THIS WEEK’S GAME:
WEDNESDAY – North Iowa @ Willmar, 7:30 p.m.
NORTH IOWA BULLS, 17-3-1-0 (ROSTER, STATS)
@ WILLMAR WARHAWKS, 8-8-1-1 (ROSTER, STATS)
COVERAGE: HockeyTV (video/$)
BULLS vs. WILLMAR ALL-TIME: 13-0-1
NEXT HOME GAME: Friday marks the Bulls’ final Friday night game at the “Barn” as the New Ulm Steel come in for a visit. Friday’s game is the team’s annual Teddy Bear Toss – fans who bring a stuffed toy to the game will receive $2 off their game-night admission, and will toss their stuffed toys onto the ice after the Bulls’ first goal. All toys tossed onto the ice will be donated to the Salvation Army. For a schedule of upcoming promotions, click here.
LEAVING TOWN FOR THE HOLIDAYS: North Iowa will be down a couple of players this week, thanks to call-ups to the North American Hockey League. Lucas Wahlin and Sean Sullivan were both called up early Tuesday, heading to opposite ends of the NAHL map. Sullivan has been a regular on the Bulls’ top defensive pairing, and will be heading west to Kenai River to join the Brown Bears. The Middleton, Wisconsin native has been nearly a point-per-game producer for the Bulls, with 18 points and appearing in every North Iowa game to date. Wahlin is heading east to the Jamestown Rebels, after the Woodbury, Minnesota native posted 32 points and grabbed the team lead in goals heading to Thanksgiving.
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE, DOUBLE YOUR FUN: North Iowa will enter the weekend looking to continue an incredible run against a Willmar team battling for playoff positioning in the West. This game is the fifth matchup against the WarHawks this season, with three of the first four going to the Bulls by a 10-goal margin. In their last meeting on November 17, the Bulls fell behind 2-1 late in the first period before racking up 11 unanswered goals for a 12-2 win. Lucas Wahlin made his mark with a hat trick, one of nine Bulls to score a goal in that contest. During the Bulls’ 11-game head-to-head winning streak, North Iowa has won four by double-digits.
FINAL FOUR: Cam Fagerlee is on the verge of landing on the Bulls’ all-time “Mount Rushmore” of players heading into a busy holiday weekend. With 141 career points, he needs only three to pass Brendan Studioso and Marshall Barnes and move into #4 on the team’s all-time scoring list. One more assist would break a tie with Brett Gravelle for sixth all-time, and three would put him in the top four in that category. One goal would break a tie with Studioso, also for sixth, and three would put him alone in fourth on the team’s all-time list.
LOCK IT DOWN: Willmar will need some extra gas in the tank to keep up with their visitors in this game. The Bulls have allowed only 10 goals in the third period this season, and only one has been a WarHawks goal. Only the Great Falls Americans have allowed fewer third-period goals this season (nine) than North Iowa.
MEDIA NOTES: