Dubuque Fighting Saints

The original Dubuque Fighting Saints played at the multi-purpose Dubuque Five Flags Center arena situated in downtown Dubuque from 1980 to 2001. In the early years of the franchise the Saints enjoyed much success with a number of championship seasons. In later years, the team struggled on the ice and crowds in the stands decreased putting the team into some financial trouble. During the 2000–01 season, team owner/GM/coach Brain Gallagher announced plans to relocate the team following the season to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play as the Tulsa Crude. In their first and only season in Tulsa, Gallagher's team would finish last in the league (12-43-6) and failed to generate the necessary fan support, and the franchise ceased operations.

To replace the hockey void in Dubuque, the Fighting Saints were replaced in the 2001–02 season by the Dubuque Thunderbirds in the Tier III Minnesota Junior Hockey League and later the Central States Hockey League. The Thunderbirds would prove to be a success and would win league championships in 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2009 while setting league attendance records along the way.

In the fall of 2009, construction began on the new Mystique Community Ice Center. Around that same time several former hockey teammates from Harvard formed Northern Lights Hockey, LLC. which included former team captain, Brad Kwong; Philip Falcone (part owner of NHL's Minnesota Wild); Peter Chiarelli (a general manager for the NHL's Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers); and former University of Denver player Mark Falcone (board member of the NHL's Minnesota Wild). The purpose of their group was to assemble and develop plans to obtain ownership of an USHL expansion team, announcing in late 2009 their intentions to bring USHL hockey back to Dubuque. The new team replaced the successful Dubuque Thunderbirds in 2010. After completion of voting from local hockey fans, it was revealed that the "Fighting Saints" moniker would once again represent Dubuque in the USHL.[1]

In their first year back in the USHL for the 2010–11 season, the Saints would inaugurate the brand new Mystique Community Ice Center with Dubuque native Brooks Bertsch scoring the first goal. The expansion Fighting Saints had a successful season compiling a 37–14–9 record and taking first place in the Western Conference.[2] The Saints would earn a 9–2 playoff record, defeating the Fargo Force 3-games-to-0 in the quarterfinals, Sioux Falls Stampede 3-games-to-1 in the semifinals, and defeating the defending Clark Cup Champion Green Bay Gamblers 3-games-to-1 in the best-of-five USHL Clark Cup championship series.[3] Saints LW Rookie Johnny Gaudreau was recognized as the USHL Rookie of the Year and Jim Montgomery was recognized as the USHL General Manager of the Year.

In the 2011–12 season, the Saints were moved to the Eastern Conference. The defending champions would finish in third place with a 36–20–4 record and claim the inaugural "Cowbell Cup".[4] They would go on to win the opening best-of-three qualifying round of the playoffs 2-games-to-0 over Team USA. The Saints were then swept in the best-of-five quarterfinals by the Indiana Ice.[5]

The Fighting Saints would roll through the 2012–13 season with a 45–11–8 record, finishing first in the Eastern Conference and the overall league leaders, securing their first Anderson Cup regular season championship since the former Saints in the 1982–83 season, and repeat as Cowbell Cup champions.[6] After securing a bye for the qualifying round, the Saints skated to a 3-games-to-0 quarterfinals win over the Muskegon Lumberjacks. The Youngstown Phantoms took Dubuque to a decisive fifth game in the Clark Cup semifinals, with the Saints advancing with the win. In the Clark Cup finals, the Saints would seal the championship with a win on the road, taking down the Fargo Force 3-games-to-0.[7] Dan Lehv was recognized as the USHL Executive of the Year and Jim Montgomery was once again recognized as the USHL General Manager of the Year. Montgomery had served as the team's head coach and general manager from 2010 through the end of the 2012–13 season. In May 2013, Matt Shaw was hired as head coach and GM to replace Montgomery who was hired as head coach of the University of Denver Pioneers.

Prior to the start of the 2013–14 season, first-year coach Shaw and the Saints were invited to play in the Junior Club World Cup in Omsk, Russia, finishing with the bronze medal. Returning home, the defending champions skated to a 33-23-4 regular season record, finishing third in the Eastern Conference[8] and qualifying for the postseason for the fourth time in four years.[8] Prior to the start of the season, the USHL reduced the number of playoff teams from each conference from 6 to 4, eliminating the opening qualifying round. In the playoffs, the Saints would face-off in the quarterfinals against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders for the first time and would win the series 3-games-to-1. The Saints were then swept out of the semifinals by the eventual Clark Cup Champion Indiana Ice, 3-games-to-0.[9]

The Saints finished the 2014–15 regular season in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 36–19–5 record.[10] For the fifth straight year since returning to the USHL, they qualified for the Clark Cup playoffs, extending the longest active playoff streak in the league. The Saints also claimed their third "Cowbell Cup" in the Prairie Farms Cowbell Cup Series over Cedar Rapids and Waterloo. The playoff quarterfinals pitted the Saints in a 2014 quarterfinals rematch against rival Cedar Rapids, a team that Dubuque had a 6–2 regular season record against. Dubuque would sweep Cedar Rapids 3-games-to-0 in the best-of-five series to move on. The best-of-five semifinals pitted Dubuque against the Muskegon Lumberjacks. In a back and forth five-game series with neither team notching back-to-back wins, Muskegon would prevail in game 5 by holding off a late game rally for the 3–4 win and take the series.[11] Following the season, head coach Matt Shaw announced that he would be leaving the Saints after accepting a position as an assistant coach at the University of North Dakota

The Saints under direction of first year coach Jason Lammers, finished the 2015–16 regular season in third place in the Eastern Conference. For the sixth straight year, the Saints qualified for a spot in the Clark Cup playoffs, further extending the longest active playoff streak in the league. Each of the four Eastern Conference playoff teams finished the season with better records than all teams in the Western Conference, gaining the eventual Eastern Conference champions a guaranteed home-ice advantage in the finals. In the quarterfinals, the Saints would close out a 3-games-to-1 series win against the second seeded Green Bay Gamblers. In the Eastern Conference finals, Dubuque took the first of a back and forth series against the Bloomington Thunder and took the series to game five at home in Dubuque, prevailing in a 3–0 shutout to earn a spot and home-ice advantage in the Clark Cup finals. Even with the home-ice advantage, the Fighting Saints would be swept in three games in the finals by the Tri-City Storm. Following the season, Saints net-minder Hunter Miska was recognized by USA Hockey as the Dave Peterson Goalie of the Year.[12]

The Saints finished the 2016–17 regular season in second place in the Eastern Conference with forward Zach Solow garnering the USHL regular season scoring title. The Saints qualified for a spot in the Clark Cup playoffs a seventh straight year continuing the longest active playoff streak in the league. In the quarterfinals, the Saints faced the third seeded Muskegon Lumberjacks in a series with both teams almost statistically identical.[13] Dubuque would skate to a 3-games-to-1 series win. The Saints faced off against top seeded Chicago in the Conference Finals. After splitting the first two games on the road, the Saints would be stopped in both games at home, dropping the series 3-games-to-1. Second year coach Jason Lammers announced that he would be accepting the head coaching position at Niagara University at the conclusion of the season.[14] After leading the league in scoring, Saints forward Zach Solow was bestowed the Dave Tyler National Junior Player of the Year, the first Dubuque player to receive the honor.[15]

In an injury-plagued 2017–18 regular season, the Saints finished in fifth place with 33 of 60 games being decided by a single point where they held a 14–19 record. Of the 33 single point games, 18 advanced to overtime, earning the Saints 18 bonus points in the standings, contributing to their fifth-place finish for the season. The Saints were 4–10 in games ending in overtime and 1–3 in games ending in a shootout.[13] For the postseason, the USHL returned to an expanded playoff format with the top six teams in each conference qualifying for the Clark Cup playoffs, up from four in the previous seasons,[16] allowing the Saints to earn a playoff berth for the eighth straight year, continuing the longest active streak. The best-of-three first round series had the Saints facing the fourth-seeded Green Bay Gamblers. The Saints swept the road series 2-games-to-none for their eighth consecutive year with a playoff series win, but were eliminated in the following round.

Prior to 2018–19 season, Philip Falcone sold his interest in Northern Lights Hockey to another group under the name Saints4Life Acquisitions, LLC. Saints4Life's investors were made up of many other individuals including Dan Bylsma, Johnny Gaudreau, Zemgus Girgensons, and Peter Luukko.[17]

Started in 2011–12 season and sponsored by Prairie Farms, the Cowbell Cup is awarded to the highest finisher in the "Cowbell Cup Regular Season Series" between the eastern Iowa USHL rivals; Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, Dubuque Fighting Saints, and Waterloo Blackhawks. At the start of the 2015–16 season, Dupaco Community Credit Union became the primary sponsor of the renamed "Dupaco Cowbell Cup". The Fighting Saints have won the Cowbell Cup in the following seasons:

• 2011–12
• 2012–13
• 2014–15
• 2019–20
• 2020–21