NAHL Weekend Preview
We’ve got 28 games on the NAHL schedule this weekend as the Robertson Cup playoff picture is starting to come more into focus.
The commitment numbers continue to climb as there are 225 players making their college plans in the NAHL.
The Minot Minotauros, Maine Nordiques, Wisconsin Windigo, Anchorage Wolverines and El Paso Rhinos have recently punched their tickets to the Robertson Cup playoffs. For Minot, Maine and Wisconsin, it’s a return trip. For Anchorage, they are back for the first time since reaching the Robertson Cup championship game back in their inaugural season in 2021-22. This will be El Paso’s first trip to the Robertson Cup playoffs since joining the NAHL back in 2021-22.
It’s a fairly quiet weekend in the Central Division as Austin visits North Iowa for a weekend series while Bismarck visits St. Cloud for one night in St. Cloud. Austin is one point behind St. Cloud for the final playoff spot with 10 games remaining. Every point is crucial in the always tight Central Division. Minot and Aberdeen both have the weekend off.
In the East, division leader Maryland hosts Philadelphia for a weekend series. Maine travels to Danbury, Johnstown visits Rochester and Northeast renews their rivalry with New Jersey. The Jr. Americans, Tomahawks and Titans are in a comfortable spot in terms of playoff positioning but Northeast has just a four point lead over the Rebels for the final spot and Philadelphia has three games in hand. These teams do not meet again this season. The Rebels being a five game road trip tonight and this trip may tell us whether they will be in the hunt come April.
In the Midwest, there’s no team hotter than the Anchorage Wolverines. They have won 11 games in a row and have pulled within four points of Wisconsin for first place with three games in hand. Anchorage hosts the Wilderness this weekend, who have a three point cushion over Chippewa for the final playoff spot. The Windigo go head-to-head in Janesville with the Jets while Kenai River hosts Fairbanks and Springfield hosts the Steel.
In the South, there is a chance that Lone Star can become division champions this weekend. They will need to sweep El Paso and have Shreveport get swept on home ice by Oklahoma. New Mexico can punch their ticket this weekend despite not playing as just a single loss from Odessa will put the Ice Wolves into the postseason. Odessa plays against the IceRays while Amarillo visits Colorado this weekend.
Watch all the action on NAHLTV
