The Minnesota Wilderness have some ground to make up if they hope to make the 2025 Robertson Cup playoffs. They’ll get some help in that quest over the next three weeks as they play their next six games at Northwoods Credit Union Arena—the team’s longest home stretch of the season.
Minnesota currently sits in 7 th place in the Midwest Division, eight points behind the Chippewa Steel who occupy fourth place and the division’s final playoff spot.
The Wilderness hosts the Anchorage Wolverines for this weekend’s launch of the home stand. These will mark the final two games of the 2024-25 season between the two Midwest Division rivals. Minnesota leads the season series with a 3-1-1 record, including two wins in a series in Cloquet on Jan. 3 and 4.
Both teams are resuming play after taking last weekend off, having last played on Feb. 1. In its last pair of games, Anchorage swept the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in home series by scores of 3-1 and 4-3.
The Wilderness visited Kenai River in its last series. The Brown Bears were victorious in game 1, 3-2, while the Wilderness forced the split, winning game 2 in overtime, also by a 3-2 score.
This weekend will mark the debut of two defensemen the Wilderness recently acquired. Eveleth-native Sam Troutwine and Olle Karlsson of Nacka, Sweden, will have a chance to be in the Wilderness lineup for the first time in this series.
Recent Wilderness birthdays: Jakeb Lynch (18), and Nate Murray (20), both on Feb. 9
Media: NAHLTV.com
Midwest Division standings:
| Place | Team | Games Played | Points | This weekend’s opponent |
| 1 | Wisconsin | 43 | 63 | Idle |
| 2 | Anchorage | 40 | 56 | 2 games @ Wilderness |
| 2 | Fairbanks | 40 | 56 | 3 games @ Springfield |
| 4 | Chippewa | 44 | 48 | Idle |
| 5 | Springfield | 40 | 42 | 2 games vs. Fairbanks |
| 6 | Kenai River | 43 | 41 | 2 games @ Janesville |
| 7 | Wilderness | 41 | 40 | 2 games vs. Anchorage |
| 8 | Janesville | 37 | 24 | 2 games vs. Kenai River |
Tale of the Tape
| Team | GF | GA | PP | PK |
| Anchorage | 158 | 119 | 35 for 156 (22.4%) | 22 for 159 (86.2%) |
| Wilderness | 142 | 148 | 15 for 143 (10.5%) | 24 for 152 (84.2%) |