Winds of change in SIJHL
It has been a summer breeze of significant change throughout the Superior International Jr. Hockey League ahead of the looming ’24-25 season.
There are new head coaches in two of the SIJHL’s more reputable franchises, namely the Dryden Ice Dogs and Kam River Fighting Walleye. There has also been a franchise shift involving the Wisconsin Lumberjacks. And in the board room, the SIJHL also has a new commissioner.
• Jake Gushue has moved up from assistant coach to the head coach and general manager in Dryden, which is the SIJHL’s flagship franchise. The 28-year old Gushue takes over from long-time Ice Dogs hockey boss Kurt Walsten. Gushue is a former player in Dryden as is new Ice Dogs assistant coach Ben Hackl. As for Walsten, he has since been hired as the head coach of the SIJHL’s Kenora Islanders.
• 34-year old Dwight Lee takes over as the new head coach in Kam River, which has been to the league finals in each of its three full seasons in the SIJHL, including one championship. Formerly an assistant coach in the British Columbia Hockey League, Lee succeeds Jesse Messier as the bench boss of the Fighting Walleye. Messier left Kam River after one season for an assistant coach position in the minor pro hockey ranks.
• The SIJHL will set up shop in Ironwood, Michigan following the league-approved relocation of the Wisconsin Lumberjacks franchise. A town of about 5,000 residents, Ironwood is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The team will be known as the Ironwood Lumberjacks.
• Dean Thibodeau is the new commissioner of the SIJHL, having taken over from Darrin Nicholas, who moved on after four seasons at the helm of the eight member league. Thibodeau had associate and assistant roles on both the women’s and men’s sides of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
