11/13/2026
For immediate release
Cloquet, MN
A home-and-home series this weekend will mark the first two meetings of the 2026-27
season between the Minnesota Wilderness and Minnesota Mallards.
The Wilderness will host the Mallards Friday at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in
Cloquet. The squads will meet again Saturday night at the Mallards home in Forest
Lake – the Forest Lake Sports Center.
Despite the two organizations playing home games just 112 miles apart, the two have
never met apart from one game played in 2025-26 at the NAHL Showcase tournament
in Blaine, MN. That is changing this season because the Mallards, who played in the
Central Division in its first two seasons (in 2024-25 and 2025-26), have moved to the
Midwest Division and are now division rivals with the Wilderness.
The Wilderness and Mallards have eight meetings scheduled for this season.
The Mallards last week completed their first ever trip to Alaska. After beginning the jaunt
winning of two-of-three at the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, the Mallards dropped two last
weekend to the Anchorage Wolverines. The Wolverines swept the weekend set by
scores of 7-4 and 7-2.
Minnesota has won its last two contests after completing a sweep of the Springfield Jr.
Blues in a 2-game home series, Nov. 6 and 7, 3-2 and 6-1.
This weekend’s matchups are expected to feature two of the NAHL’s top goal scorers.
The Wilderness’ Frantisek Netusil and the Mallards’ Ty Gordon are tied for third in red-
lighters with 14. Netusil and Gordon are also among the top 10 in league points – as
Gordon is tied for second with 28 and Netusil sits just behind in a tie for 6 th with 27.
Friday night’s game in Cloquet will start at 7:15 p.m. CST while Saturday’s contest in
Forest Lake is set for 7 p.m.