The Minnesota Wilderness hope to make the second verse to be the same as the first as they take on the Chippewa Steel in a home-and-home series this Friday and Saturday. This follows last Friday and Saturday where the Wilderness completed a sweep over the Steel in the weekend series done in the same format with each team hosting one game.
Last week, in game 1 on Jan. 9, Minnesota (24-7-2) took down Chippewa (6-25-2) in Chippewa Falls, WI, 4-2. In game 2, on Jan. 10, in Cloquet, the Wilderness fell behind the Steel for the first time this season, but managed to rally in the 3rd period for a 5-2 victory.
Minnesota is 7-0 in the season-series vs. Chippewa. After this weekend, the Midwest Division rivals have three more contests left on the docket for the 2025-26 regular season.
Game time for Friday’s contest at the Chippewa Area Ice Arena in Chippewa Falls is set for 7 p.m. Saturday’s rematch in Cloquet will be at 7:15 p.m.
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 | 33 | 50 | Fri. @ Chippewa, Sat. vs. Chippewa |
| 2 | Fairbanks | 34 | 46 | 2 @ Anchorage |
| 3 | Wisconsin | 34 | 43 | 2 @ Springfield |
| 4 | Springfield | 35 | 41 | 2 vs. Wisconsin |
| 5 | Anchorage | 33 | 36 | 2 vs. Fairbanks |
| 6 | Janesville | 35 | 29 | 3 @ Kenai River (Thurs., Fri., Sat.) |
| 7 | Kenai River | 33 | 23 | 3 vs. Janesville (Thurs., Fri., Sat.) |
| 8 | Chippewa | 33 | 14 | Fri. vs. Wilderness, Sat. @ Wilderness |
Tale of the Tape:
| Team | GF | GA | PP | PK |
| Chippewa | 74 | 159 | 13 for 111 (11.7%) | 40 for 170 (76.5%) |
| Wilderness | 147 | 86 | 29 for 123 (23.5%) | 26 for 129 (79.8%) |