The Minnesota Wilderness renews its rivalry with the Chippewa Steel this weekend (Dec. 12-13) with a two-game series in Chippewa Falls, WI. Both games at the Chippewa Area Ice Arena are slated to begin at 7 p.m. Central time.
These will mark the third and fourth meetings of the 2025-26 season between the Midwest Division rivals. The Wilderness won the first two contests on Oct. 17-18 in Cloquet.
The Wilderness (16-6-2) roll into Chippewa Falls after winning three consecutive games. Their last two came last weekend (Dec. 5-6) in Marshall vs. the Fairbanks Ice Dogs by scores of 5-2 and 3-2.
The Steel (4-17-2) played one game last weekend and fell at home to the Janesville Jets, 4-2, extending a losing streak to four games.
Media: Both games will stream on NAHLTV.com.
Midwest Division standings
| Place | Team | Games Played | Points | This week’s opponent (all games Fri./Sat. unless otherwise noted) |
| 1 | Wilderness | 24 | 34 | 2 @ Chippewa |
| 2 | Wisconsin | 26 | 33 | 2 vs. Anchorage (Fri. & Sun.) |
| 2 | Springfield | 28 | 33 | Idle |
| 3 | Fairbanks | 26 | 30 | 2 @ Janesville |
| 5 | Janesville | 27 | 27 | 2 vs. Fairbanks |
| 6 | Anchorage | 24 | 25 | 2 @ Wisconsin (Fri. & Sun.) |
| 7 | Kenai River | 26 | 21 | 1 @ Chippewa |
| 8 | Chippewa | 23 | 10 | 2 vs. Wilderness (Fri., Sat.), 1 vs. Kenai River (Sun.) |
Tale of the Tape:
| Team | GF | GA | PP | PK |
| Wilderness | 103 | 66 | 23 for 107 (21.5%) | 25 for 111 (77.5%) |
| Chippewa | 49 | 107 | 10 for 77 (13%) | 29 for 115 (74.8%) |