USPHL’s Minnesota Moose move to Spooner

By Jim den Hollander 

Editor/Publisher 

Midwesthockey.info 

Minnesota Moose, one of the most successful teams in the USPHL’s Midwest-West Division has changed both its location and team name for the upcoming 2024-25 season.  

Since joining the USPHL in the fall of 2017, the Moose has put together a record of 209-85 through seven 44-game seasons. 

The league website announced recently the team’s plan to move to Spooner, WI and the state-of-the-art Spooner Civic Center that includes a great ice surface and facilities for dryland workouts and training as well.  

The team will be known as the Northwest Express moving forward. 

The Moose got a preview of the facility during the 2020-21 season moving to the northern Wisconsin town during the COVID restrictions. 

The move to Wisconsin makes for a more even balance in the division with now five teams based in Minnesota and four in Wisconsin. Other Wisconsin teams are based in Hudson, Wisconsin Rapids and Wisconsin Dells. 

Spooner is also the home base for the Wisconsin Lumberjacks, a Tier 2 team that plays in the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL), one of nine leagues under the Canadian Junior Hockey League umbrella. Minnesota and Wisconsin have both had teams in the SIJHL in recent seasons but as of the 23-24 campaign, the Spooner franchise was the lone American squad in the eight-team league. The other seven teams were based in Northwestern Ontario. 

The USPHL’s announcement of the move including the team’s new logo can be seen here USPHL Announces Relocation Of Minnesota Moose To Spooner, Wisconsin As The Northwest Express | USPHL Premier Division