Schroeder fuels Iowa to first win after five-game skid

DES MOINES – The home crowd went home happy after the Iowa Wild’s sixth game of the season on Saturday, as the Wild cruised to a 4-1 victory against the Charlotte Checkers behind 35 saves by goaltender Johan Gustafsson and a pair of Jordan Schroeder goals at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The win, however, was Iowa’s first of the season as they started out on a five-game losing streak.

After losing 5-1 to Charlotte the night before, defenseman Justin Faulk said that they got together the next morning and decided that “enough is enough” before the game that night. He said they played with more desperation in the win.

“The bleeding had to stop and it was a good game for us to build on and take into Milwaukee,” Faulk said.

In the first five games of the 2014-15 season, the Wild scored just eight goals (1.6 goals per game) and surrendered 20. The team especially struggled on Oct. 18 in a 4-0 loss at home to the Milwaukee Admirals and in the next game, a 5-1 loss to Charlotte on Friday.

“Nobody’s happy about what’s going on right now,” Iowa coach Kurt Kleinendorst said after the Oct. 18 loss. “We’re not going to sit here and filter out a bunch of excuses or anything like that. We’ve got to be better.”

Kleinendorst said that he was surprised at the issues they were having at that point.

“I really didn’t think we were going to have issues like we’re having right now,” Kleinendorst said. “So I’m a little bit surprised myself, but now it’s a matter of taking a step back, just evaluate things, see where we’re at with regard to everything: personnel, systems, what we’re doing, when we’re doing it and how long we’re doing it and just move forward from there.”

In the 4-0 loss to Milwaukee Gustafsson allowed four goals on 24 shots one night after giving up four goals in the first period against Milwaukee and being replaced by John Curry.

After Friday’s 5-1 loss to Charlotte, a game in which Curry got the start and allowed five goals on 25 shots, Iowa captain Stephane Veilleux stressed the importance of bouncing back in the next game.

“We’re all disappointed and frustrated,” Veilleux said. “We have to bounce back tomorrow. There’s no other way to play better and to play a whole 60 minutes tomorrow.”

Curry is 0-2 this season with an .882 save percentage in three appearances. After Saturday’s win, Gustafsson is 1-3 with a .887 save percentage.

In the win on Saturday, Kleinendorst had made some changes in the lines which included the combination of Tyler Graovac, Zack Mitchell and Schroeder. The result was two first-period goals from Schroeder, both of which Graovac assisted on.

Schroeder is Iowa’s leading scorer so far with eight points (three goals, five assists). Graovac is right behind him with six points (one goal, five assists).

He’s (Schroeder) a little guy, but he plays fast, he plays gritty,” Faulk said of Schroeder, a Prior Lake, Minnesota native, who is listed at 5’9″, 179 pounds on the team roster. “He created a lot, made a lot happen by himself with the speed and the way he worked tonight.”

Crop Damage

Defenseman Gustav Olofsson underwent a shoulder procedure and will be out “long-term” according to Kleinendorst.

Forward Raphael Bussieres was absent from practice last week and missed both games this past weekend after sustaining a concussion against Milwaukee on Oct. 18.

Cody Almond left Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury, but Kleinendorst said they wouldn’t know how serious it is until Monday.

Imports / Exports

On Oct. 21, Iowa assigned defenseman Corbin Baldwin to Alaska of the ECHL.

Up Next

The Wild hit the road for the next three games playing at Milwaukee on Wednesday before playing two games at Oklahoma City Nov. 1 and 2. Wednesday’s and Saturday’s games will start at 7 p.m. with Sunday’s game beginning at 4 p.m.

The Wild will return home against Rockford on Nov. 6.

The post Farm Report: One for the Win Column appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Clint Cole wraps up the Iowa Wild’s debut campaign.

DES MOINES — The inaugural season for the Iowa Wild is complete. It may not have been successful when it comes to the way the team played on the ice or how they finished in the standings, but it certainly wasn’t one to forget.

There were 4,4994 fans in attendance at the final home game of the Wild’s inaugural season, a 4-3 shootout loss to division foe Chicago Wolves on April 16. They finished 10^th in the league this season in average attendance with 5,883 fans per game on home ice.

“I thought the fans have been outstanding,” Wild coach Kurt Kleinendorst said following the final home game. “I think the support for what we’ve given them, I think anyone can appreciate that night in and night out.”

Kleinendorst said that they had not lost due to a lack of effort.

“I think at the end of the day it hasn’t gone unnoticed from our end either that we haven’t had a lot of success at home yet,” Kleinendorst said. “They’ve continued to come out and support us, and cheer us and not boo us and that would’ve been the easiest thing to do. So if you’re asking me what I’m going to take out of this first year, on a positive note, I’m going to remember how good the fans have been to us.”

The Wild finished dead last in the Western Conference with a 27-36-7-6 record. They went 16-14-4-4 on the road, but just 11-22-3-2 in front of the home crowd.

Forward Zack Phillips led the Wild in scoring with 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) in 76 games but also had the team’s worst plus/minus rating at minus-30.

Brad Winchester finished as the team’s top point scorer with 38 points (19-19–38), although only only eight of those points came in an Iowa sweater after he was acquired in a Feb. 26 trade, along with defenseman Zach Miskovic, from the Rockford Ice Hogs in exchange for defenseman Brian Connolly.

Connelly, Iowa’s leading scorer through 50 games before the trade with 32 points (5-27–32), finished the season with 40 points (eight goals, 32 assists) overall.

Six different goalies played for Iowa this season with rookie Johan Gustafsson getting most of the starts when Darcy Kuemper was called up to Minnesota. In 40 games played, Gustafsson allowed 112 goals and had a .903 save percentage.

Moving on up

Some of the players who started the season with the Iowa Wild are making an impact with the Minnesota Wild as they have started their push in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Erik Haula, who had 27 points (14-13–27) in 31 games for the Iowa Wild this season, already has one goal in the playoffs through three games against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.

Forward Stephane Veilleux has played 34 regular season games for the Iowa Wild and the Minnesota Wild this season and has appeared in two of three playoff games for Minnesota so far this season.

John Curry got a chance to play for the Minnesota Wild this season as well after starting the season playing for the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL. He started one game for Minnesota and made 43 saves while allowing two goals against the St. Louis Blues after compiling a .920 save percentage in the AHL in 19 games for the Iowa Wild this season.

Curry was the backup to Ilya Bryzgalov in the first game of the playoffs for Minnesota.

Due to injuries with the Minnesota Wild goaltenders, especially Josh Harding, Darcy Kuemper was only able to play in 17 games for Iowa, compiling a .929 save percentage. He played in 26 games for Minnesota in the regular season this year and compiled a .915 save percentage and played an important role in Minnesota’s push for the playoffs.

He came back from injury in game two in relief of Bryzgalov and pitched the first ever playoff shutout for the Minnesota Wild stopping 22 Colorado shots in a 1-0 overtime win in game three.

Kleinendorst said that it’s exciting for him to get to watch these players play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“There’s really three pieces to my puzzle, and that’s one of them,” Kleinendorst said. “To make sure that when guys get opportunities, they’re ready to and they’re ready to contribute and don’t miss a beat. I think we’ve done a nice job with that.”

The second piece, says Kleinendorst, is the “younger kids” and their development and he thinks they’ve done a “nice job with that,” as well. The third piece to his puzzle is winning.

“Even though we’ve had success on the road, we’ve had very little of it at home,” Kleinendorst said. “Two out of three, they say, sometimes isn’t bad, but I don’t think it’s going to fly around here. We’re going to have to get three out of three and that’s going to give us something to shoot for.”

The post Inaugural Season in the Books appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Iowa Wild making playoff push with 15 games remaining.

DES MOINES—It may seem like a long shot, but the Iowa Wild are still in the playoff hunt. They are currently in 12^th place in the Western Conference in the American Hockey League, four spots out of playoff position, but just nine points behind the eighth-place Rockford Ice Hogs with two games in hand.

The Wild its three-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night against the Texas Stars, losing 4-2 and being outshot 36-14 in their second game of a six-game home stand, which began on Sunday and will conclude on Wednesday, March 26.

The streak started on March 8 on the heels of a six-game losing streak that stretched from Feb. 22 to March 7. They were outscored 28-6 during the skid that sunk them all the way to 12^th place in the West.

During the winning streak, goaltender Johan Gustafsson seemed to be back to good form, starting in all three games and only giving up five goals on 90 shots. Wild coach Kurt Kleinendorst said that he thought Gustafsson was picking up confidence throughout those games.

“It had been a while since he had won then he stepped in up in Grand Rapids and played a solid game and then he goes into Milwaukee and plays really well and now tonight (Sunday), again, even in the first period I thought we played well but he had to make the more difficult saves, and he did,” Kleinendorst said. “If he doesn’t feel good about himself, he should.”

Gustafsson couldn’t keep his momentum rolling in Wednesday’s game as he gave up four goals on 36 shots as the Wild lost to the Stars.

Wild defenseman Steven Kampfer, who scored the game winner in Sunday’s game, said the mood around the locker room, as they make a playoff push with the season nearing its end, is good.

“Guys are happy, guys are excited, we’re having a good time because right now we’re on a winning streak,” Kampfer said. “We’re trending, we’re doing the little things we have to do to be successful, so right now it’s a good mood and everyone’s happy and wants to be at the rink.”

Kampfer has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 55 games this season.

The Wild currently stand at 25-26-6-4 with 15 games remaining this season, including one more game against Rockford on the road on April 12. If the Wild can manage to string a few wins together once again, that game could have serious playoff implications.

The post Still in the Hunt appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
Darcy Kuemper pokes a puck away from an attacker against Texas on Nov. 1, 2013.
(Photo: Reese Strickland/Iowa Wild)

I-35 commute offers path of least resistance to St. Paul …

 Des Moines, Iowa – A year ago, a player being recalled by the Minnesota Wild from its American Hockey League affiliate meant a flight from Houston to the Twin Cities or wherever the Wild may have been playing on that given day.

The Houston Aeros have moved to Des Moines, Iowa and are now the Iowa Wild, shortening the travel time between the Minnesota Wild and their AHL affiliate. Des Moines is just about a three-and-a-half hour drive away from St. Paul making it much easier and less stressful to be recalled and reassigned for the players.

Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper recalled the experience of being called up to the Minnesota Wild from Houston as a member of the Houston Aeros.

“There was always a set time,” Kuemper said. “You’ve got to be at the airport in an hour and half so it was always this frantic rush to pack as quick as you could and you were always worried that you forgot something and worried that you’re going to miss your flight because the traffic there was always crazy.”

For Kuemper, traveling between the Iowa Wild and Minnesota Wild has been easier with the team in Des Moines.

“Here it’s kind of a lot more relaxed situation,” Kuemper said. “You get the call and they’re like ‘get here by tonight’ so you get to go home, you don’t have to worry about not eating or anything, you can take your time, pack up and hit the road… Obviously it’s real nice having your vehicle there too when you’re up there.”

Kuemper and fellow Minnesota Wild goaltending prospect Johan Gustafsson have been up and down between Des Moines and St. Paul due to health problems with Wild goaltender Josh Harding, who was recently placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed illness.

Although Gustafsson hasn’t played in any games in the NHL this season Kuemper has seen action in four games (three starts) and has a 2-1 record with a .911 save percentage and 2.28 goals against per game average. He recently recorded his first NHL shutout in a 4-0 win against the Nashville Predators in Nashville on Jan. 12. He made 39 saves in a 2-1 shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 7.

Jim Mill, who is the assistant to the general manager of the Minnesota Wild and general manager of the Iowa Wild, said that it was hard to call players up on game day and have them in Minnesota in time for the game when the team was in Houston.

“We would have our morning skate in Minnesota and if you get off the ice at noon and you’re trying to figure out who’s going to be playing where, it was nearly impossible to get someone on a 2 o’clock (flight) to get there at 5… If they’re lucky,” Mill said. “It was a challenge to call a guy up on a game day and get them there in time for a game.”

Wild defenseman Jon Blum was recalled on Dec. 31 and Mill used the transaction as an example for how easy it is now that the team is in Des Moines.

“Jon Blum had a practice here (Des Moines) today,” Mill said. “Luckily we don’t play tonight in Minni but he’s going to there if we had a game tonight. He’s going to be there later this afternoon… Having the ability to have a guy on a moment’s notice, essentially, in Minnesota for us is huge and it’s great. From a player development standpoint it’s excellent too.”

Forward Jason Zucker said that he wasn’t put into a game without a practice the same day very often last season because they often times would call them up the day before.

“They call after 3 o’clock and then from there on you’re on a flight that night, maybe six or seven and then you’re there for morning skate,” Zucker said. “That doesn’t change much because it’s still the same, you’re just driving up instead of flying, which in my opinion is much easier.”

Zucker is currently seventh on the Iowa Wild in points with 13 (eight goals, five assists) in 22 games for Iowa. Zucker has played 13 games with the Minnesota Wild and has three goals.

Even though he has only played 22 games for Iowa he leads the team with 80 shots on goal. In 13 games with Minnesota he has 27.

Easier traveling experience

Moving the team to Des Moines hasn’t just helped make lives easier when recalling and reassigning players but it has also helped make traveling to games on the road easier as well.

If the team were still in Houston this season the average traveling distance from the Toyota Center in Houston to all of the other AHL cities would be about 1,502 miles (by bus). With the team in Des Moines the average travel distance from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines to all other AHL cities is just about 1,043 miles (by bus).

Houston had just three opponents that were less than 1,000 miles away, the Oklahoma City Barons, the San Antonio Rampage and the Texas Stars. From Des Moines the team has twelve opponents that are less than 1,000 miles away and four opponents that are less than 500 miles away.

“We’re on buses a lot more instead of flying all over the place,” Mill said. “In Texas you had Austin and you had San Antonio within three hours. Here you have Milwaukee, Chicago, Rockford, Grand Rapids all within busing distance and I think that’s an advantage as well.”

Kuemper said that while flying is nice, it’s not as easy as taking a bus sometimes.

“It’s not like in the NHL where you have chartered flights,” Kuemper said. “It’s usually the red-eye flights or the early-morning ones so it gives you a little more sleep. When you’re on the bus you can just relax, you don’t have to worry about going through security or anything like that.

Kuemper said there is also a lot less travel between the games as well and that it’s been easier on the players.

Even though they have left nearly 20 years of IHL/AHL tradition behind as well as a dedicated fan base when they moved the team from Houston to Des Moines it seems that there are a lot of positives that the players, coaches and executives are taking from the move.

The post Wild Prospects Prefer the Sky Less Traveled appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Darcy Kuemper makes a save against the Texas Stars on Nov. 1. (Photo: Reese Strickland – Iowa Wild)

The Iowa Wild, the Minnesota Wild’s American Hockey League affiliate, wrapped up a five-game home stand on Sunday, Nov. 3, winning two of five matchups at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The Wild (5-4-0-0) are currently in fourth place in the Midwest Division ahead of only the Chicago Wolves (4-6-0-1) and now sit in 11th place in the Western Conference.

They started off the home stand with a win over the Wolves in a high-scoring 5-4 shootout victory. Forward Carson MacMillan was sent onto the ice in a score-or-lose situation and delivered which allowed the Wild’s next shooter, Taylor Matson, to score the game winner.

Wild head coach Kurt Kleinendorst “kind of knew he would get it done” when he sent Matson out there for the game-winner in the shootout.

“You’ve got some guys that might need five or six chances, maybe seven to score a goal, he needs two or three,” Kleinendorst said. “That’s just the kind of player that he is. At that moment, no pressure, shooting to win a game, I kind of had a feeling that he would be the right guy and he showed me right.”

Johan Gustafsson started that game, but Darcy Kuemper came in for relief after Gustafsson gave up four goals in two periods on 16 shots. Kuemper stopped all 21 shots he faced in the remainder of regulation and the overtime period before stopping three of six shots in the shootout en route to the win.

Three days later the Wild fell to the defending Calder Cup Champions Grand Rapids Griffins 3-2. The Wild gave up a shorthanded goal to Landon Ferraro with less than a minute left for the loss.

The Wild were 0-for-7 on the power play in that game and Kleinendorst said that it was the difference in the game.

“It’s not just the 0-for-7, it’s everything and every way that a power play that was 0-for-7 affects your group,” Kleinendorst said. “We had an opportunity at the end and it was just probably a little bit fitting that our power play was on the ice and we gave up a shorthanded goal. That’s kind of like the exclamation point.”

The Wild began the following weekend splitting two games against the Texas Stars on Nov. 1-2, winning 4-2 on Friday and getting shut out 5-0 on Saturday.

Forward Erik Haula tallied two goals in the game. Haula currently leads the Wild in scoring with seven points (3 goals, 4 assists). Matson and Jason Zucker scored one goal apiece while Kuemper went on to stop 32 shots in win.

On Saturday night, Kuemper made a season-high 44 saves but gave up five goals in the loss. Kuemper has a record of 3-3 early this season with 2.89 goals against on average and a .915 save percentage.

In Sunday night’s home-stand finale, the Milwaukee Admirals scored a trio of third-period goals, including an empty netter, to break open a tight, physical game and cruise to a 5-2 win.

After trading goals in the first period, the Wild broke the tie just 45 seconds into the second period with a goal from defenseman Steven Kampfer who took a pass from fellow defenseman Brian Connelly and skated all the way from his own zone to the attacking zone and ripped a wrist shot from the right side over the shoulder of Milwaukee goalie Marke Mazanec to take the lead.

Three minutes later things started getting physical between the two teams. Corbin Baldwin dropped the gloves with Michael Liambas. Both players were assessed an additional two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct on top of the five minute majors for fighting.

Just minutes later Wild forward Raphael Bussieres got into a fight with Milwaukee forward Mathieu Tousignant. Just 24 seconds after that another fight broke out between Iowa captain Jake Dowell and Milwaukee defenseman Anthony Bitetto.

Iowa defenseman Jon Landry said it was good to see some of the players stand up for themselves during the second period.

“Last night we didn’t show enough fight in the game and tonight the boys really stepped up and showed really showed some heart and right till the end we tried to pull it out,” Landry said.

The Wild return to action this Friday and Saturday night, Nov. 8-9, on the road against the Rockford Ice Hogs in Rockford, Ill.

Transaction Notes:

On Oct. 31, Stephane Veilleux was reassigned to the Iowa Wild. He missed Iowa’s 4-2 win over the Texas Stars but was back in the lineup on Saturday where the Wild fell 5-0 against the Stars.

On Saturday, Nov. 2 the Wild loaned defenseman Corbin Baldwin to the Quad City Mallards of the CHL but was recalled to Iowa for their game against the Milwaukee Admirals.

On Sunday, Nov. 3 forward Carson MacMillan was recalled by the Minnesota Wild. MacMillan was tied for first on the team with six points (two goals, four assists).

The post Not So Home Sweet Home Stand appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.