New hockey team seeks fresh start
MATT BALDWIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 10 months AGO
Hagadone Media Montana REGIONAL MANAGING EDITOR Matt Baldwin is the regional editor for Hagadone Media Montana, where he helps guide coverage across eight newspapers throughout Northwest Montana. Under his leadership, the Daily Inter Lake received the Montana Newspaper Association’s Sam Gilluly Best Daily Newspaper in Montana Award and the General Excellence Award in 2024 and 2025. A graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism, Baldwin has called Montana home for nearly 30 years. He and his wife, Sadie, have three daughters. He can be reached at 406‑758‑4447 or [email protected]. IMPACT: Baldwin’s work helps ensure Northwest Montana residents stay connected to their communities and informed about the issues that shape their everyday lives. | May 9, 2014 2:57 PM
Whitefish will have a new hockey team to cheer for next fall when the Whitefish Wolverines take to the ice at the Stumptown Ice Den.
The junior hockey club joins the Missoula Maulers and the expansion Butte Cobras as the three Montana teams in the Western States Hockey League.
Wolverines general manager Josh Steel says he plans to reinvent the program on the ice and improve the team’s relationship and image with the community. The Wolverines succeed the Glacier Nationals as the hometown team.
Nationals general manager Butch Kowalka announced last month he was moving the team to Havre when his contract to use the Ice Den wasn’t renewed by the city.
Ice Den manager Andy Hergesheimer said the decision to award the Wolverines with the contract came down to funding and management style. The Wolverines are paying about $10,000 more per season to use the Ice Den than the Nationals offered.
“Financially it made sense to choose Josh’s proposal,” Hergesheimer said. “I also think Josh will run a much more professional and organized type of operation.”
The Nationals had a rocky three-year run at the Ice Den, playing in two leagues and never fully gaining the support of the local hockey community.
(Matt Baldwin writes for the Whitefish Pilot)
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