The Midwest Junior Hockey League will see all 10 teams on the ice this weekend with 11 games in all.

Three of those games take place in Rhinelander as the Street Cats host the Soo Firehawks for a three-game set Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Rhinelander Ice Arena.

“The Street Cats are ready for the three games with the Soo Firehawks,” said Rhinelander co-coach Igor Myoskavskiy. “Based on the schedule, they have already played the three best teams in the league to start the season. We have shown the ability to be better lately and to make conclusions out of good lessons. These three games will give us the chance to show our character and progress.”

At the Hartland Sports Center, the undefeated Hounds go for two more wins when they host the Dayton Aeros Friday night and the NWO Grrrowl Saturday night.

"We understand we have a bullseye on our backs and we'll hear about it until someone beats us," said Hartland defenseman P.J. Krystyniak, also the reigning MWJHL Player of the Week. "If we can just come out and play our game, we'll be fine."

The Grrrowl host Tennyson Chevrolet Friday night at the Team Toledo Ice House and then head to Hartland Saturday night.

“We respect and look forward to playing Tennyson tonight,” said Grrrowl coach Patrick Pylypuik. “They’re well coached with an experienced roster loaded with skill. We’re a very young team, so playing them for a third time in 30 days will indicate how much we’ve progressed so far this year.

“Obviously, any time you play a team like Hartland with an astounding 12-0 record, you’re the underdog.”

The Michigan Ice Dogs head to Bloomington Jr. Blaze for two games Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

“We’ve won four in a row, but no one on this team is cocky,” said Bloomington goalie Will Rohleder. “We just keep working at it as a team.”

Dayton plays at Tennyson Sunday afternoon, while the Holland River Bandits travel to the Great Lakes Sports City in Fraser, Mich., to play the Great Lakes Lightning Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

The Lightning is still in search of win No. 1 on the young season.

“We obviously haven't had the start we wanted, but now our guys know what to expect in junior hockey,” said Great Lakes captain Andrew Shalawylo. “We’ve caught up in our knowledge of our defensive zone coverage and we know if we do a better job on the back end, we’ll be a much better team come Friday night.”

Check back to www.mwjhl.com for game recaps all weekend.

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Matt Mackinder
Director of PR/Media Relations
Midwest Junior Hockey League
mmackinder@mwjhl.com
www.mwjhl.com 
www.facebook.com/MWJHL
www.twitter.com/MWJHLHockey
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