As northern Minnesota battles through an arctic cold blast, the Minnesota Wilderness will be venturing into warmer weather by traveling 3,000 miles north.
The Wilderness begin the regular season’s final Alaska trip with a visit to Fairbanks, where they will meet the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in a 3-game series, Thursday to Saturday. They leave Cloquet as it heads toward a weekend with high temperatures predicted to be anywhere from three to 11 degrees below zero and low temps around -30. They go to Fairbanks (located 140 miles south of the Arctic Circle) where high temperatures for the three game days are all expected to be above zero and low temps around -8 to -12 mark.
Minnesota also hopes its recent hot streak can further warm things up in the 49th state. The first place Wilderness have won eight in a row and 13 of their last 14, extending their lead in the Midwest Division to 7 points over Fairbanks, who sits in 2nd place.
Last weekend, Minnesota dominated the Chippewa Steel in a 2-game home-and-home series. On Friday, Jan. 16, in Chippewa Falls, the Wilderness shut out the Steel 4-0, and followed with a home victory Saturday, 9-1.
Fairbanks visited the Anchorage Wolverines and stumbled last weekend, gaining just one point in the series. Anchorage swept, winning 2-1 in a shootout Friday and 4-2 Saturday.
The contests this weekend at the Big Dipper Arena will mark the final three meetings on the 2025-26 docket between the Ice Dogs and Wilderness. Minnesota swept the previous two matchups, played Dec. 5-6 in Marshall, MN, by scores of 5-2 and 3-2.
Thursday’s game begins at 7:00 p.m. AKST, while Friday and Saturday have puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. AKST.
Media: All games can be seen on NAHLTV.com
Midwest Division standings
| Place | Team | Games Played | Points | This week’s opponent (all games Fri./Sat. unless otherwise noted) |
| 1 | Wilderness | 35 | 54 | 3 @ Fairbanks (Thurs., Fri., Sat.) |
| 2 | Fairbanks | 36 | 47 | 3 vs. Wilderness (Thurs., Fri., Sat.) |
| 3 | Springfield | 37 | 45 | 2 @ Janesville |
| 4 | Wisconsin | 36 | 43 | 3 vs. Chippewa (Fri., Sat., Sun.) |
| 5 | Anchorage | 35 | 40 | 2 @ Kenai River |
| 6 | Janesville | 38 | 35 | 2 vs. Springfield |
| 7 | Kenai River | 36 | 23 | 2 vs. Anchorage |
| 8 | Chippewa | 35 | 14 | 3 @ Wisconsin (Fri., Sat., Sun.) |
Tale of the Tape:
| Team | GF | GA | PP | PK |
| Wilderness | 160 | 87 | 32 for 134 (23.5%) | 26 for 135 (80.9%) |
| Fairbanks | 128 | 89 | 34 for 150 (22.7%) | 18 for 104 (82.7%) |