October 24, 2026
Cloquet, MN
For immediate release
A long wait to play in its home arena resulted in the Minnesota Wilderness pulling off a 3-1 victory Friday night
over the Springfield Jr. Blues.
Frantisek Netusil recorded two points with a goal and assist, while Jackson Reeves and Davis Damrow posted single
goals. In net, Oliver Kanat made 25 saves for his fourth straight victory.
The Wilderness outshot Springfield, 40-26.
It was the first game played at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet since the installation of a new ice plant
along with new boards and glass. The $4.3 million dollar project began in April and was completed in September.
Construction forced the Wilderness to move its August training camp to Wessman Arena in Superior and go on the
road for its first 12 regular season games. It also kept the 2025-26 squad from holding playoff games in Cloquet
during its post-season run that took them to the Robertson Cup final. Instead, the team used the St. Luke’s Sports
and Events Center in Proctor as its playoff home.
All four goals were scored in the second period. The Wilderness broke a scoreless tie moments after eliminating a
Jr. Blues power play. Kash Crawford and Jackson Lackas connected on a play that was finished by Damrow.
Crawford began the rush by skating the puck out of Minnesota’s defensive zone. After entering the neutral zone,
Crawford sent a cross-ice pass to Lackas as he approached the Springfield blue line. Lackas then immediately threw
the puck toward Damrow as he skated toward the Jr. Blues net. Damrow extended his stick forward to redirect the
puck over the right shoulder of Springfield goaltender Leyton Rinehart for the second goal of the rookie’s junior
career.
That red-lighter came with 8:47 left in the middle period, and it sparked a quick response from Springfield.
Fifty-two seconds later, Tristan Kriech tied the game on a shot from the right circle after being fed the puck by
Dean Gasser.
Minnesota completed the scoring with two goals just 31 seconds apart. First, Reeves fired in a rebound of a shot by Owen Smith to score what ended up being the game-winner. Reeves’
second of the season came with 4:21 left and was also assisted by Netusil.
Netusil then scored his own goal to give the Wilderness insurance. A clearing pass from Jakeb Lynch caught Netusil
as he skated into the Springfield zone. After a defender briefly stripped Netusil of the puck, Netusil took it back and
fired a shot from the left of the Jr. Blues net that just barely slipped within the right post for his team-leading 12 th
tally of the season.
Rinehart finished with 37 saves.
Both teams were scoreless on the power play. Officials gave five chances to Springfield (0-13-1) and four to
Minnesota (8-5-0).
Game 2 of the weekend series will be Saturday night in Cloquet at 7:15 p.m. CDT.