Hockey Day Minnesota Preview

This year’s Hockey Day Minnesota is being held in Stillwater, Minnesota, and Fox Sports North will be broadcasting all of the action for those of us who won’t be able to make the games live. Fox Sports North’s coverage of the day will begin at 9:00 am Central.

* = Will be broadcast on FSN Plus

All following stats via mnhockeyhub.com and ncaa.com.

Boys High School Hockey: Thief River Falls vs. Mahtomedi

The Mariuci third placed Thief River Falls will play the Metro East third placed Mahtomedi in the first game of the day. Coming into the week, Thief River Falls has two less wins than Mahtomedi with one game in hand. However, before their game on Saturday, Thief River Falls will play two more games while Mahtomedi will play one more game.

Boys High School Hockey: Eden Prairie vs. Stillwater

The second game of the day will see the Lake first placed Eden Prairie against the Suburban East first placed Stillwater. While they didn’t face each other, both teams made it the state tournament last year and both teams eventually lost to Wayzata. Stillwater lost to Wayzata in the semifinals while Eden Prairie lost to Wayzata in the finals. While Stillwater’s leading scorer Noah Crates has 34 points in 14 games, the most interesting part of this game is probably going to be Eden Prairie senior Casey Mittelstadt, who is a top ranked prospect eligible for the 2017 NHL Draft and who has 29 points in 15 games.

Some highlights.

NCAA Women: Minnesota State Mankato vs. St. Cloud State

Neither Minnesota State nor St. Cloud State have had great seasons so far as both teams find themselves on the bottom half of the standings. The only difference between their records so far is that St. Cloud State has lost one fewer game with one game in hand.

NCAA: Gophers vs. Badgers

Leading all Big Ten teams in points, the Minnesota Gophers will head into the weekend the favorites over the Wisconsin Badgers as Minnesota Wild prospects Jack Sadek and Luke Kunin face off. Minnesota is coming off a weekend sweep of Michigan while the Badgers had the weekend off and should be well rested. Kunin recently returned from the 2017 World Junior Championships with a two goal game and now has 13 goals and 19 points in 17 games.

Girls High School Hockey: Minnetonka vs. Stillwater

Last of the day’s high school games, the tied second placed Lake team Minnetonka will play against the sixth placed Suburban East team Stillwater. Overall, Minnetonka has won two more games than Stillwater, but the home team will be looking to impress for the big day.

NHL: Wild vs. Ducks

Last but not least, the Anaheim Ducks will be visiting the Minnesota Wild in a rematch after the Wild beat the Ducks at home two Sundays ago on national TV. While maybe not as meaningful as that first game, the Wild are still going to be motivated to win another game for Head Coach Bruce Boudreau against his former team. Overall, the Wild’s record on Hockey Day Minnesota is 7-2-1, and the last time the Wild played the Ducks on HDM in 2009, they lost 3-0.