The North American Hockey League Midwest Division Final series between the Wisconsin Windigo and the Anchorage Wolverines went the full distance of five games, where the Windigo defeated the Wolverines in their barn to claim the team’s first-ever Midwest Division Robertson Cup playoff championship.
The team now looks ahead as the No. 3-seeded team in the semifinals, set to play the Lone Star Brahmas in a best-of-three series starting Friday and Saturday, May 16-17, in Blaine, Minn.
Anchorage made sure Wisconsin stayed in Alaska an extra day, as the Wolverines won game four of the series 4-2 last Friday to even the series at 2-2. In a hotly contested game five, the Windigo and goaltender Beau Altman came away with a 2-1 victory to get revenge from last year and advance as one of the final four teams.
“I am so proud of the guys tonight for battling hard all game long. Anchorage is a very good team and a difficult team to beat in their own building. We don’t play many games on Olympic-sized sheets, and it certainly requires some adjustments,” stated Windigo head coach John Mitchell. “We were quick to execute our transitions, and that created scoring opportunities for us. The pressure of an elimination game is immense, and our guys handled that pretty well.”
Game four: Windigo 2, Wolverines 4
In what was a close first period between the two teams, Wisconsin outshot the Wolverines 12-11 in a scoreless first period before Anchorage broke the ice early in the second. After just 31 seconds off the second-period clock, Anchorage claimed the 1-0 advantage on home ice. After energizing over 4,500 fans in attendance, Luke Baker found the equalizer at 8:09 of the middle frame. Costly unforced turnovers allowed Anchorage to head into the second intermission with a little cushion, scoring two unanswered to lead 3-1 after 40 minutes. Continuous pressure in the third allowed the Windigo some chances, but nothing at even strength. An early decision to pull Altman, with five minutes remaining, gave Wisconsin the extra attacker, but Anchorage scored an empty-netter seconds after Altman hit the bench. That made it a 4-1 game and sealed the victory for the home team, despite Hunter Hayes finding a goal with two minutes left.
Game five: Windigo 2, Wolverines 1
Wisconsin tightened things up defensively in the pressure-filled elimination game on the road.
The Windigo fired 16 shots to Anchorage’s eight in the first period, resulting in two goals, and led 2-1 after the first period horn. Hunter Hayes picked up a tally, and Rio Treharne scored
his first playoff goal.
“Hunter Hayes came up big for us tonight and played a key role in both goals,” said Mitchell.
From there, Anchorage gave everything it had, outshooting the Windigo 17-6 in the second, as Wisconsin killed off multiple penalties and kept the lead. The Wolverines put up another double-digit shot period in the third, but Altman was solid all night, as was the defense in front.
“We moved the puck out of our zone pretty effectively for the most part,” said Mitchell. “Beau Altman was huge in net for us. He made key saves when we needed them.”
Altman finished the night with 34 saves on 35 shots faced to clinch the division playoff championship.
The Windigo will quickly shift gears to the defending Robertson Cup champions, the Lone Star Brahmas, as the two teams clash this weekend at Fogerty Arena in Blaine, Minn. Games one and two are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, May 16-17, at 7:30 p.m., while game three will be played on Sunday if necessary. The championship game will be held Tuesday, May 20, if the Windigo were to advance.
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