Who: Minnesota Wilderness vs. Anchorage Wolverines
When: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 7:00 p.m. AK time
Where: Ben Boeke Ice Arena, Anchorage, AK
The lead: The Wilderness trek North for trio of games in Anchorage.
Records: Wilderness: 25-20-1; Anchorage: 24-15-6
NAHL Midwest Division standings:
| Team | Points | Games played | |
| 1 | Fairbanks | 65 | 50 |
| 2 | Springfield | 63 | 48 |
| 3 | Janesville | 55 | 47 |
| 4 | Anchorage | 54 | 45 |
| 5 | MN Wilderness | 51 | 46 |
| 6 | MN Magicians | 49 | 47 |
| 7 | Chippewa | 41 | 47 |
| 8 | Kenai River | 29 | 49 |
Last weekend: The Wilderness went 2-1 in 3-games played at the MN Magicians and Springfield. Minnesota opened with a Thursday win in Richfield over the Magicians, 3-2, and followed that with a split of a pair vs. the Jr. Blues, winning 4-3 Friday, and losing 9-3 Saturday.
Anchorage split a weekend home series with Fairbanks. The Ice Dogs won Friday’s game in a shootout, 4-3, while the Wolverines took Saturday’s game, 2-0.
Jammin’ Jared: Forward Jared Mangan has been on a monster pace since joining the Wilderness. In his six games with the green, the Charleston, SC, native has posted 9 points, with 2 goals and 7 assists. Five of those points came in last weekend’s 3-game road swing, where he notched 1 goal and 4 assists.
Homecoming for Conn: This weekend will mark a return home for defenseman Reid Conn. The 18-year-old is a native of Anchorage, who later moved to Centennial, CO, where his family now calls home. Through 42 games, the rookie has recorded 4 goals and 5 assists.
Power play poppin’: The Wilderness have begun to build some consistency on their power play. The team has scored a goal with the man-advantage in each of its last four games, going 5 for 12. What makes this even more impressive is the fact the team has accomplished this without top power-play scorer Will Persson in the lineup. Persson’s performance with the extra man includes a team leading 8 goals and 16 points, and has missed the last 4 games due to injury.
Anchorage notes: The Wolverines come into this weekend on a 4-game streak without a regulation loss. A big reason for that 3-0-1 run is Aiden Westin. The 4-year Jr. hockey veteran has registered at least 1 point in each of the last 4 games, scoring 2 goals and adding 5 assists for 7 points. Those totals include 2 assists in the team’s 2-0 win over Fairbanks last Saturday. Westin is a native of Anchorage, and is slated to play his collegiate hockey at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
