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

Sports

Hermantown High Sports Notebook

Hermantown High School will host a Signing Day ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the school commons area to recognize four Hawks student-athletes who will continue their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level. The group includes: . Lillian Clemons, who signed with University of Wisconsin-Superior for women’

Members Public
Sports

Plante scores game-winner in World Championship exhibition

Former Hermantown standout Max Plante scored a third-period goal as Team USA defeated Germany 5-2 in its lone exhibition game ahead of the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship before a sellout crowd of 12,909 at SAP Arena. Plante, a sophomore forward from University of Minnesota Duluth and the

Members Public
Howie: Max Plante on preliminary U.S. world championship roster
Minnesota Duluth Athletics
Sports

Howie: Max Plante on preliminary U.S. world championship roster

The IIHF Men’s World Championship annually serves as the highest-profile international men’s hockey tournament outside the Winter Olympics, drawing many of the world’s top professional and amateur players after the NHL regular season concludes.

Members Public
Plante, Gajan lead Bulldogs’ 2025-26 award recipients
Sports

Plante, Gajan lead Bulldogs’ 2025-26 award recipients

Howie's daily column is sponsored by Lyric Kitchen Bar. University of Minnesota Duluth honored six players with its 2025-26 men’s hockey team awards Wednesday, headlined by sophomore forward Max Plante, who capped a historic season as the Bulldogs’ most valuable player. Plante, a Hermantown native, received the

Members Public

Latest

Howie: How history may ultimately judge Donald Trump
Opinion

Howie: How history may ultimately judge Donald Trump

Trump challenged the structure itself. To Trump supporters, he represented long-overdue rebellion against elite management of the country. To his critics, he represented a direct threat to democratic norms, constitutional stability and civic decency.

Members Public
Howie: Duluth needs summer more than ever
Howie / HowieHanson.com
Opinion

Howie: Duluth needs summer more than ever

Duluth residents simply need this summer emotionally. They need concerts at Bayfront and families along the Lakewalk. They need baseball games, festivals and tourists asking directions. They need reminders that life cannot become an endless cycle of bills, politics, inflation, anxiety and survival.

Members Public