|
| In 1995, the City of Urbandale approved a long-term land-lease agreement with the Greater Des Moines Ice Sports Association for the construction of a new indoor ice facility. The building opened in 1996 as Metro Ice Sports Facility. The Des Moines Oak Leafs joined the Midwest High School Hockey League in 1998-1999 and made Metro Ice Sports Facility its home ice. (In May 2024 rink owners ceased ice operations due to significant cost to maintain and repair ice making equipment.) Winter Wonderland PDF (Des Moines Register - Wednesday, February 7,1996) |
| In March 1996, the Nebraska State Fair Board approved an agreement allowing the owners of the Lincoln Stars - an expansion franchise in the United States Hockey League - to renovate the State Fair Park Coliseum into a 4,000-seat hockey venue. The transformed facility was named the Ice Box, and the Stars began play there during their inaugural 1996-1997 USHL season. The Lincoln Jr. Stars entered the Midwest High School Hockey League in 1998-1999, establishing the Ice Box as their home rink. Fair Board OKs hockey deal PDF (Lincoln Journal Star - Saturday, March 2, 1996) 'Ice Box' to open for public skating PDF (Lincoln Journal Star - Thursday, October 31, 1996) |
| Both the Varsity and Jr. Varsity tournaments are now limited to three days in length and each team is guaranteed a minimum of two games. |
| The Chicago Showcase planning committee implements pool play, in which teams are assigned to one of three pools based on the previous year's results. |
| Jed Ortmeyer, Omaha Jr. Lancers, plays his senior and final season in the IHSHL. He went on to star for the USHL Omaha Lancers from 1997-99 before going on to a standout collegiate career at the University of Michigan from 1999 through 2003. Jed then forged a career in the National Hockey League when he joined the New York Rangers in 2003-04. He played parts of nine seasons in the NHL for Nashville, San Jose and Minnesota in addition to the Rangers, appearing in a total of 345 games. |
 The Omaha Gladiators hosted the Varsity Year-End Tournament marking the first time the Varsity event is held outside the state of Iowa.The Varsity tournament banquet was held at the American Legion Millard Post 374. |
VARSITY REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPION
Omaha Jr. Lancers (24W-1L-1T)
VARSITY TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
March 7-9, 1997 - Hitchcock Ice Arena - Omaha, Nebraska
Championship Game: Mason City Mohawks 3, Omaha Jr. Lancers 2
Mohawks win ice title PDF
Mason City Globe-Gazette - Monday, March 10, 1997
VARSITY TOURNAMENT MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Isaac Sorenson - Mason City Mohawks
VARSITY COACH-OF-THE-YEAR
John Lloyd - Mason City Mohawks
VARSITY SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Waterloo Warriors
 VARSITY TOURNAMENT RESULTS March 7-9, 1997 - Hitchcock Park Ice Arena - Omaha, Nebraska |
|
| Play-In Games | E4 Waterloo 7, W5 St. Joseph 1 W4 Kansas City 5, E5 Ames 3 |
| Quarterfinal Games | W2 Omaha Gladiators 2, W3 Sioux City 4 E2 Dubuque 3, E3 Mason City 4, OT E4 Waterloo 0, E1 Des Moines 2 W1 Omaha Jr. Lancers 11, W4 Kansas City 6 |
| Consolation Semifinal Games | Waterloo 1, Dubuque 8 Omaha Gladiators 1, Kansas City 3 |
| Championship Semifinal Games | Des Moines 1, Mason City 5 Sioux City 5, Omaha Jr. Lancers 8 |
| Ninth-Place Game | St. Joseph 3, Ames 4 |
| Seventh-Place Game | Waterloo 1, Omaha Gladiators 2, OT |
| Fifth-Place Game | Dubuque 8, Kansas City 4 |
| Third-Place Game | Des Moines 4, Sioux City 2 |
| Championship Game | Mason City 3, Omaha Jr. Lancers 2 |
| VARSITY REGULAR-SEASON STANDINGS - Final | |||||||||
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | Pn | PM |
| EAST DIVISION | |||||||||
| 1-Des Moines | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 37 | 109 | 52 | 141 | 349 |
| 2-Dubuque | 26 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 35 | 111 | 72 | 171 | 561 |
| 3-Mason City | 26 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 24 | 105 | 90 | 159 | 402 |
| 4-Waterloo | 26 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 23 | 89 | 94 | 123 | 289 |
| 5-Ames | 26 | 4 | 22 | 0 | 8 | 45 | 118 | 188 | 484 |
| WEST DIVISION | |||||||||
| 1-Omaha Jr. Lancers | 26 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 49 | 147 | 30 | 224 | 560 |
| 2-Omaha Gladiators | 26 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 34 | 94 | 69 | 170 | 473 |
| 3-Sioux City | 26 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 30 | 107 | 85 | 203 | 501 |
| 4-Kansas City | 26 | 9 | 17 | 0 | 18 | 73 | 97 | 146 | 332 |
| 5-St. Joseph | 26 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 213 | 232 | 578 |
| VARSITY TOP-10 SCORERS | ||||||||||
| RK | Player, Team | GP | Go | Ast | Pts | SH | PP | Pn | PM | DQ |
| 1 | Jed Ortmeyer, Om Jr. Lancers | 26 | 34 | 30 | 64 | 1 | 13 | 16 | 32 | 0 |
| 2 | Tom Ogee, Om Jr. Lancers | 24 | 18 | 34 | 52 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 36 | 1 |
| 3 | Petr Kumpan, Waterloo | 25 | 27 | 21 | 48 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 0 |
| 4 | Jason Anderegg, Mason City | 25 | 24 | 23 | 47 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 22 | 0 |
| 5 | Brett Duncan, Om Gladiators | 26 | 23 | 18 | 41 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| 6 | Jeff Smith, Dubuque | 25 | 22 | 18 | 40 | 1 | 6 | 41 | 122 | 1 |
| Jeremiah Johnson, Om Jr. Lancers | 19 | 20 | 20 | 40 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 40 | 0 | |
| 8 | Zane Kantaris, Mason City | 23 | 22 | 17 | 39 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 88 | 2 |
| 9 | Jimmy Krueger, Des Moines | 26 | 23 | 15 | 38 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| 10 | Nick Saldi, Om Jr. Lancers | 25 | 21 | 16 | 37 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
| VARSITY SILVER-GLOVE GOALTENDERS | ||||||||||||
| RK | Player, Team | GP | W | L | T | SOG | Svs | GA | SH | PP | SO | Pct |
| 1 | Brett Roth, Om Jr. Lancers | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 260 | 245 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0.942 |
| 2 | Mike Newell, Om Jr. Lancers | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 198 | 186 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0.939 |
| 3 | Nick Fasano, Des Moines | 23 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 489 | 443 | 46 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 0.906 |
|
JUNIOR VARSITY REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPION
Des Moines Capitals (19W-2L-5T)
JUNIOR VARSITY TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
February 28-March 2, 1997 - Cyclone Area Community Center - Ames, Iowa
Championship Game: Ames Little Cyclones 5, Mason City Mohawks 0
JUNIOR VARSITY SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Ames Littly Cyclones
JR. VARSITY TOURNAMENT RESULTS |
|
| Play-In Games | E3 Waterloo 2, W5 St. Joseph 0 E4 Mason City 7, E5 Dubuque 0 |
| Quarterfinal Games | W3 Kansas City 2, W4 Omaha Jr. Lancers 1 W2 Omaha Gladiators 2, E2 Ames 3 W1 Sioux City 3, E3 Waterloo 1 E1 Des Moines 2, E4 Mason City 6 |
| Consolation Semifinal Games | Waterloo 1, Omaha Gladiators 0 Des Moines 1, Omaha Jr. Lancers 4 |
| Championship Semifinal Games | Sioux City 2, Ames 4 Kansas City 1, Mason City 2, 4OT |
| Ninth-Place Game | Dubuque 2, St. Joseph 5 |
| Seventh-Place Game | Omaha Gladiators 4, Des Moines 5 |
| Fifth-Place Game | Waterloo 0, Omaha Jr. Lancers 4 |
| Third-Place Game | Sioux City 7, Kansas City 3 |
| Championship Game | Ames 5, Mason City 0 |
| JR. VARSITY REGULAR-SEASON STANDINGS - Final | |||||||||
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | Pn | PM |
| EAST DIVISION | |||||||||
| 1-Des Moines | 26 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 43 | 94 | 37 | 140 | 329 |
| 2-Ames | 26 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 25 | 61 | 84 | 108 | 240 |
| 3-Waterloo | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 25 | 59 | 57 | 119 | 308 |
| 4-Mason City | 26 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 16 | 58 | 86 | 167 | 431 |
| 5-Dubuque | 26 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 14 | 68 | 113 | 145 | 405 |
| WEST DIVISION | |||||||||
| 1-Sioux City | 26 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 35 | 127 | 68 | 210 | 589 |
| 2-Omaha Gladiators | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 34 | 88 | 66 | 123 | 328 |
| 3-Kansas City | 26 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 33 | 97 | 61 | 142 | 324 |
| 4-Omaha Jr. Lancers | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 32 | 92 | 70 | 112 | 283 |
| 5-St. Joseph | 26 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 35 | 137 | 211 | 519 |
| JR. VARSITY TOP-10 SCORERS | ||||||||||
| RK | Player, Team | GP | Go | Ast | Pts | SH | PP | Pn | PM | DQ |
| 1 | Ryan Fitzpatrick, Om Jr. Lancers | 26 | 28 | 18 | 46 | 2 | 9 | 14 | 28 | 0 |
| Greg Gill, Sioux City | 25 | 19 | 27 | 46 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 31 | 1 | |
| 3 | Matt Tonjum, Sioux City | 25 | 18 | 24 | 42 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 51 | 1 |
| 4 | Mark Shoreman, Kansas City | 26 | 18 | 18 | 36 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| 5 | Adam Collette, Om Gladiators | 25 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 0 |
| 6 | Brent Sanders, Sioux City | 23 | 18 | 14 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 76 | 1 |
| 7 | Matt Ramsey, Des Moines | 26 | 19 | 9 | 28 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| 8 | Joe Lenz, Dubuque | 26 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 30 | 0 |
| Dan Greenwood, Kansas City | 26 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |
| Mike Kempkes, Om Jr. Lancers | 14 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 0 | |
| JR. VARSITY SILVER-GLOVE GOALTENDERS | ||||||||||||
| RK | Player, Team | GP | W | L | T | SOG | Svs | GA | SH | PP | SO | Pct |
| 1 | Chris Kammerer, Om Jr. Lancers | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 253 | 231 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.913 |
| 2 | Sean Allison, Des Moines | 18 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 321 | 290 | 31 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 0.903 |
| 3 | Nick Niedert, Waterloo | 12 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 194 | 174 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0.897 |
IOWA HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY LEAGUE 1996-1997 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President: Dick Keith - Sioux City
Secretary/Treasurer: Wayne Fick - Dubuque
Vice President: Darwin Sprong - Ames
Vice President: Terry Flynn - Des Moines
Vice President-Scheduler: Jerry Bahnsen - Mason City
Commissioner: Greg Cigrand - Dubuque
Referee-in-Chief: Keith Hendrickson - Omaha
Statistician: Doug Newhoff - Waterloo