FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT

SILVER BAY - The Lake Superior School District has voted to merge the Two Harbors and Silver Bay boys hockey teams for the upcoming year and some players aren't too happy.

Garrett Aho, a senior forward at Two Harbors said, "Personally I don't like it. There are a lot of kids that don't like it I think."

"A lot of people aren't really looking forward to it because they don't think they're going to bond very well with Two Harbors," said Corey Napper, a soon to be freshman at Silver Bay.

The Lake Superior School District decided to merge the two boys hockey teams into one co–op.

The decision was made after it became apparent both teams were struggling for numbers.

"I know Silver Bay was hurting for numbers. We were struggling for goalies. They have goalies and we have players so it just fell into place," said Tyler Schram, a junior forward at Two Harbors.

Silver Bay proposed a 50–50 agreement where games and practices would be split evenly, but Two Harbors says they have more players and argue academics will suffer as a result.

"When you come up here for a half an hour practice around seven o'clock after the girls and go home at about 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. you're going to be exhausted. You'll go oh well I'll just wait and not do homework and you won't have it done," said Schram.

Two Harbors and Silver Bay already share girls hockey with everything taking place in Silver Bay.

So a relationship is already there, but throughout the years the two schools have been rivals, which is something that's hard to forget.

Schram said, "Just the atmosphere when you play Silver Bay up here or in Two Harbors you can tell people know it's a rivalry, the arena's just packed."

Players are already starting to bond, Tyler Schram even helped his fellow hockey player, Silver Bay's Corey Napper move into his new home. So, the two are hopeful that despite their differences they can grow and build a winning team together.

Napper said, "I think we'll become an overall better team just because there's more variety, just more people."

"I'm looking forward to that. I hope we can cooperate, become a team and see where it goes from there," said Schram.