Bloomington Ice Garden's newest tenant is enjoying a winning hockey season. The Northern Lights Junior B squad, formerly the South Suburban Steers, moved their operation to BIG this season. The Northern Lights were first in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League standings as of February 12th with a 26-10-1 record. There is a four way battle for first in the seven team league. Trailing the Northern Lights are the Dubuque (Iowa) Thunderbirds (25-10-2), St Paul Lakers (23-12-0) and Northwest Wisconsin Knights (22-11-1). The league's other three teams are the Minnesota Ice Hawks (14-22-2), Shattuck St. Mary (11-25-1) and Minnesota Owls (2-32-2).
Two Bloomington residents are playing key roles for the local Junior B team. Defenseman T.J. Lokken ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 12 goals and 35 assists for 47 points. Kelly Kranz, another defenseman, has four goals and eight assists for 12 points.

Northern Lights general manager Ross Smith said he is happy with his team's new home but hopes the club can secure more playing dates next season. "We are only able to play 11 home games at Bloomington Ice Garden this season because the arena was so booked up," said Smith. "We are playing many of our other scheduled home games at Wakota Arena (in South St. Paul). We wish we could have played more of them in Bloomington this year and would like to play all of our home games here next season. We had good crowds for our first few games that were played here."

Junior B hockey is designed for players coming out of high school who eventually want to play college hockey. "Junior B hockey gives players an extra year to work on their athletic and academic skills right after they get out of high school," said Smith. "We require our players to take classes or have a tutor while playing."

Each player has to pay for his opportunity to play with the Northern Lights. "Most parents are footing the bill for their kids to play Junior B," said Smith. "Our team's only revenues currently come from player's fees and attendance. We are hoping to attract corporate sponsorship before next season."

Coaching the Northern Lights is Josh Hauge. Local hockey fans can watch this team in action at 6:45 p.m. this Friday February 21 against the Owls at BIG. The Northern Lights face the Northwest Wisconsin Knights at 7 p.m. Saturday Feb. 22 at Wakota Arena. League playoffs begin in early March.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM SUN CURRENT NEWSPAPER

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