Montana

Montana is a state of the United States. It is located in the northwest part of the country with a border with the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Helena is the capital and Billings is the largest city in the state.

It has a population of about 1,000,000.

History of hockey in Montana

See also: Montana Hockey (1946-1963)

On January 13, 1902, it was reported that the Helena Hockey Club wanted to arrange a game with the Butte Hockey Club. It was planned for the Salt Lake Hockey Club from Utah to face the Butte Hockey Club in Butte on December 29, 1905. There was a game played in Butte between the local High School and Dr. Pigot's team on January 5, 1908. There were plans for the Helena Hockey Club to face Pigot's team in a series of games, the first of which was scheduled for January 12 in Butte, but these did not materialize. Butte defeated Missoula twice in 1909, and claimed the Montana State Championship, which they defended in 1910. Anaconda also had a team in 1910, which lost 12-0 to Butte. Missoula entered the Rossland Winter Carnival tournament in 1911. The Butte-Anaconda Hockey League was formed in 1912-13. Anaconda swept Butte in four games for the state title in 1914, and repeated as champions the following year. Bozeman debuted on the hockey scene in 1915. Butte played in the Rossland Winter Carnival in 1916, and Anaconda entered it in 1917.

The Montana State Hockey League was formed for 1922-23. Butte and Anaconda were the main hockey towns during the first half of the 1920s, and later in the decade Butte was the only locale playing. By 1931, Missoula and Anaconda were active again, both losing to Butte in state title affairs. Great Falls was active in 1932, defeating both Butte and Missoula. The Montana School of Mines had a team by 1933, joined the new Butte-Anaconda League. Helena had a team by 1938, which lost twice to the Butte Copper Kings in state title matchups. The Butte Copper Kings, Butte Boosters, Helena Vigilantes, and Montana School of Mines competed in the Montana State Hockey League in 1938-39, the Mines team copping the title, which they defended in 1940. Great Falls, which joined the league in 1939-40, won the championship in 1941. Montana School of Mines and the Butte Boosters shared the 1942 championship.

Hockey activities continued in Montana throughout the 1940s, and the Great Falls Americans played in the Alberta Big Six League for the 1952-53, 1961-62 and 1962-63 seasons. The Americans also competed in the Alberta-Montana Intermediate Hockey League from 1953-1956, and then its successor, the Alberta-British Columbia-Montana Hockey League, before rejoining the Big Six League. They then played in the Montana State Hockey League. Later, junior franchises named the Americans played in the Western Hockey League (for part of the 1979-80 season only), American Frontier Hockey League (1994-1998), America West Hockey League (1998-2003 and 2011-2014), and the North American 3 Hockey League (2014-present).

The Butte Copperleafs played in the Alberta-Montana League in 1953-54. The Butte Bombers were a semi-professional team that was founded by the famous daredevil Evel Knievel in 1958. Somehow he convinced Czechoslovakia to play the Bombers on their 1959-60 tour. It was a blowout, the Czechoslovaks winning 22-3. The Butte Copper Kings played in the Southwest Hockey League in 1975-76. The Billings Blazers also played in the SWHL from 1975-1977, and the Montana Magic competed in the Central Hockey League in 1983-84.

At the junior level, the Billings Bighorns were members of the Western Hockey League from 1977-1982, and the Billings Bulls have played in various junior leagues from 1993-2017. The Bozeman Icedogs have competed in numerous junior leagues since 1996. The Butte Irish played in the AFHL from 1996-1998 and the AWHL from 1998-2002, the Butte Roughriders were members of the Northern Pacific Hockey League from 2003-2011, and the Butte Cobras have played in the North American 3 Hockey League since 2014. The Glacier Nationals were members of various junior leagues from 2011-2017. The Helena Bighorns (originally the Ice Pirates, then the Gold Rush) have played at the junior level since 1994. The Queen City Cutthroats were members of the NorPac league from 2004-2006. The Missoula Maulers were active in junior leagues from 2007-2016. The Whitefish Wolverines played in the WSHL from 2014-2016.

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