Wilderness Seeks to Spoil Fairbanks Home Opener

Who:  Minnesota Wilderness at Fairbanks Ice Dogs

When: Friday, Oct. 6 and Saturday, Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m. AKDT both nights  

Where:  Big Dipper Arena, Fairbanks, AK  

The lead:  The Minnesota Wilderness opens its first Alaska trip of the 2023-24 season with a visit to Fairbanks for the Ice Dogs’ first weekend at home.

Media:  All of the action can be seen on nahltv.com.

Records: Fairbanks: 10 games, 4-5-1, 9 points; Minnesota: 8 games, 3-3-2, 8 points

Midwest Division Standings:

Last weekend:  Fairbanks had two road opponents: Friday at Janesville, the Ice Dogs beat the Jets, 4-3.  On Saturday, they went to Chippewa where they fell to the Steel, 3-1.

Minnesota swept its final series at its interim home at St. Luke’s Sports and Event Center in Proctor, beating Springfield by identical 4-3 scores, with Saturday’s game finishing in overtime.

2022-23 season series: Minnesota and Fairbanks met five times last season, with the Ice Dogs coming out on top with a 3-1-1 record. The two squads split the only series played in Fairbanks, with the Wilderness winning 2-1 on Nov. 11, and the Ice Dogs following with a 5-3 victory on Nov. 12.

 Birthdays:  Nolan Bettens: 10/4 (20), Luca Ricciardi: 10/5 (18)

Depend on the “Dahminator”: Ashton Dahms did not take long to make his presence felt in the Wilderness lineup.  In only three games, Dahms has piled up four goals which ties Peteris Purmalis and Adam Johnson for the team lead.  The 18-year-old forward from Lakeville, MN, has also added two assists for 6 points, which equates to a 2-point-per game average that leads the squad. Dahms has also scored the team’s last two game-winning goals.

Early Risers: Last weekend’s games vs. Springfield marked the fifth and sixth times this season that the Wilderness has scored the game’s first goal. First periods have been the strongest of the three frames for Minnesota thus far, as it has outscored opponents by a 9-6 margin in the opening frame.  Unfortunately, that strong play has not been maintained throughout the rest of its games.  In 2^nd periods, Minnesota is even with opponents, 7-7, and opponents have a 13-4 advantage in third periods.

Special Teams Trending Up:  After surrendering five opponent power play goals in its first five games, the Wilderness penalty kill has cracked down over the last three contests, allowing only one goal on five opponent chances.  For the season, the Wilderness PK is 29 for 35 for 82.9%. The power play has also shown improvement with four goals over its last four games, after scoring only once in its first three.  Its season total is 5 for 33, for 15.1%.  The Wilderness also scored 4-on-4 tallies in each game vs. Springfield and Saturday’s game-winner by Dahms was during the 3-on-3 OT, but also gave up two extra attacker goals in the final minute of Saturday’s contest.  

 1^st Year Head Coach Part 6: If you include Wilderness head coach Colten St. Clair, this weekend the team will meet the 6^th head coach in his first year behind his team’s bench. Ryan Theros was hired to be the new bench boss for the Ice Dogs last April. A native of Two Harbors, MN, the 41-year-old Theros played his junior and college hockey in the Northland. Theros skated in northern Minnesota for his junior hockey career when he played with the Iron Range Yellowjackets – one season in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League and one in the Superior International Junior Hockey League.  He then went on to a three-year NCAA career at division 3 Northland College, based in Ashland, WI.  His coaching career began in 2010 and includes time behind the bench with Yellowstone of the NA3HL, where he was head coach/GM for three seasons, Waterloo of the USHL as an assistant, and Lone Star of the NAHL where he was associate head coach and director of player personnel.