The Marquette Junior Hockey Corporation (MJHC) was organized in 1958 with Harold Alholm elected as its first President. Working in conjunction with the Marquette Department of Parks and Recreation parents and hockey fans organized to promote and expand junior hockey. By 1961, 225 youths were playing on 19 teams. While only five years prior there were but four teams.

Alholm also was the principal organizer of the first-ever Bantam National Championship Tournament in the United States. In 1960 and 1961, the tourneys were hosted by the MJHC with the Marquette Elks Club finishing as national runners-up each year. In the 1960 championship. The Elks were defeated by Detroit, 3-0: while Sault Ste. Marie claimed the 1961 title 6-3.

Volunteers are the backbone of the MJHC with leadership being provided by Presidents: Al McLain, Fred Steele, Les Pelto, John Vargo, Charlie Hill, Neil Nystrom, Dick Kortum, Norm Tuimala, Bill Chalfont, Sandy Bourgeois, Tom Beard, Bill Cooke, Dewayne Nygard, Bill Dupras, Frank Nettell, Darrel Sleeman, Jacki Lykins, Dean Manning and current President, Dennis Robinson.

Expansion in 1966 allowed younger children to learn the sport with the development of Mite and Squirt Divisions. By the 1969-70 season, a total of 400 players were participating on 25 teams and three years later enrollment exceeded 600 youths playing on 36 squads.

With tremendous growth in the program and other ice activities at the Palestra, there was a community-wide effort to obtain a new facility. After 46 years of fond memories, the Palestra was replaced with the Lakeview Arena. The dual-surface arena saw its first use in January of 1974 as a puck was dropped for the first junior hockey game in the new complex.

Hockey Moms are active in all phases of the program. A highlight of these activities came in 1972 when the Moms played in a benefit game before a standing-room-only crowd in the Palestra. Over $2,000 was raised in this and subsequent games. The funds were used to purchase Plexiglas in Lakeview Arena's Olson Rink and to help defray the cost of Plexiglas in its Russell Rink.

Although the MJHC fielded strong teams throughout its history, it wasn't until the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) adopted a new classification system for state tournaments that MJHC teams successfully competed at the state level.

With advent of three classifications of play "Open", "A" and "B", in 1971 the Marquette Exchange Club promptly won the first Class "A" Squirt title. It was the first state championship for a Marquette hockey team since 1952 when a Juvenile Division squad called the Pied Pipers claimed the hardware. Previously, seven MJHC squads had finished as state runners-up.

From 1971 through 1978, a total of eight MJHC teams won state championships, while another five squads finished as state runners up. The Marquette Elks Club won the Squirt Class "B" title in 1977. In the Pee Wee Division, championships were won by Nystrom's Moving and Storage, Class "A" (1974); CWA Flyers, Class "B" (1975); and O'Dovero Construction Class "B" (1978). In the Bantam Division, Bancroft Dairy won two Class "A" titles (1973 and 1974), while taking runner-up honors in the "Open' Class (1975). The lone Midget Division championship was claimed by the Marquette Township Lions, Class "B" (1976).

A second reclassification for state tournament play occurred for the1978-79 season, when MAHA divided the "open" Class into "AA" and "AAA"classes. Since then, Marquette squads have won 16 additional state championships, finishing up as runners-up 14 times.

Here is a look at those champions by division: In the Squirt Division, Bonanza Family Restaurant won two "AA" crowns (1985and 1988), while Pee Wee Division "AA" titles were won twice by Jilbert's Dairy (1991 and 1993). In the Bantam Division, American Legion Post #44 has won "AA" three crowns (1992.1994 and 1995) while Firefighters Local 643 won the Bantam "B" title in 1993. In the Midget Division: The Marquette Electricians Local 1070 squad claimed three "AA" state titles (1980, 1982 and 1984). The team has competed at the "AAA" classification since the 1987-88 season and was declared the state champion in 1989. The Electricians were runners-up in "AAA" three times (1990,1993, and 1994) prior to winning the title in 1996, defeating Detroit Little Caesars, 4-3, in the championship. Another midget team, the AFLCIO Marquette County Labor Council Chiefs, brought home a "B" title in1991.

Marquette teams won back-to-back Junior C state championships as well. The Burger King Flyers won the crown in 1991 and the Peninsula Sanitation Flyers claimed the hardware in 1992. Although no state tourney was held in 1993, the Peninsula Sanitation Flyers represented Marquette in the National Championship dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to Team Colorado in the title game.

In all, 50 MJHC teams have competed in MAHA State Championship title games since our program's inception in 1958. Marquette is the proud home of 24 State Champions and 26 State Runners-up. Although no teams from Marquette were able to win state titles this year, five squads competed in state championship tournaments. The Pee Wee "AA" and Midget "AAA" teams finished state semifinalists, while the American Legion Bantam "AA" team finished state runner-up losing 4-3 in overtime to the Grosse Pointe Bulldogs. Most important, though, MJHC participants had fun and advanced their hockey skills. We are equally proud of the efforts of all players, coaches and volunteers.

On the national level a total of 17 MJHC teams have participated in National Championship Tournaments. Four teams have won national titles, while five finished as runners-up and two reached semi-finals. In 1996, the Marquette Electricians Local 1070 squad lost a 4-3 overtime decision to the Alaska All-Stars in the semi-finals of the Midget Tier I National Tournament held in Lisle, a suburb of Chicago.

In 1984, the Marquette Electricians Local 1070 won the Midget Tier 11 National Tournament in Bricktown, N.J., shutting out defending champion Chicago, 3-0. In 1992, the Peninsula Sanitation Flyers topped Costa Mesa, Calif., 8-1, to win the Junior C National title in Affton, near St. Louis. In 1993, Jilbert's Dairy claimed the Pee Wee Tier II National Championship by knocking off the host Winnetka (111) Warriors, 6-3, before a standing-room-only crowd in the Chicago suburb. In 1996, American Legion Post #44 returned to the Bantam Tier II National Championship for the fourth time in five years and beat defending champion Grand Forks South of North Dakota, 2-1, before some 3,000 fans at Marquette's Lakeview Arena.

Marquette has now hosted five national tourneys including the Inaugural Bantam Nationals in 1960 and 1961. In 1977, the Electricians Local 1070 and the Marquette Blues took part in the Midget Tier I National Championship that saw Burlington, Mass., defeat Seattle, 3-0. to win the title. In 1986. The Electricians played host to the Midget Tier II Nationals eventually falling to the Royal Oak (Mich.) Golden Eagles, 2-0, in the title game. In April of 2004, Marquette will host the USA Hockey Midget Tier I National Championship.

In addition to hosting various local, regional, state and national tourneys the MJHC has played host to teams from Canada, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. MJHC teams compete at the "B" "BB" "A" and "AA" levels of play as well as at the "AAA" level with the Marquette Electricians.

Hockey continues to be the major recreational sport in the area. Many players have gone on to play at the high school, junior and collegiate levels, while others have remained in the area and volunteered their time to coach, referee or take on administrative duties in our program.