The Richfield-based Minnesota Magicians (24-14-4) are among the best teams in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) entering February. The team currently occupies 2nd place in the Midwest Division behind the Janesville Jets (32-8-3). This past weekend the Magicians defeated the Coulee Region Chill on Saturday night in La Crosse, Wisconsin. They will travel to South Dakota this upcoming weekend for a two-game series vs. the Aberdeen Wings (20-18-3) in the first matchups between the two teams this season.
The Magicians faced off against the struggling Coulee Region Chill (17-20-2) over the past weekend, earning a road victory on Saturday night at Green Island Ice Arena in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Timo Walther, the native of Mannheim, Germany, got the scoring started for the Magicians in the first period (Assists: Caleb Hite, Cam Buhl) before the Chill were able to answer to make it 1-1 heading into the first intermission. In the 2nd period, Tanner Tweten scored the lone goal of the frame (Assists: Brendan Skarda, Mitch Slattery) to make it 2-1 heading into the third. After a mostly scoreless period, Tweten found the back of the net once again (Unassisted) to increase the Magicians lead to 3-1, which would end up holding as the final score. Goaltender Ivan Prosvetov played well, stopping 40 of 41 shots to earn the victory. The Magicians head to Aberdeen, South Dakota for a road series this weekend before returning home vs. the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on February 17th and 18th at Richfield Ice Arena.
In other news, several Magicians players earned league honors for their play during the month of January. Goaltender Jake Acton earned NAHL Goaltender of the Month after posting a 1.20 goals against average and a 96.0% save percentage. Defenseman Travis Brown was named runner up for Defenseman of the Month after finishing the month with 2 goals and 6 assists for a total of 8 points in 9 games played. More information on the Minnesota Magicians can be found at www.wisconsinjuniorhockey.com.