The Minnesota Magicians, the Twin Cities first North American Hockey League franchise, are at the halfway mark of their 2013-2014 inaugural season.  They have undergone growing pains as a new franchise, but the Magicians are on track to make the April playoffs and to bring the national junior hockey crown to the Twin Cities. 

This weekend, the Minnesota Magicians will hit the halfway mark in their season.  What is remarkable about their season so far is that the first year franchise has an over .500 record in their first season ever.  What is also surprising is that despite their winning record, they are tied for last in the tough Midwest Division where the first place teams (Fairbanks and the Wilderness) and the Magicians are separated by 9 points.  With the playoffs not starting till the first week in April, the Magician season is far from over.

This year’s Robertson Cup playoffs will start the first week in April crowning the National Junior A Tier II team.  This year's champions will be determined via a play-down format consisting of four separate rounds played over six weeks.  The Magicians could be playing for the championship in mid-May.  They could be the last team standing, playing hockey at the end of the 2013-2014 season and the championship series could be played at Richfield.  As a team, they are not far off the pace of the league leaders.

The top four teams from the regular season in each of the NAHL’s four divisions will qualify for the 2014 Robertson Cup Playoffs.  The playoffs will consist of four rounds: the Division Semi-Finals (16 teams), the Division Finals (8 teams), the Robertson Cup Semi-Finals (4 teams) and the Robertson Cup Finals (2 teams).

At the end of this weekend’s play, the Magicians could be in third place in the Midwest.  Regardless, they will be in the playoff battle for the next three months.  The Midwest Division teams are that close.

The Magician's Roster has Changed

In the three and a half months since the NAHL Magicians kicked off their season at the Showcase at the Super Rink in Blaine in mid-September, the Magicians have made a number of roster changes.  They have released six players originally on the roster including TJ Samec who played for St. Thomas Academy on their Class A State Championship team last March.  Samec is currently playing for the Winkler Flyers in the Manitoba Junior A Hockey League.

The Magicians also completed 9 trades since the season started.  They acquired defenseman Patrick Pollock from Topeka and traded Pollock to Amarillo.  Pollock's leaving settled the Magician's defense.  Cody Milligan, a hardworking forward, was acquired in a trade from Minot.  Milligan is the Magician #6 scorer going into this weekend’s game and has contributed.  This past week, the Magicians acquired Nick Anderson, Stillwater MN, from the Wenatchee Wild in a trade.  Anderson was drafted by Wenatchee in June.  The Magicians then traded Travis Koepke, Hermantown MN, to the Hudson Crusaders.  Koepke is playing in the Minnesota Tier III Junior A Hockey League.

Top Magic Men

Nick Kuchera, Eagan MN and a second year NAHL player, leads the Magician’s in scoring with 19 points (Alec Butcher/Kenai River leads the league with 35 points).  Matt Colford is having a good season.  The first year NAHLer who led Breck to a third place finish in Class A State tourney last March is the Magic Men’s second leading scorer with 18 points.  Will Johnson who played hockey for the California Titans last year and is another top scorer for the Magicians and has committed to play D1 hockey for the Air Force this past week.

Colin Hernon, last year’s Jefferson leading scorer has played well in the first half of the season; Mario Bianchi, Holy Angels with Jefferson roots, has been continually improving recovering from an injury this past summer.  Tony Uglem, Moorhead MN, has scored some great key game winning goals in the first part of the season. 

Eetu Karvinen/Finland just plays a hardnose brand of hockey and has played well.

The defensive has been settled.  In the last dozen games over the past month, the Magicians had relied on a core of five defenders (Derick Kuchera, Jordan Stejskal, Jack Weiss, Joe Kleven, and Logan Vonruden).  The Magicians normally suit six players with the sixth spot alternating between Tom Delany and Sam Wolfe/Eagan.  They have gone with five and occasionally played seven defensemen. 

The two Magician goalies, Atte Tolvanen/Finland and Bryan Nies/Grand Forks ND, have been alternating playing every other game.  Tolvanen has played 18 games, Nies has played 11 games.  Tolvanen is ranked #16 in this weeks NAHL.  He is behind Wenatchee’s #15 Chase Perry, Andover MN.  Nicholas Lehr, Roseville MN, is ranked #2 this week in the NAHL.

Four Magic Men have played in all 27 Magician games this year (Nick Kuchera, Eetu Karvinen, Derick Kuchera, and Tony Uglem).  

Playoff Picture around the League

The Midwest Division has the closest race with basically all six teams capable of making the playoffs.  Currently, Fairbanks and the Minnesota Wilderness are tied for first, Kenai holds a one point lead over Coulee Region, and the Chill lead the Magicians and Wenatchee by a single point.  It is a tight race and difficult to pick the top four at the halfway mark.

Midwest Summary: Fairbanks and the Wilderness are favored to make the playoffs, the other four teams are in a battle.

The Central Division is the opposite.  Austin leads the league.  Bismarck, Aberdeen, and Minot trail in that order.  Brookings, the fifth team in the division, is struggling to make the top four.  The Blizzard trail the fourth place Minot by 10 points and have won only one game in the last ten games played.  The Blizzard will be hosting the Magicians in a three game series during the Christmas Holidays.  Three Magician wins would be a nice present for all.

Central Summary: Austin, Bismarck, Aberdeen, and Minot will battle for seeds.  Austin has played steady and is likely to finish in first.  Minot looks to struggle and remain in fourth.  Brookings is out.  First round forecast here is Austin entertains Minot and Bismarck and Aberdeen meet in the Central Division semifinals.

The South Division has seven teams.  Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Rio Grande Valley, and Topeka are in a battle for first place.  Six points separate the four teams. Two teams, Odessa and Lone Star, trail the fourth place Topeka by 15 or more points.  Odessa has won in four games in the last ten games they have played; Lone Star has won two games in ten.  Odessa could make a run, but they would have to run by fifth place Corpus Christi.  The Ice Rays need to make a move, but their next seven games are against the division leaders Wichita Falls, Rio Grande Valley (three games) and Amarillo.  Odessa could catch Corpus Christi by the end of December.  If that happens, the Ice Rays will not have to worry about ice conditions in April and May in Southern Texas.

South Summary: Corpus Christi and Odessa are unlikely to make a move over the next few months and climb into the top four.  That leaves Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Rio Grande Valley, and Topeka battling for seeds for the divisional playoffs.  Who get what seeds is too close to call at this point.  But the South Division semi's could pit Kansas teams against Texas teams.

The top three North Division teams, Port Huron, Johnstown, and Michigan are in battle for first place.  Positions can change in a weekend of hockey, but these three teams seemed poised to break away from the rest of the division.  Springfield, in fourth place, play fifth place Janesville at Janesville this weekend.  The Jr. Blues need to win those two games.  The Jr. Blues play twenty games after that series are against top teams that will be battling for a Division title or a place in that division’s playoffs (that includes a 4 game home and home series with the Magicians at the end of January).

Janesville is in fifth place and the Jets need to beat Springfield this weekend to regain a position to move into the top four.  Both teams need to win and that makes for a good series.  After this weekend, the Jets play five of six games against tough competition on the road.  They won’t return home again until January 17 when they play division rival Soo in a five game series.  The Soo is in last place in the North Division.  The Eagles have won twice in their last 10 games and play the top three teams in the North in their next ten outings, but they could spoil Janesville's attempt to make the playoffs.

North Summary: Port Huron, Johnstown, and Michigan are all playing well, but the Fighting Falcons are favored here to win the division.  Port Huron and Johnstown play six more times this season, all at Port Huron.  Six of Johnstown’s last eight games have been against Wenatchee.  The Wild played them evenly, each team winning three games.  Port Huron, as the division winner would play either Janesville or Springfield in the division semifinal round, Johnstown and Michigan would meet in the other semifinal game.