Steel hoping to 'White Out' opponents at home this weekend

CHIPPEWA FALLS — The Steel are hoping for a ‘White Out’ inside the Chippewa Area Ice Arena when they open their home hockey season Friday night.

The Steel open their home slate of games in what is a long eight months of regular-season play Friday night against the Kenai River Bears and then follow up that game on Saturday with another home contest, this one against the Minnesota Wilderness. Puck drop for the home opener is set for 7 p.m., while the game against the Wilderness is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The Steel’s social media pages are encouraging fans to wear white for the season opener as they plan to introduce the team’s new home sweaters on Friday evening.

The Steel are hoping the ‘White Out’ and fan support will help them to turn things around when they get on home ice this weekend, following two close losses to Wisconsin over the weekend.

The Steel found themselves on the losing end of two away games in Eagle River as the puck dropped on the North American Hockey League (NAHL) season Friday evening. The Windigo handled the Steel 5-3 on Friday and then followed that up with a 3-2 victory against them on Saturday.

Steel goals in Friday’s game were scored by Jack L’Esperance, Tomas Trunda and Wyatt Kerr, while Aidan Willis and Gavin Middendorf netted the goals for visitors in Saturday’s contest. Jakub Irsak suffered the defeat between the pipes for the Steel on Friday evening, while Tyler Spokane was credited with the loss for the team on Saturday night.

The Leader-Telegram reached out to Steel head coach Chris Ratzloff for reaction to the weekend losses and to preview the upcoming home stand, but did not hear back from him as of press time.

Of note, for those planning to attend home games this season, there is a discount if you purchase your tickets online.

Steel media spokesperson and director of partnerships and marketing for the team Brayden Burt told the Leader-Telegram earlier this month that “when purchasing tickets for the other games throughout the season, tickets are available at a discounted rate when bought online for the season and season tickets are also on sale. We are really looking forward to the start of the season and to see how the season goes.”

Pre-purchase single-game tickets can be bought online for $9 for adults, $4 for children 6-12 years of age and are available until noon each game day. Tickets at the door, which can only be purchased with cash, are $12 for adults, $6 for kids 6-12 and also $6 for seniors and active military and college students with an ID. Kids under five are admitted for free. Additionally, there is a weekend ticket package, available online only for $15 for adults and $6 for children 6-12 years of age.

A link to purchase either individual or regular season tickets for Steel games can be found by visiting the team’s website at www.chippewasteelhockey.com