THUNDER BAY – As a kid, Dean Thibodeau always envisioned himself running a hockey team.
Now the 34-year-old finds himself in charge of an entire league.
Thibodeau was named the new commissioner of the Superior International Junior Hockey League on Aug. 2 and has spent the last few weeks getting up to speed in his role ahead of the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
“It feels like it’s just a few days away from starting instead of a few weeks,” Thibodeau said.
“It’s an honour to be brought on board here. I’ve paid attention to the league from afar for a few years and when this opportunity came, I jumped at it.
“The whole process of speaking with the board of governors to the point where I was hired was all very enlightening.”
Thibodeau is the seventh commissioner in league history. He takes over the role from Darrin Nicholas, who had held the job from July 2020 to May of this year.
Prior to joining the SIJHL, Thibodeau had worked as the associate commissioner for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association women’s hockey conference and as the assistant commissioner for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association men’s hockey conference.
He’s been in Minnesota since 2008 as he worked with the St. Cloud State Huskies and Minnesota Golden Gophers women’s hockey programs for nine years.
“Working on a collaborative level really interested me,” Thibodeau said of making the move to work behind the scenes.
“There’s eight very different members that are all working towards one goal, and it was very rewarding to be part of that in the WCHA and the CCHA.”
One of the things that interested Thibodeau in pursuing the commissioner role in the SIJHL is the sense of pride and community around the league, which he learned more about during his conversations with the board of the governors.
“When you get that kind of passion, it’s just infectious through each of the individual communities,” Thibodeau added.
“It’s a long grind through the season and the playoffs and that competitiveness the teams bring really just energizes everyone.”
One of the long-term goals Thibodeau has is to expand the league’s presence with the number of teams – the circuit currently has eight – and with its overall exposure on both sides of the border.
“We want the teams to have the opportunities and resources to have the players move on to the next level,” Thibodeau said.
“We want to get the players' stories out there to the public and promote them through our social media and our website . . . not just on the hockey side but on the personal side so that we can make those connections with the community. There’s a much larger picture than just a game that happens on a Friday night.
“There’s a lot of opportunity here and we want to keep growing the ways that we expose people to us over the next five, 10 and 15 years so that we can be one of the superior leagues in all of Junior A hockey.”
Thibodeau also said that it's important to keep homegrown talent in the area and not see them immediately venture off to other junior leagues in Canada and the United States.
“It’s all about perception,” Thibodeau said. “From an emotional level, playing at home just hits differently and we want to communicate that effectively with the players.
“We want to make sure that the local footprint is strong and that they can be role models for their community.”
The league had already made one step in expanding its reach for the 2024-25 campaign.
The Wisconsin Lumberjacks, who were based out of Spooner, Wis., are now based in Ironwood, Mich. in a move that was made shortly after Thibodeau was announced as commissioner.
This marks the first time the SIJHL has had a team in the Wolverine state.
“It’s definitely an exciting move for the league and the Lumberjacks,” said Thibodeau, who will be making his first formal visit to Ironwood in the coming weeks.
“It’s a town that’s very interested in hockey and it’s a market that is very excited about the league coming there.”
Thibodeau is based in the Twin Cities and will be making the commute to the league’s centres on a regular basis.
The 2024-25 SIJHL season starts on Sept. 13 with games in Fort Frances, Ironwood, and Sioux Lookout.
