Sometimes I think junior hockey exists to give the smaller, underserved cold-weather markets a local team to call their own. But then I realize, no, it exists mostly to populate the internet with video of line brawls, weird promotions, and coaching meltdowns. This comes from a game Saturday between the NAHL's…

Often imitated, never duplicated, the WHL's Calgary Hitmen's annual Teddy Bear Toss is the best spectacle in junior hockey, and it's for a good cause. Fans bring stuffed animals to the game, and upon the Hitmen's first goal, they're hurled onto the ice in an orgiastic torrent of plush. The bears are then donated to…

There's a fascinating story brewing in Ann Arbor and Kitchener, fascinating if you're a follower of junior hockey or student journalism, and hell, even if you're not. It concerns where ninth overall draft pick Jacob Trouba will be playing hockey this fall, and a defamation lawsuit against the Michigan student newspaper …

The gentleman in the suit throwing equipment on the ice is Marlin Murray, coach of the Dauphin Kings. Sort of a contradictory city/team name combination, but that doesn't change the fact that the Manitoba Junior Hockey League is serious business. Perhaps upset with the fact that his opponents received 16 power…

With the backup goalie unavailable and the starter injured just two minutes into the game, the Erie Otters of the OHL were forced to turn to little-used center Connor Crisp. Crisp, who hadn't played goalie in organized hockey since he was five years old, threw on some secondhand pads and skates and gave it his best…

A junior hockey team in Idaho was banned from the local rink after imitating their NHL idols and holding their own "strip shootout." I guess if the Tampa Bay Lightning jumped off a bridge, you would do that too? [WSOCTV]