The Minnesota Wilderness enter the season’s second half this week with three home games including the franchise’s first ever New Year’s Day contest.
Minnesota (19-7-2) entertains the Chippewa Steel (5-21-2) on January 1 at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet at 5:15 p.m. That will be followed by a 2-game home weekend series vs. the Kenai River Brown Bears (11-17-1) Friday and Saturday (Jan. 2-3) with puck drop set for 7:15 p.m.
Thursday’s game will mark the fifth meeting of the season between the Wilderness and Steel. Minnesota has won the first four games of the season series, including a sweep of the most recent pair Dec. 12-13 in Chippewa Falls.
The weekend set vs. Kenai River will mark the first two contests of the season between the Midwest Division rivals in Cloquet. The Wilderness and Brown Bears previously met in Soldotna, AK, on Oct. 3 and 4, with Minnesota winning both games.
The Wilderness last played Dec. 19-20 in Brookfield, WI, vs. the Wisconsin Windigo, where they split a 2-game series, falling Friday, 4-3, and winning Saturday, 6-2.
The Steel dropped a pair of games in its last outing, also Dec. 19-20, at home vs. the Fairbanks Ice Dogs by scores of 6-0 and 7-1.
The Brown Bears are coming off a split in its last weekend series. Kenai River visited Janesville on Dec. 19-20, where the Jets were victorious in game 1, 4-1, while the Brown Bears countered with a 5-2 triumph Saturday.
Media: All games can be seen on NAHLTV.co
Midwest Division standings
| Place | Team | Games Played | Points | This week’s opponent (all games Fri./Sat. unless otherwise noted) |
| 1 | Wilderness | 28 | 40 | Thurs. vs. Chippewa, Fri/Sat. vs. Kenai River |
| 2 | Springfield | 31 | 39 | 2 vs. Fairbanks |
| 3 | Fairbanks | 30 | 38 | 2 @ Springfield |
| 4 | Wisconsin | 30 | 35 | Home/home vs. Janesville |
| 5 | Janesville | 31 | 29 | Home/home vs. Wisconsin |
| 6 | Anchorage | 29 | 29 | Sat. @ Chippewaa |
| 7 | Kenai River | 29 | 23 | 2 @ Wilderness |
| 8 | Chippewa | 28 | 12 | Thurs. @ Wilderness, Sat. vs. Anchorage |
Tale of the Tape:
| Team | GF | GA | PP | PK |
| Chippewa | 60 | 135 | 12 for 88 (13.6%) | 37 for 152 (75.7%) |
| Kenai River | 94 | 120 | 9 for 82 (11%) | 25 for 109 (77.1%) |
| Wilderness | 123 | 76 | 27 for 116 (23.3%) | 27 for 118 (77.1%) |