The Milwaukee Power head to Blaine, Minnesota this week for the NA3HL Showcase where every team in the league will be under one roof at the Schwan Super Rink. Scouts from the NAHL and colleges across the country will be in attendance looking to find future members of their team. The Showcase has been unfavorable for the Power in their history with a record of 1-5. They will have to do something they have never done before which is win two games in order to close the gap to Wausau in the Central standings. The Power will face three opponents that they have never played before in the New Jersey Titans, Oklahoma City Ice Hawks, and New Ulm Steel.
The New Jersey Titans hail from the East Division and currently sit in 3rd place with a record of 11-10 and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. While they are above .500 their goal differential on the season is -18. Their special teams are solid with a power play converting on one out of every four chances and a penalty kill that holds opposing power plays to one goal every four chances. Their top goaltender is Donovan Alfama with a record of 5-7, a goals-against-average of 3.91, and a save percentage of 0.917. The Power offense has to get their shots on goal volume up as Alfama has seen an average of 41 shots a game this season.
The Oklahoma City Ice Hawks are from the South Division and are currently in 5th place with a record of 9-7-1 and are 9-1 in their last 10 games. The Ice Hawks may be in 5th place but don’t let that fool you because their offense is averaging 5 goals a game while they average 4 goals against through 17 games. Their power play is solid at 25.4% but their penalty kill is subpar at 64.8%. The strength of this team is their offense led by Robby Rabroker with 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points. Milwaukee will have to block shots and play sound defensively in order to keep the score close as the offense has struggled at time this season.
The New Ulm Steel are from the West Division and currently sit in 5th place with a record of 8-18. They are similar to the Power in a few respects such as being just out of a playoff spot and having fired their head coach this season. The Steel are averaging less than 3 goals a game and almost 5 goals against this season. Their power play has been solid at 28.8% but their penalty kill is the worst in the West at 59.3%. If there was a time for the Power offense to kick it into gear for a big performance this would be the game.
Milwaukee is past the halfway point of the season and after the Showcase they will only have 19 games remaining while Wausau will have 20. Currently the Cyclones are 3 points ahead of the Power but arguably they Cyclones have the tougher Showcase schedule. At a bare minimum Milwaukee cannot loose any ground to Wausau this week and if all goes in the Power’s favor they could leap over the Cyclones into 4th place before the break.
Make sure to catch all of the action at the NA3HL Showcase live on HockeyTV!
