The Minnesota Wilderness are set to begin round 2 of their march through the NAHL Robertson Cup playoffs.
The Wilderness will meet the Wisconsin Windigo in the Midwest Division Finals commencing this weekend at the Aspirus St. Luke’s Sports and Event Center in Proctor, MN. Games 1 and 2 are set for Friday and Saturday, May 1 and 2, in Proctor. Game 3 will be held at the Ponds of Brookfield in Brookfield, WI on May 8. If necessary, game 4 will be in Brookfield on May 9, and game 5 will be held May 11 in Proctor.
Both teams met stiff competition from Alaska-based rivals in the semifinal round. The Wilderness held off the Anchorage Wolverines with a 3-games-to-1 series victory, with the deciding game ending in overtime, 3-2.
The Windigo went the distance vs. the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, needing five games to advance to round 2 with Wisconsin winning game 5, 5-2.
This will mark the second time the Wilderness and Windigo will meet in a Midwest Division Final. In 2023, the Minnesota took down Wisconsin with a 3-games-to-1 series win to claim their second division playoff crown in franchise history.
Wisconsin is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the Midwest Division finals and is the defending Midwest Division playoff champion. The Windigo defeated Anchorage in the division finals in 2025 in four games. They then went on to the Robertson Cup semi-finals where they fell to the Lone Star Brahmas, 2-games-to-1.
While Minnesota enters this post-season round as the top-seed, it was Wisconsin who had the edge in the regular season matchups. In the eight meetings between the two rivals during the regular campaign, the Windigo prevailed five times.
This series features two of the NAHL’s top round 1 playoff goaltenders. Minnesota’s Ryan Gerlich and Wisconsin’s Max Larsson were extremely stingy against their semifinal opponents. Over four games, Gerlich held off Anchorage with a 1.22 goals-against-average (GAA), allowing only five goals and finishing the series with a .955 save percentage. Larsson was a whisker better over five games vs. Fairbanks, allowing seven goals for a 1.21 GAA and .962 save percentage. Both netminders posted two shutouts so far in the post-season.
This series will also mark the first for Wilderness forward Talan Blanck since he announced his NCAA commitment. Blanck this week verbally agrede to play collegiate hockey for the University of Wisconsin of the Big Ten. The native of Fond du Lac, WI, leads all Wilderness players in playoff scoring in goals (5), assists (5) and points (10). His five goals in round 1 set a new franchise record for goals in a playoff series and his 10 points tied the club mark for a post-season series.
Wilderness Birthday: Max Edwards – May 1 (19)
Media: Watch all games on NAHLTV.com.
Series Schedule
| Game # | Date | Time | Location |
| 1 | May 1 | 7:15p.m. CDT | Proctor, MN |
| 2 | May 2 | 7:15p.m. CDT | Proctor, MN |
| 3 | May 8 | 6:35p.m. CDT | Brookfield, WI |
| 4 | May 9 (if necessary) | 6:35p.m. CDT | Brookfield, WI |
| 5 | May 11 (if necessary) | 6:15p.m. CDT | Proctor, MN |
Wilderness Division Semi-final playoff series game-by-game vs. Anchorage
| Game # | Date | Score | Location |
| 1 | April 17 | ANC 3, MNW 2 | Proctor, MN |
| 2 | April 18 | MNW 5, ANC 0 | Proctor, MN |
| 3 | April 19 | MNW 4, ANC 0 | Proctor, MN |
| 4 | April 24 | MNW 3, ANC 2 (OT) | Anchorage, AK |
Wisconsin Division Semi-final playoff series game-by-game vs. Fairbanks
| Game # | Date | Score | Location |
| 1 | April 17 | WIS 3, FBK 0 | Fairbanks, AK |
| 2 | April 18 | WIS 1, FBK 0 | Fairbanks, AK |
| 3 | April 19 | FBK 3, WIS 0 | Fairbanks, AK |
| 4 | April 24 | FBK 2, WIS 1 | Brookfield, WI |
| 5 | April 25 | WIS 5, FBK 2 | Brookfield, WI |
Post Season Tale of the Tape
| Team | GF | GA | PP | PK | PIMs |
| WIS | 10 (2 GFPG) | 7 (1.4 GAPG) | 1 for 13 (7.7%) | 17 for 18 (94.4%) | 74 |
| MNW | 14 (3.5 GFPG) | 5 (1.25 GAPG) | 5 for 17 (29.4%) | 12 for 12 (100%) | 91 |
Regular Season Tale of the Tape
| Team | Record | Points | GF | GA | PP | PK | PIMs |
| WIS | 34-21-4 | 72 | 191 (3.24 GFPG) | 169 (2.86 GAPG) | 42 for 210 (20%) | 36 for 200 (82%) | 825 |
| MNW | 42-12-5 | 89 | 249 (4.22 GFPG) | 148 (2.5 GAPG) | 48 for 237 (20.3%) | 37 for 224 (83.5%) | 882 |
Wilderness vs. Wisconsin Regular Season Game-by-Game
| Date | Score | Location |
| Oct. 24 | WIS 4, MNW 3 (OT) | Cloquet, MN |
| Oct. 25 | WIS 4, MNW 2 | Cloquet, MN |
| Nov. 7 | WIS 6, MNW 4 | Brookfield, WI |
| Nov. 8 | WIS 4, MNW 3 | Brookfield, WI |
| Dec. 19 | WIS 3, MNW 2 | Brookfield, WI |
| Dec. 20 | MNW 6, WIS 2 | Brookfield, WI |
| Feb. 6 | MNW 4, WIS 2 | Cloquet, MN |
| Feb. 7 | MNW 4, WIS 2 | Cloquet, MN |
Playoff Goalie Comparison
| Name | Team | Games | Won/Loss | GAA | Save % |
| Max Larsson |
WIS |
5 | 3-2 | 1.21 | .962 |
| Ryan Gerlich | MNW | 4 | 3-1 | 1.22 | .955 |
Top Playoff Scorers
| Name | Team | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Talan Blanck | MNW | 4 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Avery Anderson | MNW | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Zachary Homer | MNW | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Logan Nagle | MNW | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Noah Dziver | MNW | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Theo Kiss | MNW | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| AJ Bongiorno | WIS | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Joshua Sardo | WIS | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Aidan Hickok | WIS | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Peyton Mithmuangneua | WIS | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Top scorers head-to-head (of players on the playoff roster)
| Name | Team | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Jackson Ernst | WIS | 8 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Ryan Mottau | WIS | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Peyton Mithmuangnueua | WIS | 6 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Alexios Georgaklis | WIS | 8 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Andrei Gudin | MNW | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Avery Anderson | MNW | 8 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Anthony Cappello | MNW | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Noah Dziver | MNW | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Talan Blanck | MNW | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Logan Nagle | MNW | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Zachary Homer | MNW | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 |