Red Lake Mining League

The Red Lake Mining League was contested in Red Lake, Ontario. Howey Gold Mines, the sole producing mine in the town, formed Red Lake's first hockey team in the early 1930s, and three of the four teams in the league were made up of their employees (underground, surface, and mill), with the fourth representing the town. By 1936-37, Howey only had one team in the league, with the others being the McKenzie Red Lake Mines Dynamiters, the Gold Eagle Gold Mines, and Red Lake Gold Shore Mines-Town Combines. The McKenzie Island team was the best in the league for many years. In 1937, they lost the Kenora-Patricia District Championship to the Kenora Clayton's Flyers.

The league was popular in the area, with Sunday afternoon games drawing crowds in the hundreds, and playoff finals bringing in more than 1,000. In 1937-38, the Red Lake Thunderers (a league all-star team) entered the Manitoba Senior Playoffs for the Allan Cup, winning the title and advancing to the Western Canadian playdowns.

Hockey activities continued in Red Lake throughout the 1950s. Red Lake, Dickenson Mines, Campbell Red Lake Mines, and the Cochenour Orfuns were among the active teams in that era.

Images

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  1934 McKenzie Island

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  1936 McKenzie Island

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  1930s Howey Gold Mines

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  Howey Gold Mines circa 1936-1938

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  1938 Red Lake Thunderers