Wild three wins away from NAHL Finals
Alan Dale/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Last year the Wenatchee Wild celebrated their West Division title and their opportunity to win the NAHL championship. This weekend they will begin a new journey forward as they look to repeat the feat in 2010.
WENATCHEE — With the Fairbanks Ice Dogs completing their sweep of Alaska this past weekend the Wenatchee Wild now know who stands between them and a chance to claim another West Division title.
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) division finals start this weekend and the Wild will have home-ice advantage against Fairbanks when their best-of-five series starts Friday at Town Toyota Center at 7:05 p.m.
Both teams will square off in Game 2 on Saturday, also at 7:05 p.m. before the scene shifts to Fairbanks the following weekend for Game 3 and a potential fourth game if necessary.
The winner gets the West Division’s bid to the Robertson Cup finals tournament starting on May 5 in Wenatchee.
Being the host automatically qualifies Wenatchee for the tournament but having the NAHL’s best regular season record should warrant them that bid regardless of the outcome against the River Dogs.
Wenatchee, the top-seed, enters the West finals coming off a three-game sweep of the Kenai Brown Bears in the semifinals, outscoring their opponents 13-5.
Fairbanks, the third-seed out of the West, shocked Alaska with two wins in Wasilla before wrapping up the series at home, 4-2, against the higher seeds.
The Wild’s next game on the ice will be their first in 12 days after wrapping up their sweep but the coaching staff has indicated no concerns heading into their Game 1 encounter.
To repeat as West Division champs the Wild will need to continue to rely on many top performances by a myriad of players such as Ryan Timar who scored three goals and had an assist against Kenai River.
Jeff Jubinville, Dajon Mingo and Shawn Pauly all picked up three points apiece in the semifinals so options galore may remain a main approach once again for the Wild to advance.
The Ice Dogs are led by Mark Pustin who scored two goals and added two assists against Alaska, while Aaron McGill and Zach Tolkinen each scored three points in their sweep of the second-seeds.
Wenatchee went 8-1 against Fairbanks this season and swept three of their four series against the Ice Dogs while outscoring them 38-18.
For more information on the Wild visit their website.