Only one more hurdle stands between the Minnesota Wilderness and their second national title.
The Wilderness take on the Maryland Black Bears Tuesday night in the Finals of the NAHL’s Robertson Cup playoffs. They reached the championship round after defeating the Austin Bruins Saturday night, 7-3, to complete a sweep of the best 2-of-3 series, 2 games to none.
The Black Bears dominated the East Division during the regular season, winning the division with 102 points. They reached the finals after sweeping the South Division’s Lone Star Brahmas in the semifinals with a pair of overtime victories – 3-2 and 5-4.
Maryland’s lineup includes Harrison Smith, who finished the season with 96 points on 24 goals and 72 assists in 49 games. He led the NAHL in assists and points and won the league’s awards for Most Valuable Player and Forward of the Year.
The Wilderness hopes to counter Smith with a trio of talented forwards. Noah Dziver was named to the All-Midwest Division team with 75 points in 48 games. His 1.56 points per game were second best in the NAHL behind only Smith at 1.96.
Meanwhile, Minnesota also features goal scorer extraordinaire Zachary Homer. Homer finished second in the NAHL in regular season goals at 39 and is tied for second in post-season tallies at eight. Talan Blanck rounds out the Wilderness trio as the leader in the NAHL in playoff goals (12) and points (23).
This finals matchup includes a reunion of two former Hermantown High School teammates. Wilderness forward River Freeman and Maryland defenseman Will Esterbrooks were both on the Hawks roster in 2022-23 and 2023-24. They also played together in the Minnesota State High School Elite League. Esterbrooks finished the season as a finalist for the NAHL Defenseman of the Year award.
In goal, Maryland has not wavered from netminder Ryan Denes. Denes has played in all nine of the Black Bears playoff contests and holds an 8-1 won/loss record. The Wilderness began the playoffs relying on Ryan Gerlich who went 4-3 in seven starts that included two shutouts. However, since game 4 vs. Wisconsin in the Midwest Division Finals, Valdemar Andersen has guarded the Minnesota net front and has four consecutive victories.
Minnesota and Maryland did not play during the 2025-26 regular season. In their history, they have met once. On Sept. 15, 2023, at the 2023 NAHL Showcase, the Wilderness defeated the Black Bears, 1-0.
Both teams are making their second finals appearance in their respective franchise’s history. The Wilderness last reached the championship in 2015 when they beat Austin in what then was a best 2-of-3 final, 2 games to none. Maryland took on Lone Star in a one-game final in 2024 where they fell to the Brahmas, 4-2.
Wilderness Birthdays: Adel Akhmadeev (18) – May 24, Brandon Vislay (18) – June 13, Zachary Homer (21) – June 15, Matt Hauser (19) – June 21, Andrei Gudin (18) – July 4, Jack Martens (19) – July 5, Kevin Lysohir (18) – July 9, Theo Kiss (20) – July 13, Ryan DeAngelis (21) – Aug. 18, Cole Cheeseman (19) – Aug. 26
Internet stream: Watch all games on NAHLtv.com.
Game Date and Time: May 19, 2026, 7:00 p.m. CDT
Location: Fogerty Arena, Blaine, MN
Maryland Playoff Game-by-Game
| Round | Game | Location | Result |
| 1 | 1 | Odenton, MD | Maryland 6, Danbury 2 |
| 1 | 2 | Odenton, MD | Maryland 8, Danbury 1 |
| 1 | 3 | Danbury, CT | Maryland 5, Danbury 4 |
| 2 | 1 | Odenton, MD | Maryland 4, Rochester 0 |
| 2 | 2 | Odenton, MD | Rochester 3, Maryland 1 |
| 2 | 3 | Rochester, NY | Maryland 5, Rochester 2 |
| 2 | 4 | Rochester, NY | Maryland 4, Rochester 3 (OT) |
| 3 | 1 | Blaine, MN | Maryland 3, Lone Star 2 (OT) |
| 3 | 2 | Blaine, MN | Maryland 5, Lone Star 4 (OT) |
Wilderness Playoff Game-by-Game
| Round | Game | Location | Result |
| 1 | 1 | Proctor, MN | Anchorage 3, Wilderness 1 |
| 1 | 2 | Proctor, MN | Wilderness 5, Anchorage 0 |
| 1 | 3 | Proctor, MN | Wilderness 4, Anchorage 0 |
| 1 | 4 | Anchorage, AK | Wilderness 3, Anchorage 2 (OT) |
| 2 | 1 | Proctor, MN | Wisconsin 4, Wilderness 3 (OT) |
| 2 | 2 | Proctor, MN | Wisconsin 3, Wilderness 2 |
| 2 | 3 | Brookfield. WI | Wilderness 6, Wisconsin 4 |
| 2 | 4 | Brookfield. WI | Wilderness 5, Wisconsin 1 |
| 2 | 5 | Proctor, MN | Wilderness 3, Wisconsin 0 |
| 3 | 1 | Blaine, MN | Wilderness 4, Austin 3 (OT) |
| 3 | 2 | Blaine, MN | Wilderness 7, Austin 3 |
Post Season Tale of the Tape
| Team | Games played | GF | GA | PP | PK | PIMs |
| MNW | 11 | 44 (4 PG) | 23 (2.1 PG) | 12 for 50 (24%) | 35 for 42 (83.3%) | 210 |
| MYD | 9 | 41 (4.6 PG) | 21 (2.3 PG) | 17 for 51 (33.3%) | 45 for 49 (91.8%) | 139 |
Regular Season Tale of the Tape
| Team | Record | Points | GF | GA | PP | PK | PIMs |
| MNW | 42-12-5 | 89 | 249 (4.22 GFPG) | 148 (2.5 GAPG) | 48 for 237 (20.3%) | 37 for 224 (83.5%) | 882 |
| MYD | 49-6-4 | 90 | 248 (4.20PG) | 136 (2.3PG) | 62 for 263 (23.6%) | 36 for 243 (85.2%) | 1457 |
Playoff Goalie Comparison
| Name | Team | Games | Won/Loss | Min | GAA | Save % | SO |
| Valdemar Andersen |
MNW |
4 | 4-0 | 246 | 1.71 | .946 | 1 |
| Ryan Denes | MYD | 9 | 8-1 | 548 | 2.19 | .904 | 1 |
| Ryan Gerlich | MNW | 7 | 4-3 | 435 | 2.21 | .921 | 2 |
Wilderness Top Playoff Scorers (min 3 pts)
| Name | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Talan Blanck (F) | 11 | 12 | 11 | 23 |
| Noah Dziver (F) | 7 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| Zachary Homer (F) | 11 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| Avery Anderson | 11 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| Matt Hauser (D) | 11 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Logan Nagle (F) | 11 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| River Freeman (F) | 11 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Olle Karlsson (D) | 11 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Max Edwards (F) | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Caleb Kim (F) | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Theo Kiss (F) | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Jack Martens | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Owen Smith (D) | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Ryan DeAngelis (D) | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Maryland Top Playoff Scorers (min 3 pts)
| Name | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Harrison Smith (F) | 9 | 4 | 18 | 22 |
| Tanner Duncan (F) | 9 | 5 | 14 | 19 |
| Ryan Franks (F) | 9 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| William Esterbrooks (D) | 9 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| Kristofers Krumins (F) | 9 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Brady Anes (F) | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Brayden Wade (F) | 9 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Owen Drury (F) | 9 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Liam Doherty (D) | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Trey Hinton (F) | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Graiden Insana (F) | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Daniel Johnson (D) | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Vincent Glos (D) | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
New Wilderness Playoff Records
| Record | Set By | Details |
| Most single playoff-season points | Talan Blanck | 23 |
| Most single playoff/career playoff goals | Talan Blanck | 12 |
| Most single playoff/career playoff power play goals | Talan Blanck | 4 |
| Longest playoff point streak | Zachary Homer | 10 games |
| Fastest consecutive goals (non empty-net) | Noah Dziver and Logan Nagle | 12 seconds apart (5/16 — game 2 of round 3) |
| Most single game goals | Talan Blanck | 3 |
| Most shutouts (team) | Ryan Gerlich and Valdemar Andersen | 3 |
| Most shutouts (individual) | Ryan Gerlich | 2 |
Coaches
| Coach | Team | Served Since | Birthplace |
| Clinton Mylymok | MYD | 2018 | London, ON, Canada |
| Zach Stepan | MNW | 2024 | Hastings, MN |