“It’s obviously very special. I mean, no other team in the league has something like this. The way the community takes care of us, it really is like a second home,” Fairbank head coach Dakota Bell said. “Obviously, you want to get wins to help make them [fans] feel good, but I think we delivered a good performance. It was really high quality hockey … The guys were super excited to come this way.”

The Ice Dogs came up short in both matches this weekend to the Minnesota Wilderness out of Cloquet, falling 5-2 on Friday and 3-2 in a competitive matchup on Saturday.

Fairbank has carried on a relatively-new annual tradition of making a trip to the Red Baron Arena each year, after first coming to Marshall to host their 2020 season due to COVID-19 Pandemic travel restrictions.

Home ties

Fairbank's Ian Christian, from Duluth, Minnesota, prepares for a face-off.

Matthew Volkman is a right wing in his first year in the NAHL, already making strides in the league and was a starter on Saturday.

Volkman, 19 years old, is a 2025 graduate of Stillwater High School who made the fast move to Alaska for the season’s start in September.

“It’s nice [being back]. We’ve been away for a while, so I have a bunch of family here,” Volkman said. “It’s good to see them and spend the day with them tomorrow.”

In his 17 games played so far, Volkman has four goals and five assists, including a goal in Friday’s game and an assist on Saturday.

Adjusting with the move and transition into the league, Volkman’s return to his home state offered a chance to reconnect with friends and family.

Fairbanks' Mason Noble (4) is greeted by teammates after scoring a goal in the second period.

“It was a little tough to start moving away from home, but you settle in,” Volkman said. “My billet [host home] back in Fairbanks is awesome too, so it’s great and the guys are awesome.”

“It’s definitely different than every other state, but the scenery is awesome and you get to see a lot of wildlife, which I like,” Volkman added of living in Alaska.

Volkman is coming off a stellar senior year at Stillwater before he became an Ice Dog, helping to lead the Ponies to a Class AA state runners-up finish. Stillwater fell to Moorhead 7-5 in the state championship 7-6, where Volkman had two goals and a pair of assists. He also helped the team become Section 4AA champions last season with a 4-3 victory over Hill Murray in double overtime, accounting for three of the goals along with an assist.

Volkman finished his senior year with 59 points off 29 goals and 30 assists.

This year was also a homecoming for fellow Minnesota natives in forward Ian Christian from Duluth, forward Alex Hall from Eden Prairie and goalie Mason McElroy from Otsego.

The Marshall community cheers on the Fairbank Ice Dogs.

Volkman said it’s also been a nice experience having teammates originally from Minnesota, noting a lot of their families also got to attend this weekend.

Christian has played in six games so far this season for the Ice Dogs with two assists, and Hall has appeared in 17 with four goals and two assists. Christian, in his second season, started the year with Anchorage Wolverines for 11 games with one goal before being traded to Fairbank. Hall is a rookie alongside Volkman.

McElroy, in his second NAHL season and graduate of Benilde-St. Margaret, has 15 games in the net and is 9-5 so far this year with 359 saves and a .894 save percentage with one shutout.

Christian out of Duluth East High, also had a standout 2024-25 season before coming into the NAHL with the Northstar Christian Academy 18U, tallying 63 points between 26 goals and 37 assists.

Also in their impressive final high school seasons, Hall had 15 goals and 28 assists while McElroy went 20-5-1 with a .920 save percentage.

Fairbanks' Luca Ricciardi look to rebound the puck after a shot attempt.

“It’s harder, definitely,” Volkman said regarding the transition from high school to the NAHL. “It’s a lot faster, and a lot more physical, but I’m getting more used to it now.”

The Red Baron Arena was full for both games, notably with a large audience of younger hockey players and kids cheering on the Ice Dogs.

“It’s super cool. Obviously, a lot of these kids want to be in our spots in the future, so [we] just try to do the right things,” Volkman said. “Be good role models. It’s big.”

Fairbank will continue to stay around the area for their next upcoming series while on a month-long road trip, with players and the coaching staff noting appreciation for the Marshall community with their continuous support time after time, despite seeing the Ice Dogs just one weekend a year.

“It’s awesome. All of our billets are awesome,” Volkman said of Marshall. “We’re really grateful for them, and the community, the rink was packed both days.”

Fairbanks' Mack Diggins looks to steal the puck back in the first period.

“We’re still here around town for the next two weeks. We leave on Thursday to go to Janesville, and then we come back again to stay for a week, and then we leave on Thursday to go to Chippewa before Christmas,” Bell said “We’ll be out in the community a little bit, like ringing bells and helping with their Marshall youth hockey … We will be active and giving back.”

Dogs digging deep

With the two losses, Fairbank dropped to 14-10-2 on the season with 30 points for fourth place in the Midwest Division as of Sunday.

The Ice Dogs were in second place ahead of the two matchups against the Wilderness, who now occupy first with 34 points.

Gabe Ruiz and Volkman had the two goals for Fairbank in Friday’s game, while Mason Noble and Kyle Rohrer had Saturday’s goals.

The Ice Dogs outshot the Wilderness in both games, 40-19 and 32-25.

“We played well. They’ve [Wilderness] a very good team, obviously. I thought that we out-played on both games, just didn’t get the bounces, but we’ll get them next time,” Volkman said. “It’s just the little details … We’ve had some breakdowns which have led to some bad goals, but we can fix that.”

Nearing the midway point of the regular season, Fairbank will look to sharpen things back up in its next string of games against Janesville, Chippewa and Springfield. The Ice Dogs will return back home on Jan. 9 to host Janesville.