The Minnesota Wilderness’ success in the first half of this season has allowed it to send the Midwest Division’s largest contingent of players to the NAHL’s Top Prospects Tournament, set for next month near Pittsburgh, PA.
The Wilderness will send five players plus head coach Brett Skinner to the event, which is comprised of four teams, representing the league’s four divisions. Skinner will be the head coach of Team Midwest and will be joined by forwards Reid Daavettila, Cole Gordon, and Kevin Marx Norén along with defensemen Michael Quinn and Severi Sulonen.
The tournament is meant to feature players who have not yet earned a college commitment, while also featuring a handful of others that NHL scouts have requested to see.
Minnesota earned the right to deploy the division’s most players after posting the Midwest’s best winning percentage as of January 8. That also allowed Skinner to be named head coach. He’ll be assisted by Fairbanks head coach Dave Allison.
The tournament is scheduled for February 6-7 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, PA. Team Midwest will take on Team South on day 1 at 12:00 p.m. CDT, and will conclude the tournament the next day vs. Team East at 1:00 p.m. CDT. All games can be seen on hockeytv.com.
The league has also announced that two jerseys will be made for each player selected for the tournament. One of those jerseys will be for the player to keep, while the other will be worn for the first game, washed and autographed by the player and then auctioned off through the Dash app. Proceeds for the auction will go back to the player’s team. The auction runs Feb. 5 through Feb. 12.
The Wilderness return to the ice Jan. 20-21 vs. Chippewa. The home-and-home series kicks off Friday night with a game in Chippewa Falls, WI at 7:00 p.m., with a rematch set for Saturday night at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet at 7:15 p.m.
Pronunciations:
Daavettila: dah-vah-TIL-ah
Severi Sulonen: SEV-er-ee SOO-luh-nen
| Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | Birthdate | Hometown | NCAA commitment | Season stats |
| Reid Daavettila | F | 6-1 | 180 | 4/5/05 | Howell, MI | Michigan Tech | 34 games: 2g/6a/8 pts |
| Cole Gordon (team co-captain) | F | 6-2 | 205 | 12/9/02 | Windsor, CO | 35 games: 5g/7a/12 pts | |
| Kevin Marx Norén | F | 6-1 | 190 | 7/15/02 | Knivsta, SWE | 33 games: 15g/15a/30 pts | |
| Michael Quinn | D | 5-11 | 178 | 3/25/03 | St. Louis, MO | 20 games: 6g/12a/18 pts | |
| Severi Sulonen | D | 6-3 | 198 | 7/7/02 | Turku, FIN | 32 games; 0g/10a/10 pts |