December 10, 2020 – 7:30 p.m.
Mason City Multipurpose Arena – Mason City, Iowa
SHERIDAN HAWKS (12-1-0-0)
@ NORTH IOWA BULLS (11-3-0-0)
ROSTER: NORTH IOWA // SHERIDAN
STATISTICS: NORTH IOWA // SHERIDAN
ATTENDING THE GAME: MAP TO ARENA // SEATING CHART
COVERAGE: HockeyTV (video/$), Mixlr (audio/free)
LIVE STATS: None
BULLS vs. SHERIDAN ALL-TIME: First meeting
TONIGHT’S PROMOTIONS: Take a time-out from your busy work week with tonight’s game, including $5 tickets and $2 draws on craft beer. Christmas specials on North Iowa Bulls merchandise are also available throughout tonight’s game, and by appointment during regular business hours, at Brutus’s Locker Room Sponsored by Christie Door Company. For a schedule of upcoming promotions, click here.
HIGH-FLYING HAWKS: The Bulls’ opponent tonight is on a red-hot run, and finds itself in a front-runner position in the North American Tier 3 Hockey League’s Frontier Division. Sheridan has won 11 straight, following a 2-1 start in the far western reaches of the NA3HL map. Sheridan ripped the Yellowstone Quake for 10-2 and 9- 0 wins this past weekend, including a four-point game from Joe Teasdale on Friday night and a five-point outburst from Zach Brydges in Saturday’s game. Only Bozeman, in a 3-2 squeaker in the season’s second game, has yet stopped this big-gunning band of birds. The Hawks have scored an unreal 9.77 goals per game in the early goings, and in 13 games, Sheridan has only allowed 17 goals – both are league-best marks.
BLUE CHRISTMAS: North Iowa forward Carson Jones has been nothing short of impressive since joining the roster at the start of November, and the Springfield Jr. Blues have taken notice – Jones has signed a tender to return to the North American Hockey League and his former team next season. In five games, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota native has seven points, including a goal just 12 minutes into his North Iowa debut against Willmar on November 6. He added a goal in the Bulls’ 9-1 win over Carshield U18 last Friday night. Jones notched eight points and eight assists in 49 games last year for the Jr. Blues, who elected to go dark for 2020-21. Ongoing COVID-related restrictions in Illinois would have forced Springfield to play home games without fans this year.
STARS OF THE SHOW: Of the five reigning divisional Stars of the Week, three will appear in this weekend’s Bulls Holiday Classic – with no games in the West Division since November 21, North Iowa defenseman Caleb Huffman is still the most recent West Division Star of the Week after racking up five points against the New Ulm Steel. Sheridan has the latest Frontier Division Star of the Week, after Zach Brydges rolled up six points in last weekend’s games against the Yellowstone Quake. Three of the last four Star of the Week honors in the Frontier Division have gone to Hawks players, while the Bulls have picked up four so far this season.
MEDIA NOTES (click the arrow to expand):