The new Minnesota Wilderness NA3HL squad will open its historic first regular season on Sept. 13.
The league announced its 2024-25 schedule this week and has the Wilderness playing its first game in Mason City, IA. The Wilderness will take on the Mason City Toros in what will be the first of seven straight road games to start the season.
Fans will have to wait until Oct. 12 before being able to see the squad in its home arena. Mason City will again be the opponent when the NA3 Wilderness plays its inaugural game at the Eveleth Hippodrome.
The schedule includes all games minus those that will be played at the annual NA3HL Showcase tournament in Blaine, MN. The Wilderness will be playing three additional games at the Showcase, which will be held in December. Overall, the Wilderness will play 47 regular season contests with 22 at the Hippodrome.
Other highlights in this season’s schedule include a Thanksgiving Eve home game. The Wilderness are scheduled to host Mason City on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
The Wilderness will also play in Eveleth on New Year’s Eve. Minnesota will complete the 2024 portion of its schedule against the Willmar Warhawks.
The final regular season home game is set for March 1 vs. the Minnesota Moose, and the Wilderness will again be in Mason City for the campaign’s final game on March 7.
The NA3 Wilderness will compete in the league’s West division, which along with Mason City, Willmar and the Minnesota Moose, also includes the Granite City Lumberjacks and Alexandria Blizzard. The Wilderness schedule also includes two teams from the Central Division – the Peoria Mustangs and Wausau Cyclones.
The entire league schedule can be accessed at https://na3hl.com/nahl/downloads/2425/na3hl/na3hl-2024-2025-schedule.pdf