NAHL Weekend Preview

March 17, 2017

Time is now of the essence as just a handful of games remain in the 2016-17 NAHL regular season. The final push for the Robertson Cup Playoffs is here!

Only 8 of the 16 possible playoff spots have been claimed and only one team has won their division to date.

While the Janesville Jets have won the Midwest Division, the next regular season division titles could be claimed his weekend as the Lone Star Brahmas (South) and Aston Rebels (East) are both within of few wins of winning their respective divisions. With an eight point lead in the Central, the Minot Minotauros are also closing in.

The hottest playoff races remain for the final spot in the Central, the final spot in the Midwest and spots 2-4 in the South.

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In the Central Division this weekend, Aberdeen will host the Minnesota Wilderness for two key games with valuable points on the line. The Wilderness are in 2nd place, 8 points ahead of 4th place Aberdeen. Right behind the Wings, two points back, is the Bismarck Bobcats, who will host the Brookings Blizzard for two games with the Blizzard five points ahead of Bismarck and three points ahead of Aberdeen for 3rd place in the Central Division. The final series features Minot at Austin with the Bruins desperately needing points to get back into playoff contention.

In the East, Aston looks to close in on a division title with a pair in games in Johnstown against the 2nd place Tomahawks, who are 10 points back with 9 games to play. The New Jersey Titans will take to the road for a pair of games against the Northeast Generals.

In the Midwest Division, the big battle will be in La Crosse, Wisconsin this weekend as the Coulee Region Chill host the Springfield Jr. Blues in a pair of games. The Chill are one point ahead of the Jr. Blues for the 4th and final playoff spot in the division and Coulee Region has two games in hand, so it will be imperative for the Jr. Blues to win to stay in the race. 1st and 2nd place square off this weekend as the Janesville Jets visit the Minnesota Magicians.

In the South Division, both Wichita Falls and Corpus Christi are on the brink of locking up the final two spots. The IceRays will take to the road for two games in Odessa, while the Wildcats will have their hands full on the road against 1st place Lone Star, who is looking to lock up the division title with a few more wins. The other series has 2nd place Shreveport wanting to stay in 2nd place with a home series against Amarillo.

Outside of the divisions, the Fairbanks Ice Dogs look to strengthen their playoff position in the Midwest with two games at home against the East Division’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. In the other series, the Kenai River Brown Bears host two more games against the Topeka RoadRunners. The Brown Bears snapped a 13-game losing streak on Thursday night with a 3-1 win.

Friday, March 17th

New Jersey at Northeast - 7:00 PM EDT

Aston at Johnstown - 7:30 PM EDT

Springfield at Coulee Region - 7:00 PM CDT

Minot at Austin - 7:05 PM CDT

Corpus Christi at Odessa - 7:05 PM CDT

Amarillo at Shreveport - 7:11 PM CDT

MN Wilderness at Aberdeen - 7:15 PM CDT

Brookings at Bismarck - 7:15 PM CDT

Janesville at MN Magicians - 7:15 PM CDT

Wichita Falls at Lone Star - 7:30 PM CDT

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Fairbanks - 7:30 PM AKDT