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 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 (again) and the Midwest Junior Hockey League. The Vulcans would be one of the stronger members of the MWJHL. In 1977, the MWJHL would merge into the United States Hockey League - introducing junior hockey to what would become America's top tier of junior hockey.

Season-by-Season Standings

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results
1971-72 24 12 11 1 - -- -- 25 3rd TBMJHL
1972-73 32 27 3 2 - 170 79 56 1st CAJHL
1973-74 60 38 21 1 - 343 263 77 3rd MWJHL
1974-75 60 33 25 2 - 305 298 68 3rd MWJHL
1975-76 50 25 24 1 - 272 230 51 3rd MWJHL
1976-77 48 29 18 1 - 239 203 59 1st MWJHL
1977-78 51 16 35 0 - 209 287 32 3rd USHL-MW
1978-79 50 12 38 0 - 170 255 24 4th USHL-MW
1979-80 48 10 38 0 - 205 303 20 4th USHL-N
1980-81 48 28 19 1 - 291 223 57 3rd USHL-N
1981-82 48 26 21 1 - 263 251 53 4th USHL
1982-83 48 18 28 2 - 242 294 38 6th USHL
1983-84 48 37 8 0 3 246 160 77 1st USHL
1984-85 48 31 16 0 1 263 198 63 4th USHL
1985-86 48 33 13 0 2 258 178 69 2nd USHL
1986-87 48 21 22 4 1 236 228 47 8th USHL
1987-88 48 29 15 4 0 277 181 66 3rd USHL
1988-89 48 38 10 0 0 306 171 76 2nd USHL
1989-90 48 27 19 1 1 229 197 56 6th USHL
1990-91 48 28 16 3 1 228 182 60 4th USHL
1991-92 48 31 12 2 3 255 179 67 3rd USHL
1992-93 48 26 19 2 1 212 201 55 5th USHL
1993-94 52 20 28 0 4 175 183 44 7th USHL
1994-95 48 31 14 2 1 211 166 65 3rd USHL
1995-96 46 18 21 3 4 169 184 43 8th USHL
1996-97 54 25 26 3 0 190 211 53 4th USHL-N
1997-98 56 19 32 5 0 162 242 43 6th USHL-N
1998-99 56 22 34 0 0 183 246 44 4th USHL-C
1999-00 58 31 19 0 8 203 174 70 5th USHL-W

Playoffs

Minnesota Jr. Stars defeated Westfort Hurricanes 2-games-to-none
Thunder Bay Vulcans defeated Minnesota Jr. Stars 4-games-to-none
St. Paul Jr. Stars defeated Minneapolis Bruins 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

External links