Chippewa Steel

Chippewa Steel
City	Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
League	North American Hockey League
Division	Midwest
Founded	2005
Home arena	Chippewa Area Ice Arena
Colors	Green, black, gray
Owner(s)	Kelly Kasik Geoffrey Stahl
General manager	Chris Ratzloff Cody Gonyeau
Head coach	Chris Ratzloff
Affiliate	Wisconsin Woodsmen(NA3HL)
Franchise history
2005–2010	North Iowa Outlaws
2010–2018	Coulee Region Chill
2018–present	Chippewa Steel

The Chippewa Steel is a Tier II junior ice hockey team based in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, that plays in the North American Hockey League (NAHL).

The franchise began in 2005 as the North Iowa Outlaws based in Mason City, Iowa, where the team played for five seasons until moving to Onalaska, Wisconsin, in 2010 under owner Mark Motz as the Coulee Region Chill.^[1] The team was then sold to Michelle Bryant in 2012 and the franchise was eventually moved in 2014 to nearby La Crosse, Wisconsin, with games at the Green Island Ice Arena.

After the 2017–18 season, Chill owner Michelle Bryant sold the franchise to Steve Black of JB Black Enterprise, LLC, the owner of the NA3HL's New Ulm Steel. Black relocated the Chill franchise to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, as the Chippewa Steel to play out of Chippewa Area Ice Arena. Bryant would then rename her NA3HL team from La Crosse Freeze to Coulee Region Chill while continuing to play out of La Crosse.^[2] Al Rooney was named the Steel's first head coach and general manager,^[3] but was relieved of duties 23 games into his first season with a 5–16–1–1 record.^[4] Assistant coach Carter Foguth was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season before be given the role permanently at the end of the season.^[5]

In March 2021, it was reported that Steve Black sold the Steel and the Tier III New Ulm Steel to an ownership group led by Kelly Kasik.^[6] The sale was confirmed on April 16 along with the announcement of new general manager and head coach Mike Janda.^[7] However, Janda was then given a two-year suspension in August 2021 by USA Hockey for manipulating records to use non-eligible players when he held a previous coaching job on a youth team and was subsequently released by the Steel.^[8] The Steel then hired Casey Mignone, the assistant coach of the St. Cloud Norsemen.^[9]

After Casey Mignone left for a coaching job at Alaska-Farianks, on July 8, 2023, owner Kelly Kasik and the Steel hired Chris Ratzloff,^[10] who had previously coached for the Rochester Grizzlies(NA3HL) for the past 4 years. Chris Ratzloff went 29-25-6 in his first season as coach. The Steel also adopted a new slogan in 2023, which is currently "Rally the Valley!"

Current division opponents for the Steel are the Anchorage Wolverines, Fairbanks Ice Dogs, Janesville Jets, Kenai River Brown Bears, Minnesota Wilderness, Springfield Jr. Blues, and Wisconsin Windigo(previously Minnesota Magicians)

• 2007

First Round - Fargo-Moorhead Jets defeated North Iowa Outlaws 3-games-to-2

• 2008

First Round - Springfield Jr. Blues defeated North Iowa Outlaws 3-games-to-0

• 2009

First Round - Owatonna Express defeated North Iowa Outlaws 3-games-to-1

North Iowa Outlaws advance to Robertson Cup round robin as HOST

Robertson Cup Round Robin - North Iowa Outlaws (1-3) - Eliminated (L, 3-4 vs. Wild; L, 1-2 vs. Phantoms; L, 2-3 vs. Bobcats; W, 4-2 vs. Bandits)

• 2011

Division Semifinals - Coulee Region Chill defeated Owatonna Express 3-games-to-1

Division Finals - Bismarck Bobcats defeated Coulee Region Chill 3-games-to-2

• 2012

Division Semifinals - St. Louis Bandits defeated Coulee Region Chill 3-games-to-0

• 2015

First Round - Minnesota Wilderness defeated Coulee Region Chill 3-games-to-2

• 2016

Division Semifinals – Fairbanks Ice Dogs defeated Coulee Region Chill 3-games-to-1

• 2017

Division Semifinals – Janesville Jets defeated Coulee Region Chill 3-games-to-0

• 2023

Midwest Division Semifinals - Wisconsin Windigo defeated Chippewa Steel 3-games-to-0

The Chippewa Steel and Janesville Jets have one of the most fierce rivalries in the Midwest Division. The history of this rivalry dates back to 2018, when the Steel were "New" to the league, where the Jets and Steel fought for a milk can, which is called the Dairyland Milk Can Trophy,^[11] which was sponsored by Blain's Farm & Fleet. The battle for this milk jug ran from 2018-2022, but it was stopped in the 2023-24 season. The Steel had a 21-17-2 record in that time frame, and overall lead the series 26-21-3 at the moment. But just because the trophy was taken away doesn't mean the animosity was, as these teams are usually at each other's throats every minute or so. In fact, in a game on March 1, 2024, between the Jets and Steel in Chippewa Falls, 14 out of the 18 penalties served in that game between the two teams were either Roughing, Head Contact, Unsportsmanlike, Slashing, Boarding, or Checking from Behind(These are generally considered more "rougher" penalties), 8 of those being Roughing alone. The Jets ended up winning that game 5-0, off of a 4 goal first period.

• Chippewa Steel official website