THIS WEEKEND’S GAMES:
FRIDAY – North Iowa @ Granite City, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY – North Iowa @ Granite City, 7:30 p.m.
NORTH IOWA BULLS, 36-7-2-0 (ROSTER, STATS)
@ GRANITE CITY LUMBERJACKS, 33-12-0-0 (ROSTER, STATS)
COVERAGE: HockeyTV (video/$)
BULLS vs. GRANITE CITY ALL-TIME: 36-27-5
NEXT HOME GAME: North Iowa begins the playoff slate next Friday night, with a home game against the Alexandria Blizzard. It’s “Lucky 13” Night as we celebrate Friday the 13th, featuring 13% off markdowns at Brutus’s Locker Room, 13 different raffles during the game, 13 different brands of beer marked down to $3, and a center-ice shootout between 13 fans for $113 in cash. The Bulls will also play at home on Sunday, if necessary. For a schedule of upcoming promotions, click here.
FOLLOW THE LEADER: North Iowa co-captain Matt Dahlseide is close to entering rare air in Bulls history – Dahlseide comes into the weekend two points ahead of Jordan Roo for the team scoring lead. Should he finish the weekend on top, he’ll become only the second North Iowa player to finish as the team’s top scorer twice. Legendary North Iowa forward Matt Kroska led the team in scoring three times, racking up 247 points over his North Iowa career, far and away the best mark in team history. Brett Gravelle led the Bulls in scoring during the 2015-16 season, and was one point short of the team lead the previous year.
EVEN STEVEN: This season, perhaps more so than in any other year, the season series between the two teams has been a dead heat. Each team has won three games in the season series in 2019-20, with none of the games going to overtime. Over those six games, the Lumberjacks have outscored the Bulls by just one (20-19), and no game between the teams has been decided by more than three goals.
PULLING A RABBIT OUT OF HIS HAT: A North Iowa alumnus received one of the North American Hockey League’s weekly honors this week after picking up three wins and putting his team right into the thick of the Robertson Cup playoff race – Dysen Skinner was named the NAHL’s Midwest Division Star of the Week after making 92 saves on 97 shots against the St. Cloud Blizzard and Chippewa Steel. Of the Magicians’ 13 wins since his call-up in mid-December, 12 belong to Skinner – the Magicians now find themselves two points ahead of Janesville for the Midwest’s final playoff spot, though the Jets have two games in hand.
O GLORY, I’LL FLY AWAY: North Iowa can now also claim a new alumnus in the professional ranks, with Jack Stang’s signing this week by the Evansville Thunderbolts of the Southern Professional Hockey League. Stang recently finished his senior season at St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota, notching a career-high 27 points. His 24 assists was the most by a Cardinals player since current Maine Mariners assistant Anthony Bohn tallied 26 helpers during the 2007-08 campaign. He is set to become the 11th former Bull to skate in a professional game this season, with alumni in six different countries.
MEDIA NOTES: