Ice Dogs return to Marshall, Minnesota, for series against Chippewa Steel
By Caleb Jones
While the Ice Dogs are on the road for December, their upcoming series against the Chippewa Steel will take place in Marshall, Minnesota, a place that has served as their home away from home in recent years.
The city was the Ice Dogs’ primary location during the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season, and the team has traveled back for a series each year ever since.
“It’s awesome,” Ice Dogs head coach Ryan Theros said of the organization’s connection to Marshall. “It’s nice because all our guys have billet families here also. Some have done it for the past three, four, five years. We have a little bit of a comfort level here. The town and the community is unbelievable – they treat us so well when we get here. Everyone is super excited about us being in town.”
Their games against the Steel marks the initial series between the teams this season. And while the contest goes down as a road game on the schedule for the Ice Dogs, the crowd in attendance will more than likely make it feel anything but.
Fairbanks enters with plenty of momentum on their side. They’ve won seven of their last 10, and even their three losses have produced points, coming in either shootout or overtime fashion.
“That’s what you have to do in a long season,” Theros said. “[It’s about] getting points, because at the end of the day, it’s the top four teams that make the playoffs, and we need to make sure we’re continuing to build. Even though there’s been a couple games in there that we’re not satisfied with… it’s a huge thing for us down the road, because every single point counts.”
The team has continued its climb up the Midwest Division standings, now sitting in third place with 32 points, just one behind the Anchorage Wolverines for second. Helping their case is the fact that the Ice Dogs have played the fewest games in the division, putting them on pace to contend for the top spot. The division leader, the Wisconsin Windigo, holds 41 points but has played four more games.
The Ice Dogs aim to keep their momentum against the Steel, who have lost three straight and sit in fifth place with 25 points through 24 games. Chippewa is just one spot out of a potential playoff position.
“They’re a good team, they’ve been in every game pretty much,” Theros said of the upcoming contests. “As long as we play our game, I think we’ll be okay, but they’re a team that won’t just go away. They’ve been competitive in pretty much every game they’ve had so far this season.”
It begins a crucial stretch for Fairbanks, who has six games remaining until the NAHL’s break in action from late December through early January. After the Steel, they’ll travel to the Springfield Jr. Blues before doing the same against the division-leading Wisconsin Windigo. “We’re basically taking these next six games as a six-game segment of its own,” Theros said of the schedule. “That’s kind of what our mindset is going in – taking what we’ve done so far and continuing to build on it, but not being satisfied where we’re at… [we’re] trying to just get better on what we’ve done already and move forward with the next six games.”
