Skip to content
Sign In Subscribe
Sports — Minnesota Wilderness

Wilderness chasing final playoff spot

,   and  Howie
1 min read

The Minnesota Wilderness are now within striking distance of the Midwest Division’s final playoff spot. Minnesota completed its first sweep of the season against the Chippewa Steel in a home-and-home series this weekend. A pair of 4-3 victories, Friday in Cloquet and Saturday in Chippewa Falls, WI, has moved Minnesota to two points behind the Steel for 4th-place in the Midwest Division standings.

The division’s top four teams qualify for the NAHL’s Robertson Cup playoffs.

The Wilderness (27-24-4) will play their final four games of the 2024-25 regular season schedule at home, while Chippewa (28-22-4) travels to Alaska for its final five contests. Minnesota must gain three more points than the Steel before the end of the regular season, and stay ahead of the sixth-place Springfield Jr. Blues to qualify for the post-season. Springfield is only one point behind Minnesota and three points away from Chippewa.

The Wilderness will host Janesville in a Thursday-Friday series before entertaining Springfield in a season-closing two-game series April 11 and 12.

Comments

Related

Howie: Bulldogs fighting for home ice in the playoffs
Bulldogs junior defenseman Aaron Pionk. Howie / HowieHanson.com
Sports

Howie: Bulldogs fighting for home ice in the playoffs

Home ice is there for the taking. The Bulldogs will either take points from Denver, survive North Dakota, and handle their business against Miami and Colorado College — or they’ll finish fifth, look back at a missed weekend or two, and tell themselves they were close.

Members Public
Sports

Bulldogs disappear for two periods, lose 4-3

Seventh-ranked Minnesota Duluth opened a key NCHC stretch with a 4-3 loss to No. 3 Western Michigan on Friday night at Amsoil Arena. Ty Hanson scored in the first period for the Bulldogs (17-8, 8-7 NCHC). Jayson Shaugabay and Callum Arnott added goals in the final two minutes. Western Michigan

Members Public
Plante brothers, Hanson on Hobey Baker fan ballot
Sports

Plante brothers, Hanson on Hobey Baker fan ballot

For Hermantown, the impact is already unmistakable. A high school program in northern Minnesota placed three of its own among the nation’s best college hockey players — simultaneously, on the sport’s biggest individual stage — reinforcing a legacy that now stretches far beyond state lines.

Members Public
Sports

Howie on local prep hockey

I’m not handing Hermantown a boys hockey state trophy in January. I’ve been around too long for that. But when the Section 7A tournament begins and the pressure turns real, I know who I’m riding with. I’ve seen this movie before. It usually ends with everyone else wondering how they missed it.

Members Public

Latest

Howie

Howie: Hermantown sets the standard for public education in Minnesota

In public education, trust is built through repetition — of performance, transparency and follow-through. Wayne Whitwam’s style reflects that understanding. He has avoided the temptation to overpromise, resisted reactionary pivots, and kept the district’s focus on instruction, people and systems.

Members Public
Obit: Carol Fryberger
Obits

Obit: Carol Fryberger

Carol Nicholson Fryberger lived her life with generosity, humility, empathy, selflessness, clarity of thought, courage, and a strong sense of purpose. Her 86 years were centered around caring for others, championing their achievements and guiding them through their challenges. She rarely spoke of herself and generally shunned recognition. Granted, she

Members Public
Howie: 'You just can’t Google that.'
Lucie Amundsen. Howie / HowieHanson.com
DECC

Howie: 'You just can’t Google that.'

TEDxDuluth, like all TEDx events, is built around the idea that small ideas can have outsized impact. That a single story, told honestly, can reroute someone else’s thinking. It’s not about celebrity. It’s about resonance.

Members Public
Howie: Bulldogs fighting for home ice in the playoffs
Bulldogs junior defenseman Aaron Pionk. Howie / HowieHanson.com
Sports

Howie: Bulldogs fighting for home ice in the playoffs

Home ice is there for the taking. The Bulldogs will either take points from Denver, survive North Dakota, and handle their business against Miami and Colorado College — or they’ll finish fifth, look back at a missed weekend or two, and tell themselves they were close.

Members Public