Whitefish hockey team in the works

WHITEFISH — Hockey hasn’t left Whitefish for good.

With the Glacier Nationals packing up their gear and heading to the Hi-Line, former Nats goaltending coach Josh Steel is keeping the sport in town, starting a new team in the Western States Hockey League, according to a press release from the WSHL.

The new team, which will still be comprised of players ages 16-20, was approved by the WSHL Board of Directors earlier this month, will join the Missoula Maulers and the newly-formed Butte Cobras in the league as the third team in Montana. The team will continue to use the Stumptown Ice Den for home games.

Organizers are currently in the process of choosing a name, creating a logo and naming a staff, all of which will be released in the coming weeks.

The Nationals, who spent a tumultuous three seasons playing in two leagues during their time in Whitefish, were 19-40-3 in parts of two seasons in the North Pacific Hockey League and 23-43-2 in in the America West Hockey League. The Nationals left Whitefish for Havre this month and will play in their third league in four seasons, joining the North American Tier III Hockey League.

Steel, a Coram native, told the WSHL he would be carrying over a few things from the Nationals, but looked forward to moving the program in a new direction.

“I’m very excited to bring a quality junior hockey product to Whitefish,” Steel said.

With the addition of four teams this spring, the WSHL is now at an all-time high of 30 member clubs and is trending toward having five, six-team divisions for the 2014-2015 season. Other teams currently in the Northwest Division are Missoula, Butte, (McCall) Idaho Junior Steelheads, Ogden (Utah) Mustangs, Salt Lake City Moose, Seattle Totems and Southern (Medford) Oregon Spartans.

More information will be reported once the details have been finalized.