The Fresno Monsters are a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team based in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

. The team is a member of the

United States Premier Hockey League The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is an American ice hockey league. Founded in 2012, the USPHL has grown to over 60 organizations from across the United States/Canada fielding teams in the National Collegiate Development Conference ...

and plays in the Premier Division. The Monsters' home venue is Gateway Ice Center.

History

The Monsters were announced in spring 2009, filling a void for hockey in

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

after the

Fresno Falcons The Fresno Falcons are an adult travel inline hockey team and were a minor league hockey team. The ice hockey Falcons were charter members of several long standing leagues in the western United States including the Pacific Southwest Hockey Leagu ...

folded. The team began play in mid-September 2009, playing in the Tier III Jr. A

Western States Hockey League The Western States Hockey League (WSHL) was a junior ice hockey league established in 1993. It was sanctioned by the United Hockey Union, the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union. Previously, it was sanctioned by USA Hockey from ...

(WSHL). On December 15, 2009, the Monsters announced the organization was given expansion approval into the Tier II

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

(NAHL) for the 2010–11 season and Fresno would host two levels of junior hockey for the first time. On May 23, 2013, it was revealed the Monsters' North American Hockey League franchise would move to

Wenatchee, Washington Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and most populous city of Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and has increased to 35,508 as of 2020. ...

, and become the second Wenatchee Wild. The Monsters would continue to field a team in the Western States Hockey League, now sanctioned under United Hockey Union (UHU) instead of

USA Hockey USA Hockey is a national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United S ...

, with the same ownership of David White and Shoot the Puck, Inc. In 2015, the UHU promoted the WSHL and Monsters to their own level of Tier II. On March 22, 2016, after six seasons coaching the WSHL Monsters, head coach and general manager Bryce Dale stepped down from his positions with the organization. In June 2016, David White sold the Monsters to the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation, led by Jeff Blair. Former Monsters' assistant coach, Jason Rivera, was then named head coach but was replaced by former NHL enforcer, Kevin "Killer" Kaminski prior to the season. In January 2018, the team announced it would begin to occasionally play games again at the larger Selland Arena, their home while the organization also had a NAHL franchise. The following season, the Monsters moved back to Selland Arena for 21 of their 23 scheduled home games. After three seasons, coach Kaminski left to become the head coach of the

La Ronge Ice Wolves The La Ronge Ice Wolves are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey team based in La Ronge, Saskatchewan. They play in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and will play their homes games at the Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre, which has a se ...

in his home province of Saskatchewan. He was replaced by Trevor Karasiewicz from the Watertown Wolves in the

Federal Hockey League The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. ...

. In 2020, the Monsters left the WSHL and joined another independent junior hockey league, the

(USPHL), in the Premier Division.

Season-by-season records

WSHL/USPHL team (2009–present)

North American Hockey League team (2010–2013)

References

External links

* http://www.fresnomonsters.com {{NAHL Defunct North American Hockey League teams Ice hockey teams in California Sports clubs and teams in Fresno, California Ice hockey clubs established in 2009 2009 establishments in California