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 Minot Minotauros

Weekend Preview

February 10, 2023 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minot Minotauros News Release


by Ken Oda

Minot, ND - The Minotauros return to the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena this weekend to host the Aberdeen Wings in a battle for second place in the Central Division. The teams are tied for the second spot heading into the weekend in a jam-packed playoff race that has five teams separated by just five points battling for three playoff spots.

The Tauros get a boost this weekend with the debut of recently acquired Kolby Amici and the return of d Braden Fischer from injury. Amici was acquired from the El Paso Rhinos just before Monday's trade deadline in exchange for Tory Lund. He had 17 points on the season to lead the Rhinos and represented them at the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament earlier this week. Fischer meanwhile was the MJHL Most Valuable Player last season and was off to a hot start posting five points in five contests for the Tauros before getting injured in practice.

The additions should boost the Tauros at both ends of the ice with the Tauros but perhaps the biggest boon for the Tauros headed into the final third of the season is the return to form of Noah Rupprecht and the health of Lawton Zacher. Zacher has been stellar when healthy this season posting .929 SV% and 12-3-1 record. Rupprecht struggled after coming to Minot from the USHL posting a .828 SV% and 5.315 GAA in his first four starts as a Tauro, but has posted a .935 SV% and 2.01 GAA in four starts since.

The Wings meanwhile were also active at the trade deadline acquiring defenseman Nick Comfort from the Oklahoma Warriors. Comfort has three points on a goal and two assists through 21 games played for Oklahoma.

The weekend in Minot will be the third and fourth consecutive games between the two Tauros and Wings after the teams split a weekend set in Aberdeen last weekend. The Wings won 3-0 on Friday before the Tauros bounced back for a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Overall on the season the teams have split each of the three weekend sets they have played with the home team winning on Friday and the road team winning on Saturday. This is the Wings final regular season trip to Minot this season.

Friday night's contest is sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts of Minot and Saturday night is sponsored by Enbridge. Both nights doors open at 6:30 p.m. for 7:35 puck drops. Tickets are available through the "Tickets" tab atop this page or by visiting tickets.minotauroshockey.com.


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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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