RICHFIELD, Minn. – Dan Sandvig hasn’t had to worry about making constant trips back and forth between North Iowa and Alaska, but he’s been a steady presence for the Kenai River Brown Bears on their recent road trips to the Lower 48.
Sandvig made his return to the NAHL this weekend, and marked his first North American Hockey League goal Friday night in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Minnesota Magicians. It was an extra-special moment for the first-year North Iowa forward, scoring his first NAHL goal just a few miles from his hometown of Burnsville, Minnesota.
After starting the season with the Brown Bears and appearing in a game for Kenai River at the NA3HL Showcase in September, Sandvig made his North Iowa debut in mid-October, and started with just a couple of assists in his first five games.
That all changed with his first junior goal against the Rochester Ice Hawks just before Thanksgiving, though, a goal that touched off an active six-game point streak with the Bulls. He earned a recall to the NAHL on Dec. 6, but did not appear in the Brown Bears’ road games last weekend at Coulee Region and Janesville.
Six different Bulls players have been called up to the North American Hockey League this season, including Dominic Skrelja, who remains with the Austin Bruins.
North Iowa’s next home game takes them up against the Rochester Ice Hawks on Saturday, Dec. 30 for the Bulls’ “New Year’s Bash” at the North Iowa Ice Arena, with live streaming coverage on HockeyTV and free audio streaming on Mixlr. For advance tickets to the Bulls’ final home game of 2017, or any future North Iowa home game, click here.