Who: Minnesota Wilderness vs. Wisconsin Windigo
When: January 12-13, 2024; 7:00 p.m. CST both nights
Where: Eagle River Sports Arena, Eagle River, WI
The lead: The Minnesota Wilderness and Wisconsin Windigo, both coming off of weekend sweeps, carry momentum into a weekend series in Eagle River.
Media: All of the action can be seen on nahltv.com.
Records: Wisconsin: 33 games, 19-10-4, 42 points; Minnesota: 35 games, 21-11-3, 45 points
Midwest Division Standings:
| Place | Team | Points | Games Played | This weekend’s opponent |
| 1 | Janesville | 45 | 34 | Idle |
| 1 | Wilderness | 45 | 35 | 2 games @ Wisconsin |
| 3 | Wisconsin | 42 | 33 | 2 games vs. Wilderness |
| 4 | Anchorage | 36 | 30 | 2 games @ Fairbanks |
| 5 | Chippewa | 34 | 33 | 1 game @ Springfield |
| 6 | Fairbanks | 32 | 35 | 2 games vs. Anchorage |
| 7 | Springfield | 27 | 33 | 2 games vs. Chippewa |
| 8 | Kenai River | 26 | 35 | Idle |
Last weekend:
- Wisconsin swept Kenai River in a 2-game home series Jan. 5 and 6 by scores of 2-1 and 7-4.
- The Wilderness earned four points with two victories at home (3-2 and 4-3) vs. Anchorage.
Season Series: These games will mark the fifth and sixth meetings of the 2023-24 season vs. Wisconsin. Each team has won two of the previous four contests with the home squad getting all four victories. The Wilderness swept a home series Nov. 17-18 4-1 and 2-1 (SO), while the Windigo was victorious in a home set Dec. 1 and 2 3-0 and 4-3 (SO).
Tale of the tape:
| Team | GF | GA | PP | PK | PIMs |
| Wilderness | 97 | 91 | 21% | 87% | 461 |
| Wisconsin | 124 | 99 | 24% | 81.6% | 529 |
Source: nahl.com
Dunaiski Homecoming: Last Saturday, the Wilderness skated someone new that is very familiar with Cloquet and Northwoods Credit Union Arena. Forward Patrick Dunaiski played his first game and earned his first point with the squad when he assisted on Connor Farren’s 1st period goal. Dunaiski is a native of Cloquet and played his high school hockey with Cloquet-Esko-Carlton. He was also on the roster with the Wilderness’ AAA program for three seasons—one with the 16U squad and two with the 18U team. The 5’9, 174 pound 19-year-old is in his first season of Jr hockey and began the year with the Granite City Lumberjacks of the NA3HL where he averaged a point-per-game, with 7 goals and 12 assists over 19 games.
Shirey’s First Gino: Aidan Shirey’s marker with 12:27 left in the third period Friday wound up as the clincher for the Wilderness in its 3-2 victory over Anchorage. That goal gave the defenseman from Barrington, IL, his first game-winner in his junior career. The 6’1, 185-pound Shirey now has four goals in 31 games this season, doubling the number of red-lighters he posted over 34 games 2022-23 when he split his rookie season with Bismarck and Chippewa (along with one game with Waterloo of the USHL). Shirey is 18-years-old and is committed to playing his NCAA hockey at Colorado College.
Purmalis New Assist Leader: Forward Peteris Purmalis planted himself atop the Wilderness assist leaders his weekend by finishing with five helpers in the sweep over Anchorage. The 6’3, 210-pound native of Liepaja, LAT, had three assists in Friday’s victory and followed that with two more on Saturday. The 20-year-old Purmalis also helped set up the game-winners scored in both games. Purmalis now has 20 points, along with 11 assists. His 31 points leads all scorers for Wilderness players currently active with the team.
Martin Commits: The latest NCAA commitment for the Wisconsin Windigo is the team’s and the NAHL’s leading scorer. Max Martin this week announced he will play his NCAA hockey with Bowling Green State of the CCHA. The 20-year-old native of Tawas City, MI, leads all league scorers in both goals (24) and points (56) over 33 games. Martin, a 5’11/190 lb forward, is in his third season of junior hockey.