Wilderness ranked No. 11 in early Canadian junior rankings

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The Minnesota Wilderness junior hockey team, which plays its home games in Cloquet, has earned a No. 11 ranking in the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s rankings for the week of Oct. 1.

The CJHL works with NHL Central Scouting to post rankings of junior hockey teams across Canada. Though the Wilderness are not based in Canada, they are included in the rankings because the league in which they play, the Superior International Junior Hockey League, contains Canadian teams.

The team won its first contest against local neighbor, the Duluth Clydesdales, by an 8-0 score on Sunday at the Heritage Sports Center in Duluth.

Goaltender Gordy Defiel, who was named the league’s player of the week, made 28 saves to earn the shutout.

The Wilderness, who are the two time defending league champions, are ranked behind fellow league members Dryden, who came in at No. 6. The Ice Dogs are 4-0 and handed the Wilderness (5-1) their only loss of the season in Dryden.

Tags: minnesota wilderness, sports, cloquet