A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
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It looked like Cale Prosen was going to end his 42-day kayaking trip around Lake Superior paddling in pouring rain through the Duluth Ship Canal. But the rain lifted and, just like that, part of a rainbow appeared on the horizon. "There are some gnarly currents," the 20-year-old told his dad, who was standing above him on the Aerial Lift Bridge, as the waves roiled between the concrete walls of the canal. Cale handled it easily. After all, he'd had six weeks of practicing navigating in his sea...
For the fourth straight year, the Minnesota Wilderness will open its season at home. The North American Hockey League has released its schedule for the 2024-25 regular season. The Wilderness will play 59 regular-season contests, with all 28 of its home games at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet. The opener will be Sept. 13 against Fairbanks. The Wilderness will also play three games in the NAHL Showcase tournament in Blaine, Minnesota Sept. 25-28. The first road contest is Sept. 21 at Chippewa Falls. The Wilderness will again host a...
Pull into Tamarack, 36 miles west of Cloquet on Highway 210, and it’s easy to locate the publicly traded mining company that wants to extract nickel from deep beneath the grassy swamps that surround the town. Visible from the city park, what’s notable about Talon Metals headquarters is that it’s located in a small yellow house. Across from the office on Warren Street, there’s an open garage where workers process the company’s core samples. For a mining company, it looks an awful lot like a co...
Four new defensemen have been inked for the Minnesota Wilderness for next season. The Wilderness announced this week that Karson Young of Cloquet, Owen Smith of Maple Grove, Charles Antrilli of Oaklyn, New Jersey, and Talan Del Signore from the Esmark Stars program in Pennsylvania have signed tenders for the 2024-25 season. Both Young and Smith come to the Wilderness after playing last weekend with the club’s 18-and-under team at the Prospects Challenge in Blaine. The team won the championship, finishing unbeaten with a 5-0 record. Both p...
City planner and zoning administrator Al Cottingham received a round of applause during Tuesday's Cloquet City Council meeting - a meeting he hopes will be his last. Cottingham is retiring June 6, after 12 years with the city of Cloquet. "I will very very much miss seeing you here every day and keeping the rest of us on point," said city administrator Tim Peterson. Cottingham said he will miss the people, the job not so much. "It's time to retire and go do some things that I've been putting on...
The Minnesota Wilderness North American Tier 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) team has added 11 players over the last few weeks to its roster for its first season under new ownership. The Wilderness made two selections in the NA3HL draft held April 24 and followed that with nine player tenders. The first player added to the franchise was Cloquet-Esko-Carlton forward Ryan Jones. The 18-year-old Jones was the second-round, 49th overall selection. Jones played 23 games for the CEC Lumberjacks in his senior season, recording six goals and six assists. Mark...
The Minnesota Wilderness rallied Friday only to end the season the next night with a 6-2 loss to the Anchorage Wolverines at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet. The Wilderness, which trailed the five-game playoff series 2-0 coming into the weekend, extended the season Friday by beating the Wolverines 4-1, but Anchorage bounced back Saturday to win and take the series 3-1. "After winning on Friday night I think we were maybe emotionally drained," said Wilderness coach Colten St. Clair....
The Minnesota Wilderness returns home fighting for its playoff lives this week, trailing Anchorage, 2-0, in their best-of-five opening round series. The Wilderness lost 4-0 and 2-1 in overtime last weekend in Alaska, and would need to win three straight home games this weekend to advance in the Robertson Cup playoffs. Game 3 is 7:15 p.m. Friday, with games 4 and 5, if necessary, at 7:15 p.m. Saturday and 5:15 p.m. Sunday. The Wilderness got 31 saves from Wassau, Wisconsin’s Adam Prokop last Saturday, but Tyler Hennen scored 3 minutes, 48 s...
Daniel Astapovich scored twice and Adam Prokop made 32 saves to lead he Minnesota Wilderness to a 4-1 victory over the Anchorage Wolverines Friday night. The win keeps the Wilderness alive in the Robertson Cup playoffs as it trims Anchorage’s lead in the Best of five Midwest Division semifinal series at 2-games-to-1. Peyton Nelson also recorded two points with a goal and assist, while Ren Morque posted one goal. Nash Jacobsma also attended the 2-point party with a pair of assists. Kade Shea scor...
There were still some snow banks in the parking lot, remnants of a late March storm, but the Cloquet Country Club golf course opened for play Sunday, April 14. An opening the same day as the Masters tournament finale is still very early for the Cloquet course to open. Since longtime CCC general manager Bill Manahan accepted the GM job at the Wilderness Club in Tower, Minnesota, on April 1, CCC has made some important administrative changes. Matt Carlson, who has worked in many different jobs at...
The Minnesota Wilderness clinched a fourth straight appearance in the North American Hockey League Robertson Cup playoffs on April 12 in Springfield, Illinois, getting an overtime game winner from Nick Blood to put an exclamation point on the achievement. The Wilderness entered the game needing one point to secure the bid and hold off the fifth-place Chippewa Steel, and got it with a 2-2 regulation tie. “The goal going into the year was to contend for and win a Robertson Cup to bring back to the city of Cloquet,” Wilderness head coach Col...
With a 1-0 overtime win April 5 in the finale of a two-game set with Springfield, the Minnesota Wilderness surged into a prospective playoff spot with two regular-season games to go. The Wilderness got a goal from Nate Murray two minutes into overtime to secure the win at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet. Goalie Adam Prokop, of Wausau, Wisconsin has been carrying the team of late, and completed his fourth shutout of the season. The Wilderness (29-24-5) face the Springfield Jr. Blues...
A 3-point weekend against the top team in the division allowed the Minnesota Wilderness to keep pace in the playoff hunt last weekend, with four games to go. Minnesota got a shutout from goalie Adam Prokop, 3-0, on March 29 to beat the Wisconsin Windigo, while the Wilderness sent the next night's game into a tie and shootout, won 2-1, by the Windigo. With 61 points, Minnesota (28-23-5) remained in fifth place in the division with four games left to play, all against the Springfield Jr. Blues,...
Bill Manahan, longtime Cloquet Country Club golf professional and manager, has accepted the general manager position with the beautiful The Wilderness at Fortune Bay golf course on Lake Vermilion near Tower, Minnesota. He starts his new job on April 1. Bill was my golf confidant and a friend. You could always count on Bill. He knew a little bit about everything and he liked to chat. He'll be missed, but it's a wonderful opportunity. "It's going to be an adjustment with me missing all the people...
Swept in Alaska last weekend, the Minnesota Wilderness fell into fifth place in the Midwest Division standings — one point out of a playoff berth with six games to play. The Kenai River Brown Bears beat Minnesota, 4-1 and 5-2 on March 22 and Saturday, respectively, with the Wilderness falling into 2-0 holes in each game. Peteris Purmalis, of Liepāja, Latvia, led the Wilderness with two points on the weekend. Goaltender Nick Erickson, of Apple Valley, Minnesota, took the loss in net in both contests. With 58 points, the Wilderness (27-23-4) si...
The Minnesota Wilderness staged comebacks in both games in its series in Anchorage last weekend, finishing with two points after Saturday’s victory. In both games at Ben Boeke Ice Arena in Anchorage, the Wilderness (27-21-4) fell behind 2-0 in the first period, but rallied to a tie in the second period. On Friday, the cardiac revival was not enough as Anchorage (34-13-5) won, 4-3. On Saturday, the Wilderness completed the effort with a 5-4 shootout triumph, said a team news release. Defenseman Beau Janzig led Minnesota with four points (one g...
The boys of the Carlton-based Busted Bots Lego robotics team stared at the TV in anticipation. Would the group of nine- to 12-year-olds be one of the six teams from their region to join 70 other Minnesota teams at the state competition? When "The Busted Bots" name was announced, the boys screamed, leapt on the couch in a huddle, and jumped up and down with unbridled joy. The FIRST Lego League robotics program began in 1998 to encourage STEM - science, technology, engineering and math - education...
The Minnesota Wilderness dropped into fourth place in the eight-team Midwest Division last weekend, after losing a pair of home games to the Janesville Jets, 3-1 on Feb. 23 and 7-5 on Sunday. Five players scored for the Wilderness in the second game, including Alessandro Lurati, Nate Murray, Aiden Shrey, Peyton Nelson and Nash Jacobsma. Minnesota erased two Janesville leads during the high-scoring contest, but Janesville kept tacking on go-ahead goals, leading 6-4 after two periods. Not even a goalie change could alter Minnesota’s outcome as s...
A split with Springfield Jr. Blues in Illinois last weekend left the Minnesota Wilderness clinging to a tie for third place in its division. The Wilderness got a hat trick from forward Peyton Nelson on Saturday, leading to a 6-2 win. The Centennial, Colorado native scored once in the second, on a breakaway in the third and again on an empty netter late as the Wilderness scored four times in the final 7 minutes, 29 seconds to break open the game. On Feb. 16, the Wilderness (25-17-4) fell, 4-2, to Springfield (15-22-6). Goalie Nick Erickson...
Finally legal Marlys Kilen of Cloquet will celebrate her 21st birthday on Feb. 29. "I'll be at an age when I can start to drink," chortled Kilen, who will be 84 years old. Growing up in Lakefield, in southern Minnesota - where she had one classmate, her future husband's cousin, born on the same day - her parents couldn't agree when to celebrate her birthday in non-leap years. Mom said Feb. 28. Dad suggested March 1, because she would be officially another year older then. "So we celebrated both...
The Minnesota Wilderness got a much-needed home sweep of the Kenai River Brown Bears last weekend, ending a five-game losing streak. The Wilderness got wins of 3-0 on Feb. 9, and 3-2 on Saturday, allowing them to keep pace in a tightly packed Midwest Division. The Wilderness (24-16-4) are in third place with 52 points, trailing the first-place Wisconsin Windigo (63 points) and second-place Janesville Jets (55). Winners of nine straight, the Windigo are among the top teams in the North American Hockey League. Fourth-place Anchorage Wolverines...
Wilderness captain Gustavs Ozolins has decided to take his talents to RPI. The veteran defenseman announced this week he had committed to play NCAA Division 1 hockey at the institution based in Troy, New York. Ozolins, from Riga, Latvia, began his junior career in 2019 in his home country. He is now in his second season with the Wilderness and third playing in North America. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound 20-year-old has skated in 34 games this season, generating two goals and 15 assists for 17 points. Wilderness head coach Colten St. Clair says he c...
Losers of five straight, the Minnesota Wilderness got a much needed two-week break after being swept last weekend. The Wilderness lost both ends of a home-and-home series against the Chippewa Steel, falling 2-1 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin on Friday and 3-1 at Northwoods Credit Union Arena on Saturday. Minnesota went 1-for-5 on the power play over the weekend. On Saturday, the Wilderness outshot the Steel, 40-37, but Ajay White made 39 saves to buoy the road team. Nick Erickson, of Apple Valley, took the loss in both games in goal for...
Losers of three straight games last week, the Minnesota Wilderness (22-14-4) lost its grip atop the division standings, tumbling into third behind red-hot teams from Wisconsin in the Janesville Jets and Eagle River’s Windigo. The Wilderness lost on the road in Chippewa Falls, a 3-2 shootout on Jan. 17, then dropped both games of a home-and-home series with St. Cloud, 5-2 and 2-1, last weekend. The St. Cloud Norsemen won the season series over Minnesota, winning all four meetings. Minnesota is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games. Meanwhile, Janesville i...
The Minnesota Wilderness eclipsed a hurdle last weekend, when it won a regular season game in Eagle River, Wisconsin for the first time in franchise history. But it needed a thrashing first, losing 7-1 to the Wisconsin Windigo on Jan. 12 before winning a 4-3 shootout on Saturday. The split allowed Minnesota to remain in sole possession of first place in the Midwest Division, as the Wilderness (22-12-3) now sits two points ahead of Janesville (21-10-3), which is now tied for second with Wisconsin (20-10-5). Minnesota owns 47 points compared to...
