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| During the summer and fall of 1976, a dedicated group of hockey enthusiasts met in Ames to finalize the structure and schedule for what would become the inaugural season of the Iowa High School Hockey League. The League’s first Executive Committee consisted of Robert Hartman of Sioux City, Phil Stephan of Mason City, Brian McPartland of Des Moines, and Waterloo’s Dave Tyler. Iowa State hockey coach Alan Murdoch was elected League Commissioner. Each participating team appointed a representative to the League’s Board of Directors. Officers pledged to follow Iowa High School Athletic Association eligibility and academic standards. Teams were placed into two divisions. Division I included Waterloo Public, Waterloo Columbus, Sioux City, and four members of the Des Moines Metro Conference: Dowling, Valley, Hoover–Roosevelt, and Urbandale. Division II included programs still in the early stages of formal competition - Ames, Ankeny, Des Moines Lincoln, Mason City, and Webster City. Division I teams were scheduled to play 12 league games, meeting each opponent twice in home-and-home matchups. League’s first year-end tournament was set for March 1977 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. All seven Division I teams qualify for the tournament plus the Division II team that ends the season in first place. Games consisted of 3, 15-minute periods. Penalties were one minute 30 seconds in duration. |
| Waterloo Columbus went on to capture the first regular-season championship with a 10–2 record and completed the sweep by winning the inaugural year-end tournament at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, defeating Des Moines Dowling 5-2 in the title game. |
| From the first season through the 1988-1989 season the League utilized playing rules established by the National Federation of State High School Associations. The League began its affiliation with AHAUS during the 1989-1990 season. (AHAUS was later rebranded as USA Hockey in 1991.) |
Preps in hockey loop PDF Jr. Musketeers join ice league PDF |
VARSITY REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPION
Waterloo Columbus Sailors (10W-2L-0T)
VARSITY TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
March 4-6 - Hilton Coliseum - Ames, Iowa
Waterloo Columbus Sailors 5, Des Moines Dowling Maroons 2
Columbus skaters win state title PDF
(Waterloo Courier - Monday, March 7, 1977)
 FIRST VARSITY TOURNAMENT RESULTS - March 4-6 - Hilton Coliseum - Ames, Iowa |
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| All seven Division I teams and the regular-season Division II champion qualify for the tournament. | |
| Quarterfinal Games | #4 Urbandale 6, #5 Sioux City 1 #3 Des Moines Valley 3, Waterloo Warriors 0 #2 Des Moines Dowling 6, #1DII-Ankeny 2 #1 Waterloo Columbus 7, Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt 1 |
| Consolation Semifinal Games | Sioux City 6, Ankeny 1 Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt 4, Waterloo Warriors 3 (OT) |
| Championship Semifinal Games | Des Moines Dowling 3, Urbandale 0 Waterloo Columbus 5, Des Moines Valley 1 |
| Fifth-Place Game | Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt 7, Sioux City 2 |
| Third-Place Game | Urbandale 5, Des Moines Valley 2 |
| Championship Game | Waterloo Columbus 5, Des Moines Dowling 2 |
| FIRST VARSITY DIVISION I REGULAR-SEASON STANDINGS - Final | |||||||
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
| 1-Waterloo Columbus | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 56 | 25 |
| 2-Des Moines Dowling | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 48 | 41 |
| 3-Des Moines Valley | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 39 | 24 |
| 4-Urbandale | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 38 | 30 |
| 5-Sioux City | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 43 | 48 |
| 6-Waterloo Warriors | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 30 | 51 |
| 7-Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 38 | 58 |
| FIRST VARSITY DIVISION I TOP-10 SCORERS | ||||
| RK | Name, Team | Go | Ast | Pts |
| 1 | Brian Hartman, Sioux City | 22 | 8 | 30 |
| 2 | Randy Higgins, Urbandale | 16 | 8 | 24 |
| T3 | David Foley, Des Moines Valley | 12 | 8 | 20 |
| T3 | Craig Brown, Waterloo Columbus | 7 | 13 | 20 |
| T5 | Scott Sutherland, Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt | 13 | 5 | 18 |
| T5 | Barney Munro, Des Moines Dowling | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| 7 | Keith McFadyen, Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt | 4 | 11 | 15 |
| 8 | Scott Jensen, Urbandale | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| T9 | Chuck Boesen, Waterloo Columbus | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| T9 | Kevin Landau, Waterloo Columbus | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| T9 | Jeff Bowman, Des Moines Dowling | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| FIRST VARSITY DIVISION I GOALTENDERS (no individual stats available) | |||||||
| Names - Team | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Don Anderson, David Linn - Des Moines Valley | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 2.0 | 2 |
| Greg Davis, Paul Sand - Waterloo Columbus | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 2.08 | 2 |
| Mark Cory, Greg Warwick - Urbandale | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 30 | 2.5 | 2 |
| Scott Meyer, Jim Heidman - Des Moines Dowling | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 41 | 3.4 | 1 |
| Mike Bennett, Eric Paulrod - Sioux City | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 48 | 4.0 | 0 |
| Eric Peterson, Ed Henn - Waterloo Warriors | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 51 | 4.2 | 0 |
| Scott Hagerman, Kim Day - Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 58 | 4.8 | 0 |
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AMES LITTLE CYCLONESFor its first three seasons in the Iowa High School Hockey League, Ames relied on Hilton Coliseum Ice vs. varsity sports a problem PDF Ames may be member of Iowa prep hockey league PDF Ames prep hockey slates 7 games PDF ANKENY HAWKSHead Coach: John Annable This is Ankeny's first year of hockey. The team joins Division II of the newly formed IHSHL and also participates in the Des Moines Metro Conference. Ankeny finished on top of the Division II regular-season standings which qualified it for the year-end tournament at Hilton Colesium in Ames. DES MOINES LINCOLN RAILSPLITTERSHead Coach: Ron Nagurski MASON CITY MOHAWKSMason City and Webster City are the only two teams without indoor ice. The Mohawks hosted teams on outdoor ice and indoor rinks at Albert Lea and Austin, Minnesota. (40 miles north of Mason City) YHA: Fifth season looks promising PDF City to construct third hockey rink PDF The push for a permanent indoor ice facility began in 1976, when local hockey enthusiasts presented a proposal to county supervisors to construct a dedicated rink at the North Iowa Fairgrounds. After several years of planning and fundraising, the project came to fruition with the opening of a new indoor arena in February 1983. Indoor ice rink supported PDF WEBSTER CITY LYNX
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| DIVISION II REGULAR-SEASON STANDINGS - Final (no standings available) | |||||
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| Ankeny | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Des Moines Lincoln | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Mason City | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| Webster City | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Ames | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| DIVISION II TOP-10 SCORERS (no statistics available) | |||
| Last, First - Team | Go | Ast | Pts |
| DIVISION II GOALTENDERS (no statistics available) | |||||||
| Names - Team | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
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| In the summer of 1975, the Waterloo Community School District approved the creation of the city’s first public school hockey team, drawing players from Central, East, and West High Schools. The new program began play during the 1975–76 season. Although it was not formally recognized by the Iowa High School Athletic Association, the team committed to following the Association’s standards as closely as possible. That same season, Waterloo Columbus launched its own school-sponsored hockey team. Columbus to start Iowa's first prep hockey team PDF (Waterloo Courier - Sunday, April 6, 1975) Hockey next year for public schools? (Waterloo Courier - Tuesday, April 15, 1975) Prior to the formation of the IHSHL, Des Moines area teams competed in the Metro Conference. Beginning in the mid 1960s, Dowling, Hoover Roosevelt, Lincoln, Valley, and Urbandale made up the core of the league. Although school names were used, teams were not school sponsored. In its first year as a school sponsored team, Waterloo Columbus joined the Metro Conference for the 1975–76 season. The Metro Conference continued to operate alongside the newly formed Iowa High School Hockey League through the 1980–81 season. An invitational Iowa High School State Championship Tournament was held at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, February 21-22, 1976. The event was sponsored by the Iowa State University hockey club. A Saturday snowstorm forced last‑minute delays and reshuffling of games. Waterloo Columbus edged Sioux City 5-4 in the championship game. |
IOWA HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY LEAGUE 1976-1977 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Secretary/Treasurer: W. David Tyler - Waterloo, IA
Vice President: Robert Hartman - Sioux City, IA
Vice President: Phil Stephan - Mason City, IA
Vice President: Brian McPartland - Des Moines, IA
Commissioner: Alan Murdoch - Ames, IA