THIS WEEKEND’S GAMES:
FRIDAY – New Ulm @ North Iowa, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY – North Iowa @ New Ulm, 7:10 p.m.
NEW ULM STEEL, 15-12-0-1 (ROSTER, STATS)
VS. NORTH IOWA BULLS, 22-6-0-0 (ROSTER, STATS)
COVERAGE: HockeyTV (video/$), Mixlr (audio/free – Saturday only)
BULLS VS. NEW ULM ALL-TIME: 42-7-2
THIS WEEK’S PROMOTIONS: North Iowa returns to home ice on Friday for “Cinemania Night,” featuring appearances from some of your favorite movie characters, including the Minions, Frozen’s Olaf, Spiderman and Spongebob Squarepants. For a schedule of upcoming promotions, click here.
THE BIG POND: Olympic-sized surfaces are rare in the NA3HL, but the Bulls will have to adjust to the extra space on Saturday night when they make the trip up to New Ulm. The Bulls have played in the New Ulm Civic Center five times (including last year on the Civic Center’s NHL rink due to the city’s annual Home and Garden Show in the Olympic facility), winning all five times. In only one of those games did the Steel keep the final margin within a goal (losing to the Bulls in a shootout) – in each of the other four, the Bulls scored exactly five goals.
A FRESH FACE: North Iowa will debut a much-needed left-handed defenseman this weekend as Hank Nagel joins the roster following a solid high school career for the Mound-Westonka White Hawks. Nagel played a four-year varsity career for the White Hawks, tallying 39 points in 78 regular-season games. As a senior captain last season, he racked up 19 points, including 10 goals, plus an additional assist during sectional play.
SWEET SIXTEEN: Next up on the list of point streaks for Matt Dahlseide to chase down is a teammate on this year’s squad – Cam Fagerlee started his junior career last season by posting a point in 18 consecutive games. Tim Santopaolo’s 19-game point streak from 2013-14 is right behind, in the number-three spot.
STEELING A WIN LATE: New Ulm has been impressive of late, winning eight of their last 11, but a stronger finish would work wonders for the Steel. They’ve been outscored in the third period of their games this season, and the number of offensive chances they’ve gotten has fallen off noticeably after the 40-minute intermission.
MEDIA NOTES: