February 14, 2021 – 7:00 p.m.
Mason City Multipurpose Arena – Mason City, Iowa
WILLMAR WARHAWKS (12-11-0-0)
@ NORTH IOWA BULLS (19-5-0-0)
ROSTER: NORTH IOWA // WILLMAR
STATISTICS: NORTH IOWA // WILLMAR
ATTENDING THE GAME: MAP TO ARENA // SEATING CHART
COVERAGE: HockeyTV (video/$), Mixlr (audio/free)
LIVE STATS: CLICK HERE
BULLS vs. WILLMAR ALL-TIME: 20-0-1
TONIGHT’S PROMOTIONS: North Iowa celebrates Valentine’s Day in tonight’s contest with “Hockey and Hearts” date-night packages, featuring pizza, drinks and tickets to the game with a view from one of the Bulls’ club boxes. For a schedule of upcoming promotions, click here.
IT’S ALWAYS THE QUIET ONES…: Bulls forward Lucas Jorgenson has very quietly vaulted himself into a tie for the team scoring lead, picking up an assist in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Blizzard – with 23 points, he now finds himself in a three-way tie with Sota Isogai and Cal Nauss for the team’s top mark. He has gotten there on the strength of a seven-game point streak, the longest active run on the team and one shy of Isogai’s eight-game run, which ended Saturday. Of Jorgenson’s 12 points during the current seven-game streak, only two have come via goals.
MAKING SOME NOISE: Despite last night’s 5-3 loss to Granite City, Willmar continues to climb the standings and take aim at home-ice advantage in the first round of the Fraser Cup playoffs. The WarHawks are winners of 10 of their last 13 games, following a 2-8 start to the season.
DEFENDING THE HOME FRONT: North Iowa will hunt for a 19th consecutive home win tonight against a team that has never defeated the Bulls in Mason City. The last time North Iowa won 19 in a row at home was a streak that began in February of 2016 and marched through the team’s most recent national championship run before finally ending on January 27, 2017 against the New Ulm Steel. It does not include two home wins in the 2016 Silver (now Fraser) Cup Playoffs, nor does it include a game against the Metro Jets at the 2016 NA3HL Showcase in which North Iowa was considered the home team.
WE LOVE VALENTINE’S DAY: The Bulls have played three Valentine’s Day games in their history, with all of them coming at home and all of them yielding wins. Last year’s game was a 6-4 decision against the St. Louis Jr. Blues, in which North Iowa scored twice in the first period before surrendering the lead just 3:30 into the second. Jordan Roo’s response four minutes later put North Iowa in the lead for good, though the Jr. Blues scored twice in a 21-second span of the third period to drop the lead to a goal. Carter Eha scored twice, including the game-winner with 41 seconds left in the second and an empty-netter with 31 seconds left in the game, while Roo finished with a hat trick. The Bulls played back-to-back Valentine’s Day games against the Minnesota Flying Aces in 2013-14 and 2014-15, routing the Aces in both games by 14-1 and 10-3 finals.
MEDIA NOTES (click the arrow to expand):