Minnesota State All-American transitioning to pro hockey in Iowa

DES MOINES — Late in the season as college hockey players see their seasons and collegiate careers come to an end, many of them get an opportunity to show what they can do in the professional ranks. One of those players is Minnesota native Zach Palmquist, who made his American Hockey League debut on April 3 for the Iowa Wild.

The South St. Paul native didn’t waste any time making an impact on his new team, notching an assist in his first game, a 6-0 win over the Rochester Americans in Des Moines. The win was the first on home ice for the Wild since Jan. 18, snapping a 14-game home losing streak.

Iowa coach John Torchetti said Palmquist gets back and gets to the puck on defense quick, but will be able to make an impact on the offensive side of the puck as well.

“He’s what we need,” Torchetti said. “We need a good puck-moving defenseman. So far he’s played pretty good and he’s going to have to learn the little things in d-zone coverage that most players have to. He’s going to join the rush, activate our rush so we’re four up and bring a little more speed to our breakouts.”

Palmquist said that it was “nice” to be able to contribute on the scoreboard with an assist in his professional debut. He had the secondary assist on the last goal of the game, which was scored by Joel Choinard and also assisted by Michael Keranen.

“The team played well that night and before the game a lot of the guys just said ‘just play your game and have fun,'” Palmquist said. “So that’s what I try to do out there and any way I can try to contribute I’m going to try to do my best and give the guys my best effort every night.”

Palmquist joins the Wild organization after finishing up a four-year collegiate career at Minnesota State University in Mankato where he played 160 games and tallied 96 points (25 goals, 71 assists), including a career-high 29 points (8 goals, 21 assists) his senior season. He also had 107 penalty minutes in four seasons.

The Mavericks entered the NCAA Tournament this season as the No. 1 overall seed, but were upset by Rochester Institute of Technology 2-1 in the first round.

Palmquist tallied 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists) and a minus-18 rating in 59 games his third and final season  with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League before heading to Mankato where the coaching Minnesota State staff turned him into more of a two-way player which prepared him a lot for his shot in the AHL.

“It elevated my game each year,” Palmquist said. “I think I was a one-dimensional player going into Minnesota State and I think I grew into more of a two-way player … played more of a defensive role going into my junior, senior year. Also being that offensive defenseman that I like to be too, but I think I improved and the coaches helped me a lot to become a better defensive player and be a plus player every night too, which is big in today’s game.”‘

Palmquist said he and his father, Dave, who coaches the girls’ varsity hockey team at South St. Paul, used to attend Minnesota Wild games when he was a kid and that he’s been a fan since the team started playing in St. Paul in 2000.

“It’s been fun watching them grow up and it’s just been such a dream come true to actually be in the organization now,” said Palmquist.

As far as what Torchetti wants him to accomplish in the last few games of this season, he said it’s about getting the system down fundamentally.

“I think that we play a different type of breakout system and it’s a little difficult,” Torchetti said. “We play more of a three-man system on the breakout and if you’re not used to it, it’s something you’ve got to get used to and he’s a good enough skater that it should be an easy transition for him, so that’s one good thing that I’ve noticed.”

Torchetti said that Palmquist getting some games in at the end of this season is like a “pre-training camp” and will help him become more detailed as he trains in the summer for next season.

Seeing progress late

The Wild have struggled all season long as their 23-46-2-2 (50 points) record indicates and even went 14 straight games without a win on home ice between Jan. 18 and April 3. But in their most recent four-game homestand, which wrapped up Friday, Iowa won two games in shutout fashion.

The Wild beat the Rochester Americans 6-0 April 3 before losing 6-4 to the Texas Stars April 7. They fell again April 9 5-3 to the Rockford Ice Hogs before defeating the Oklahoma City Barons 4-0 Friday.

The two shutouts were just the second and third of the season for the Wild and the first two for Iowa goaltender John Curry.

“I think the team’s just been playing better,” Curry said. “It’s been a little up and down and obviously the results haven’t been as consistent enough but I think that in many pictures of every game, we’re doing things better. It’s just a matter of putting it together for 60 minutes and I thought that was the difference tonight.”

With wins like the one’s they’ve had on the last homestand, Curry said it feels really good, even though in the end it “doesn’t really mean much.”

“We’ve had a tough year and we’re not in a position for these points to really matter, but it’s been stressful and … there’s not any guys in that room that don’t take this seriously so the losses hurt and we’ve had a lot of them,” Curry said. “So to have a win, to have success and hopefully we have more down the line, it does feel good and it builds the confidence in the young players and the old players heading into the summer and the offseason.”

Iowa has also seen improvement on the other side of the puck. For the season the Wild have averaged 2.30 goals per game but in that last homestand, they scored 4.25 goals per game.

“I think we’re just paying a little more attention to detail, just trying to execute our game plan a little more, we want to shoot the puck a lot and it’s working out,” Iowa rookie Zack Mitchell said after tallying a goal and an assist against Oklahoma City on Friday.

Getting more shots on goal and pucks to the net has been a point of emphasis for the Wild recently, said Mitchell.

“It’s a big part of the game,” said Mitchell. “You watch all the best NHL teams, they all shoot the puck a lot and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Iowa had 28 shots on goal Friday against the Barons.

The Wild will play their final home game Tuesday when they host the Toronto Marlies at Wells Fargo Arena at 7:05 p.m. before wrapping up the regular season on Friday and Saturday at Oklahoma City against the Barons.

The post Palmquist takes his game to next level appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Winnipeg hands Minnesota fifth straight loss on Ladd OT winner

SAINT PAUL – It was that darn stanchion. Again.

For the second time since April, a stanchion played a role in an overtime Minnesota Wild losing effort, summing up a night – and possibly a season – where Murphy’s Law seems to be in place for the Wild.

Playing with an emergency goaltender, falling behind twice and losing two key players in the third period, the Wild, were able to earn a point in a 4-3 loss to Winnipeg in front of a season-high 19,177 fans. Unfortunately, Minnesota was looking for two with one of its better efforts in December.

Andrew Ladd’s shot 2:47 into overtime went off the glass stanchion behind emergency Wild goaltender John Curry, off his back and into the back of the net for the winner.

“I thought we generated a good amount of chances,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said about his team’s fifth straight loss. “Doing a lot of things, I know we limited the scoring chances against to a real solid number. For a team that needs results, it’s easy to sit here and paint a positive picture … and this was a step in the right direction, but no question do we need to win games.”

Minnesota entered a critical two game home-and-home series with Winnipeg on a four game losing streak and eight points behind the Jets, which are in the first Wild Card spot, in the Central standings. Win both in regulation and the deficit is a reasonable four. (Winnipeg has played three more games than the Wild.)

John Curry played in an emergency role for the Minnesota Wild in place of an ill Niklas Backstrom in the Wild’s 4-3 OT loss to the Winnipeg Jets December 27, 2014 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

Yeo’s team also faced the Jets with Jason Zucker and both his goaltenders – Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom – sidelined because of illness. Kuemper, who missed two games earlier in the month with another illness, served as backup instead. In his place was Curry.

The Shorewood, MN native, who has a .917 save percentage in 13 games with Iowa (AHL) and six NHL appearances since 2008,  was playing his second game in two nights; having made 38 saves backstopping  the Iowa Wild to a 2-1 win Friday over Rockford. He didn’t know whether he would start when he came to the rink Saturday afternoon. He wasn’t listed on Minnesota’s pregame line sheet.

Curry played well despite the uncertainty, stopping his first ten shots and making 19 saves in a losing effort.

“It’s a bad bounce, but I know what this team has come through. They’ve had their struggles,” he said about the way the game ended. “I thought we played well tonight. We deserved to win that game.

“I just wish I could have made one more of those saves.”

Mikael Granlund gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead with his first goal since Nov. 28. The Finnish forward began a give and go with Jason Pominville and beat Jets goaltender Michael Hutchinson to put the Wild ahead with 3:57 remaining in the first.

He wasn’t able to finish the game, however. Granlund, along with Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin, both left in the third period with upper body injuries that will have them out of Monday’s game, according to Yeo.

Brodin was hit entering the Winnipeg zone with 17 minutes left. Granlund was thrown into the boards later in the period by Dustin Byfuglien, setting up a Wild power play that he didn’t participate.

Bryan Little tied the game 7:17 into the second period. Zach Parise thought he had given the Wild the lead a minute after Little’s goal, but the potential go-ahead goal was waved off due to goaltender interference. Although Minnesota had several more chances in front of the net and on breakaways, it wasn’t able to convert.

Instead, Adam Lowry gave the Jets a 2-1 lead 1:52 into the third period.

Minnesota Wild F Jason Pominville ties the game at 2-2 with a third-period goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the game on December 27, 2014 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Jets went on to defeat the Wild 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

Pominville tied the game nine minutes later to begin a sequence of three goals in 123 seconds with two ex-Gophers each scoring on the same power play. Blake Wheeler beat Curry on a two-on-one shorthanded break with Evander Kane to give Winnipeg a 3-2 lead. 32 seconds later Thomas Vanek tipped Jared Spurgeon’s shot past Hutchinson, who made 22 saves, to keep the score and dueling “Let’s Go Wild” and “Go Jets Go” chants even.

“I like being in the middle of the ice there and Spurge(on) made a great shot pass there. I feel like I had some good tips today. Finally one went in,” said Vanek.

The same can be said for the Jets. Games can’t end in ties in the NHL. Someone has to win – a feeling the Wild understand, having lost three overtime games in a four game homestand – yet that doesn’t make losing one with a bounce the way it did any easier.

“It is hard to take when you lose. We need results. We lost the game again, that’s the bottom line,” said Parise. “We did some things okay. We did some other things not great. We have to snap out of it. That’s a team we’re chasing and we needed to get that win.”

Now the Wild will go back to Winnipeg to where the bounces hope to even out – Yeo and no one in the locker room are making excuses – even if that’s not the way things have gone on and off the ice.

“It’s a team ahead of us. They’re playing good hockey, they’re playing a good team game and I thought for the most part we played well. We just didn’t get the two points,” Vanek said. “We’ll play them in two days and we’ll try to get two points.”

Other notes:

-Minnesota and Winnipeg complete the home-and-home series at MTS Centre Monday night at 7:00 p.m. CT.

-Parise on the goal interference call: “I was pushed into him. I don’t know what he wants me to do. I was pushed into him and he was out of the crease so… I don’t know. I can’t answer that with my real opinion.”

-Despite the injury, Granlund earned his 10th career multi-point game with an assist on Pominville’s goal. His own goal was the first of 2014-15 not against the Dallas Stars.

-Stu Bickel also picked up his first assist in a Wild sweater.

The post Wild bounce lifts Jets appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Iowa goalie puts early-season struggles, demotion behind him.

DES MOINES – Iowa Wild goaltender John Curry has struggled early this season. He was 0-4 in just five appearances with a .885 save percentage going into Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Admirals, but the struggle didn’t continue when he returned from his recent assignment to the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL.

After playing in one game with the Mallards he returned to Iowa in a big way for the game on Sunday and stopped 33-of-34 shots against the Admirals and denied all three shooters in the shootout to help the Wild to a 2-1 win.

“It’s just good to get it (first win) out of the way,” Curry said after the game. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. When you start the year off individually 0-4 you start thinking about things, and I can tell you I didn’t feel like I ever lost my game. I can’t tell you I’ve played my best but it was just a tough start.”

Curry thinks that playing for the Mallards last Friday night helped him going into the game on Sunday.

“I want to be at this level, but I hadn’t played in a couple of weeks and it’s always good to get the 60 minutes under your belt, more for endurance and just getting back in shape than anything else,” Curry said. “Honestly, I had a good time. It was a fun win and a fun group of guys down there.”

On Nov. 21 Curry got the start for the Mallards as they took on the Rapid City Rush at the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill. and turned aside 27-of-29 shots as the Mallards went on to win 4-2 behind four third-period goals.

Curry has now appeared in six games, starting five for the Wild while Johan Gustafsson has played in 13 games and has a 4-8-1 record with one shutout this year and a .894 save percentage.

The win was the Wild’s first ever win against Milwaukee in Des Moines as the Admirals went into the game with a 10-0 record all time against the Wild at Wells Fargo Arena.

In the shootout on Sunday, after a Zack Phillips goal put the Wild up 1-0, Jordan Schroeder had a chance to end it with a goal but was denied and the pressure shifted to Curry who made the big save and secured the win for the Wild.

“He wanted the game and he proved it there,” Iowa coach John Torchetti said.

“He was really big for us … I know he can be a difference in our team moving forward and with that tandem we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”

Since Torchetti took over as head coach on Nov. 11 the Wild are 3-3. They won their first two games, a 3-2 win at Milwaukee and a 4-2 win over Oklahoma City at home before dropping the next three to Oklahoma City, Rockford and Chicago and then winning on Sunday.

Tyler Graovac is the Wild’s scoring leader with 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists). His six goals tie him for the team lead with Marc Hagel.

Michael Keranan is next on the team with 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) and Schroeder has 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists). Brett Sutter is also in double figures with 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists).

Up Next

The Wild will now hit the road for five-straight games starting with the Rockford Ice Hogs on Wednesday. On Saturday and Sunday the Wild will be in the state of Texas for a game against the defending Calder Cup Champion Texas Stars on Saturday and the San Antonio Rampage on Sunday.

After that they will play in Charlotte against the Checkers on Dec. 6 and 8 before returning to Des Moines on Dec. 11 against the Rampage.

Imports/Exports

On Nov. 19 the Minnesota Wild assigned goaltender Josh Harding to the Iowa Wild. He was Gustafsson’s backup in the Wild’s games at Rockford and at Chicago on Nov. 21 and 22 but did not see any playing time. He was not in uniform on Sunday.

Defenseman Justin Falk and Schroeder returned to Iowa on Nov. 14 after a brief stint with the Minnesota Wild and on Nov. 20, forward Ryan Walters was assigned to the Alaska Aces of the ECHL.

The post Curry shines in rebound win 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.

SAINT PAUL — The Minnesota Wild continued their hot streak as they prepare for the playoffs and  made a statement against the St. Louis Blues by earning a 4-2 victory at the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night.  The win was the fourth in a row for the Wild who improved their record to 6-0-1 in their last seven games and it answered their recent dismal performance in St. Louis a few weeks back with a positive result and effort that could have an impact through the playoffs.

With Jared Spurgeon, Justin Fontaine, and Stephane Veilleux scratched from the lineup for the Wild, Minnesota turned to Shorewood native John Curry to man the pipes.  He became the fifth goaltender to play for the Wild this season.  Curry turned aside 43 shots, some from scrambles and one that was a terrific glove save from point blank range to give the Wild another high caliber goaltending performance.  Current number one goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was given the night off for much needed rest and to prepare for the post season.

The game was the first at the NHL level for Curry in four years who last played for the Pittsburgh Penguins in  the 2010 campaign and posted a 2-2 record.  Curry played for the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL and the Iowa Wild this season.  He had a stellar career for Boston University where he posted a 59-29-15 over his three seasons of full time play.

“I just tried to take it shot by shot,” Curry said of his game. “It was good to get a good start.  I sat all day, I’ll be honest with you, I was so nervous for this game, it’s such a big stage for me.  To have a good start and get those first few saves gets you into the rhythm and you just fall right into it.”

He was tasked with playing a Blues team that battered and bruised the Wild to the tune of a 5-1 loss in their last meeting on March 27th in St. Louis.  “I knew just based on video and seeing that team and knowing how good they are, they were going throw a lot of pucks at the net and get a lot of traffic to the net and that was certainly the case,” Curry said of the Blues. “Just thankful for the way the guys played, a lot of loose pucks bouncing around the net and a lot of good clears.”

Both teams exchanged goals through the second period yet the Wild carried a 3-2 lead into the third period.  Nino Niederreiter, Kyle Brodziak, and Matt Moulson scored for Wild who were out-shot 28-12 through two periods.  Brodziak added his second goal of the game and quieted the chirps that have been raining on him from the local fans and media alike regarding his lake of offensive production this year.

“It was a big win for us and we know that they are a very strong team and we know they could be a possible playoff opponent,” Niederreiter said.  “We had to make sure we played hard against them and make sure if that is the case it’s gong to be a tough one.”

The Blues not only lost the game, but they may have lost forward T.J. Oshie for what could be an unknown period of time who was drilled by Wild forward Mike Rupp.  The blow from Rupp was whistled as a major and a game misconduct.   Not only did the Wild have to kill a five minute major, they found themselves starting it with a five-on-three as Marco Scandella also received a minor penalty for high sticking.

The Blues Kevin Shattenkirk scored to even the game at two with the five on three, but Brodziak reclaimed the lead for the Wild at 3-2  just 1:19 later on a short handed effort.  “It was a big kill,” Brodziak said. “Especially after they got a goal on the five on three, we were able to respond like that was a big point of the game.”

The game continued the upward trend of the Wild who have been playing a solid defensive structured game and were able to continue their success with new faces in the line up.  Newly signed defenseman Christian Folin from UMass Lowell made his NHL debut and assisted on Brodziak’s second goal of the game that gave Minnesota the final margin at 4-2.

“I was very thankful to get the opportunity no matter how it went,” Curry said of the start.  “Just based on my career you don’t get many of these so it’s good to have success and to play well when you get the chance.”

The Wild were thankful that for the fifth time this season a different goalie has taken the crease and delivered a jaw dropping performance.  The playoffs are less than a week away and to be trending upward is a place any team would like to be.  Standing up to the dominance the Blues exerted over the Wild in recent meetings, 6-0-3 against Minnesota prior to Thursday night,  will take Minnesota a long way in their effort to move out of the first round and deeper into the playoffs regardless who their first round opponent is.

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