Fury Hockey History

The Muskegon Fury was a International Hockey League ice hockey team located in Muskegon, Michigan. For nearly half a century, Muskegon County has been home to professional hockey, professional hockey that has seen some great success. During nine years, the International Hockey League's Muskegon Fury has won four United Hockey League championships, a league record. That number includes the last two league crowns and three of the last four titles.

Established in 1992, the Fury, founded by their President and Team Owner Tony Lisman, came to be when the International Hockey League's Muskegon Lumberjacks moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Hockey had been a part of Muskegon for better than three decades, and Lisman wasn't about to let the tradition end. In 15 years of competition, the Fury has never seen a losing season, and has never missed the playoffs. In that time frame, the Fury has a winning percentage of .620, something no other team in minor-professional hockey can match.

The Fury takes great pride in the community services they perform. Furious Fred, the lovable team mascot, is frequently seen throughout the community, appearing at schools, parades, charity events, and much more. The Fury also takes great strides in aiding the community in as many ways as possible. They work very hard with the local Child Abuse Council and United Way, as well as many other charitable organizations. In addition, the Fury visits many schools during the season, stressing the importance of education and good health.

The L.C. Walker Arena houses the IHL kingpins, and is the premiere event facility along the area shoreline. When hockey is in the off-season, the arena is also home to concerts, the circus, conventions, and, new to the arena, The Muskegon Thunder of the Great Lakes Indoor Football League.

The Fury lost to the Danbury Trashers in the 2005-2006 playoffs in their bid for a third consecutive Colonial Cup championship.

On August 30, 2006, Bruce Ramsay was named the Fury head coach for the 2006-2007 season, replacing Todd Nelson, who had accepted the assistant coaching position for the Chicago Wolves a few days earlier. Nelson is now serving as an assistant coach for the NHL Atlanta Thrashers. Ramsay resigned after the 2008-2009 season to become the head coach of the Tulsa Oilers in the Central Hockey League. Ramsay was replaced for the 2009-2010 season by Rich Kromm.

Erin Whitten one of the few female hockey players to play professionally, played for the Fury during the 1995-1996 season, before being traded to the Flint Generals.

On September 12, 2008, new owners Stacey Patulskey, Jeff Patulskey and Tim Taylor changed the teams name from the Muskegon Fury to the Lumberjacks to reflect back on what many remember as the glory days of hockey in Muskegon.

The Lumberjacks are affiliated with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. The Battle Creek Revolution of the All American Hockey League serves as the Lumberjacks farm team affiliate.

On February 8, 2010 it was announced that the Lumberjacks franchise would fold following the 2009-10 season. On June 23, 2010 the International Hockey League announced that Ron Geary had finalized the transaction to purchase the Muskegon Lumberjacks’ IHL franchise from the IHL and move to it Evansville, Indiana as the Evansville IceMen at the conclusion of the 2009-10 IHL season. The dormant Rochester Mustangs franchise of the USHL (United States Hockey League) would move to Muskegon taking on the name Muskegon Lumberjacks.

 


Muskegon, Michigan

Muskegon is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 40,105. The city is the county seat of Muskegon County. The city is located at the southwest corner of Muskegon Township, but is administratively autonomous.

Muskegon is the greater populated of two principal cities of and included in the Muskegon-Norton Shores Metropolitan Statistical Area with a population of over 174,000, which is further included in the larger Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland Combined Statistical Area (CSA) with a population of 1,323,095. Muskegon is the largest city on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan. The city is adjacent to two bodies of water: Lake Michigan to the west and Muskegon Lake to the north. The Muskegon River empties into Muskegon Lake at the city's northeast end.

Muskegon is home to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, located in the Manistee National Forest in the town of Twin Lake. The Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts includes two theatres. It reopened 11 years ago, and runs JAM Theatrical productions, Muskegon Civic Theatre productions, is home of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, is the venue for all Muskegon Community Concert Association events. Muskegon also houses a moderate-sized private collection of fine art in the Muskegon Museum of Art. Muskegon Summer Celebration is an eleven-day festival, held during the July 4 holiday every year, that brings national music acts of all backgrounds to the shore of Muskegon Lake at Heritage Landing. Also included is the Muskegon Art Fair, street fair, Village Craft Market, and the carnival rides.

Muskegon Bike Time is an annual event and a fast growing motorcycle attraction that attracts upwards of 50,000 people. The Muskegon Motorcycle Club, organized in 1920, host the Hill Climb every other year, an American Motorcycle Association (AMA) sanctioned race.

In September, the Michigan Irish Music Festival brings renown Celtic musicians to Heritage Landing on the shore of Muskegon Lake. In addition to music, Irish food, beverages, merchandise and cultural exhibits contribute to the appeal of this event. The Michigan Feis (Irish Dance competition) is affiliated and is held at Muskegon Catholic Central High School.

Pere Marquette Beach is a 27.5-acre park comprising 2.5 miles of public beach on Lake Michigan. In 2004 the beach appeared on lists of certified clean beaches published by the National Healthy Beaches Campaign and the Clean Beaches Council. This is the largest free public beach on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Windsurfing, Kite boarding competitions, and professional volleyball tournaments are held here. It's quartz sand beach is a Clean Beaches Counsel certified beach.

Muskegon Lake is a 1st. class Walleye fishery and has many other freshwater species including the Lake Perch. Lake Michigan off Muskegon host large numbers of Coho and Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, and Brown trout, Lake Perch and many other game fish. Sailing and recreational boating are major summer pastimes with many services and marinas in the area for boats of all sizes.

Muskegon Lakeshore Bike Trail: Bike along the shores of Muskegon Lake to Lake Michigan. There are two trails that consist the Muskegon Bike paths, one runs along the east side of Muskegon and the other along the North side.

Michigan's Adventure, the largest amusement park in the state, is located in Muskegon County, a few miles north of the city of Muskegon. Michigan's Adventure features a midway with roller coasters, general rides, amusements, and a full water park.

Michigan has 19 Indian casinos with casino games and poker. Since local voters approved a downtown casino in 1993, there have been many reports of potential casinos. The Muskegon mayor and city commissioners are discussing the opportunity. An executive team from the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians presented their plans for a new casino in Muskegon to the Muskegon City Council. Led by Ogema Larry Romanelli and Director of Commerce Robert Memberto, the team discussed the historical background of LRBOI as a federally-recognized tribe that already has many Anishinaabek (Tribal Citizens) living in the area and as the only tribe with already existing federal responsibilities to provide for the well-being of Native Americans living in Muskegon.

Michigan offers a long list of poker clubs, groups of poker, poker tournaments and poker rooms. If you want to play poker in the city of Muskegon, you can play in these Charity Poker Rooms : Sherman Bowling Lanes (1531 W. Sherman Blvd) and The Big Game Room (1040 E. Sternberg). In 1999 Michigan added Section 750.145d to the Michigan Compiled laws. That section made it specifically unlawful to play online poker and online casino tournaments to violate certain provisions of Michigan's anti-gambling laws. In 2000 Michigan adopted Public Act 185 which repealed the references in Section 750.145d to those anti-gambling sections. Thus, Michigan is not a state that specifically bans online poker and casino games.

Online sports wagering was about to come to Michigan. The Supreme court ruled against the validity of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (aka PASPA). Now, each state can set its own rules for online sports betting. Michigan lawmakers spent the final hours of the 2018 legislative session hammering out the details of a bill that would legalize online gambling for Michigan residents. In a surprise move, outgoing Governor Rick Snyder vetoed the bill. Now, bettors will have to wait until later in 2019 to enjoy sports betting in Michigan.

Michigan's Adventure is an amusement park. It is the largest amusement park in the state and has been owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company since 2001. The park features seven roller coasters, including the critically acclaimed Shivering Timbers (a high speed wooden out and back roller coaster), a common Corkscrew coaster, and a suspended looping coaster, Thunderhawk. The park also includes a number of "flat rides" such as the "Scrambler" and "Flying Trapeze".



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