The Aberdeen Wings have six regular-season games remaining and they could not be more important.

The local hockey squad could finish as high as second place in the North American Hockey League Central Division standings and host a first-round playoff series, could be eliminated from post-season competition or land someplace in between.

The Wings, currently in fourth place in the division, host Minot for games tonight and Saturday night at the Odde Ice Center.

“I think we have the team that can do well in the playoffs and getting there is obviously a big deal. This weekend is huge,” said Wings coach Scott Langer. “We play the team that we’re directly fighting for that last spot with. The good thing is we’re at home. They’re in the same situation. It’s win or go home, so it’s going to make for some good hockey.”

Austin has been on top of the North Division for the entire season and currently has 74 points. North Iowa is second, one point ahead of St. Cloud. The Wings, who made a push for the top spot before injuries derailed that effort, are in fourth with 58 points. Minot is fifth with 54.

“This is about as tight as I’ve seen a division in my time here. It’s been an interesting year,” Langer said. “We’ve battled the injury bug to the extent I’ve never seen. We were right there at one point. We battled some injuries and obviously we slipped a little bit in the standings, but the positive is we had a really good weekend last weekend which gives us an opportunity now to kind of hold our own destiny.”

The Wings do control their own fate and have four of their final six games at home.

“That’s a good situation to be in. Normally, in Aberdeen you’re in one of the top spots, because we’ve had such a winning product. This year is a little different,” Langer said. “We’ve faced some adversity that we’ve just tried to get through and we’re still battling it.”

While Austin is the top squad in the division, the Wings have played the Bruins tough this season, and as Langer pointed out, anything can happen if you get into the playoffs.

“We go back to year one that I was here, we were a last-place team, found our way in the fourth spot, ended up at the Robertson Cup,” Langer said. “Anything is possible. It’s the team that gets hot.”

Langer said the key for his squad right now is to play the way they need to in order to finish off the season strong.

“I think it’s play our game, because when we do play our game, we’re successful. That is physicality, that’s shot blocking, that’s defending well, things that everybody needs to win a hockey game,” Langer said. “When our stuff matches up, we win the game. We’re highly capable of winning hockey games.”

The other key is something out of the Wings’ control.

“The other thing is, like I keep harping on, is health,” Langer said. “There’s good teams in this league and you better have your guns going.”

The Wings are certainly battle tested, having played numerous close contests all season which could come in handy during the playoffs. However, there is only thing that matters at this point: getting the job done when they hit the ice this evening.

“We’ve had to win games in every type of situation this season. Wins are hard to come by this year,” Langer said. “It would be exciting to get in obviously, but right now our only focus has to be Minot (tonight).”

The Wings, the 2019 Robertson Cup champions, and 2021 runner-up, have established a rich tradition in the NAHL, and would like to continue to build on that.

“We’ve established a culture here with this team. Having good people and having good players, but winning is important, because with winning, guys move on to college a lot quicker than when you’re not a winning team,” Langer said. “My goal as a coach is to make sure they understand that down the stretch here how important it is to make the playoffs, because the tradition is here. We’ve done a really good job over the last so many years to be one of those top teams, and I think when you pass the jersey, when guys leave here they need to leave it in a better place than they found it. It’s up to those guys.”