(Wausau, WI)- After a home game this Friday night versus Peoria the Wausau RiverWolves travel to Blaine, Minnesota for the ninth annual NA3HL Showcase, which is set to take place December 16th through the 18th. The RiverWolves face a crucial point in their season with four games in five days. Coming into Friday night’s game versus Peoria, the RiverWolves are in 6th in the Central Division with an 8-13-1 record (17 points). They sit three points behind Wisconsin and five points out of the final playoff spot, which is currently held by Coulee Region.
All NA3HL teams will play three regular-season games at the Showcase, which is annually one of the most well-attended and scouted events of the entire season for the league, attracting college and junior scouts alike. The NA3HL Showcase brings every NA3HL team under one roof, which allows scouts to see all the great talent the league has to offer. Not only does the showcase see a large presence of NCAA scouts but NAHL Central Scouting is also in attendance, furthering the chances for players to earn a call up to the NAHL.
Wausau will take on the Gillette Wild, Long Beach Sharks and Breezy North Point Stars over the three-day period. They face the Wild on December 16th with puck drop scheduled for 3:30 pm. The puck will drop at 12:00 pm on December 17th against Long Beach and the RiverWolves will concluded their showcase games with a match-up versus Breezy Point on December 18th at 12:30 pm. All games can be seen live on HockeyTV.
Gillette Wild
The Wild are 4th in the Frontier Division with a record of 11-10-2. Gillette is led by Coleman Varty who has 17 goals and 27 assists which averages 1.83 points per game. Cody Grogan is the Wild’s starting goaltender. He holds a record of 7-3-0. He has a goals against average of 3.10 and a save percentage of .913.
Long Beach Sharks
Then is the Costal Division opponent, the Long Beach Sharks they hold a 10-12-2 record. Their record places them in 4th among the division. Cade Lambdin is currently the top point getter for the Sharks, he has 17 goals and 17 assists for the season. He averages 1.62 points per game. The Sharks have evenly split time in net this season. Tendy Ryan Cortez is 5-5-1 with a save percentage of .887 in 12 games. Meanwhile, goaltender Darren Nathan is 4-6-1 with a save percentage of .877 in 12 games.
Breezy Point North Stars
Lastly, the North Stars are 6th in the West Division with a 4-19-2 record. Carson Simon is the top point getter for Breezy Point with 22 points on the season. The North Stars have had a revolving door in net this season. Expect Jacob Maclennan to start for Breezy Point. The former NAHL goalie started their two most recent games in December. He allowed 7 goals in two games versus perennial West Division power in the Granite City Lumberjacks.
Join the RiverWolves Friday, December 14th as they face the Peoria Mustangs at Marathon Park Ice Arena. The first 250 fans will receive a RiverWolves Hat presented by National Dental Academy of Wisconsin. For tickets visit riverwolveshockey.com.
