Torchetti to return after AHL club bottoms out

DES MOINES – After a 27-36-7-6 record last season and a 2-10-0-0 start to this season, the Minneapolis StarTribune’s Michael Russo is reporting the Iowa Wild have fired coach Kurt Kleinendorst. The team is expected to announce former Houston Aeros coach John Torchetti as his replacement on Tuesday.

Through the first 12 games of this season, the Wild are just 1-6 on their home ice in Des Moines and 1-4 on the road. They are averaging just 2.25 goals for per game while allowing 3.83 goals per game.

Following their most recent game, a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Wolves at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Kleinendorst said that the team’s lack of success was a reflection on him.

“This is a different group than the group that we had last year,” Kleinendorst said. “What’s the common denominator? I guess it’s the guy standing behind the bench, so it’s frustrating, but if you’re looking for answers right now, obviously I don’t have them because if we did, we’d probably have a better home record than what we have.”

In 2011 Kleinendorst, a Grand Rapids, Minn. native, won the Calder Cup as the head coach of the Binghamton Senators.

Torchetti coached the Houston Aeros to two-straight postseason appearances and a 75-51-26 record over two seasons at the helm from 2011-2013. When the team relocated, he took the head coaching job with CSKA Moscow of the KHL in Russia and the Wild hired Kleinendorst fresh off of one season guiding the University of Alabama-Huntsville to a 3-21-1 mark.

Torchetti is expected to be on the ice with the Wild for their practice on Tuesday in Des Moines.

Marc Hagel (right, in white) battles for the puck against Rockford on Nov. 6 at Wells Fargo Arena. (Iowa Wild Photo/Reese Strickland)

The Wild played two games against the Wolves on Saturday and Sunday in Des Moines and lost the first contest by a score of 4-2 as they held the game close until the Wolves scored an empty-net goal with 10 seconds to go.

In Sunday’s game things were bad from the start for the Wild. They were down 4-0 before Zack Mitchell found the back of the net with just 2:23 to go in the game.

The goal, which was assisted by forward Marc Hagel and defenseman Justin Falk, was Mitchell’s second in as many games. Mitchell is now the Wild’s fifth-leading scorer with six points (four goals, two assits) while Hagel is the team’s goal scoring leader and is tied for second on the team with seven points (five goals, two assists) with Jordan Schroeder leading the team with 11 points (four goals, seven assists).

After Sunday’s game, Iowa defenseman Justin Falk said that “maybe we’re just not getting a full effort” from the team.

“You’ve got to find it in yourself to want to go out there and make a difference,” Falk said. “I don’t want to sound selfish but you’ve got to want the most for yourself and if you’re working hard for yourself that’s going to filter down and do good things for the team.”

Kleinendorst noted that his players were “so low” after what ultimately became his final game as their coach.

“You’d think by now we would’ve hit bottom but yet every night we come out and it seems like we find a new one,” Kleinendorst said. “That’s a little bit disheartening.”

Imports/Exports

On Nov. 7 the Wild recalled defenseman Corbin Baldwin from ECHL affiliate Alaska Aces. The day before, the Wild release forward Nicholas Rioux from his PTO . Rioux played hit three games without registering a point.

On Nov. 1 Minnesota reassigned Falk to Iowa and recalled defenseman Jon Blum.

Up Next

The Wild hit the road on Wednesday for a game in Milwaukee against the Admirals. In their last game in Milwaukee, the Wild got their second win of the season by a score of 4-2.

On Friday and Saturday, they return home to play a pair of games against the Oklahoma City Barons. The Wild lost 5-3 and 4-2 in their last two games at Oklahoma City this season.

The post Iowa Wild fire Kleinendorst appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

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.

While at home in Des Moines Ryan Walters has his sights set on St. Paul

DES MOINES – Four years removed from a starring role with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League, Rosemount, Minn. native Ryan Walters has returned to Des Moines to play for the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League as a member of the Minnesota Wild organization.

The former University of Nebraska-Omaha star, and Hobey Baker Award candidate joins the Wild this season after playing 11 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL last year where he tallied three points (one goal, two assists) and a minus-7 rating.

“Well it’s always nice to play for your hometown,” Walters said. “All your friends go to the games and watch and they hear the news and they’re all excited for you and so it was a good feeling, and also since all summer I really didn’t know where I was going to end up, I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity than to stay home and stay close and get things rolling.”

The 23-year-old forward said that having previously lived in Des Moines has made both the transition to the Wild and coming back to Des Moines easier.

“It only took me about 10 minutes to drive around and then all the streets started coming back to me and knowing my whereabouts and different landmarks and things like that,” Walters said. “And plus with my billet family down here it’s nice to see them and go out to dinner with them every once in a while, it just makes it a pretty good time I guess.

“It’s close to home which is really nice,” Walters said. “My parents, I know, enjoy coming to games so it should make for an easy trip for them, and just knowing the city and being here previously, it’s made the transition easier.”

The Wild played their first NHL game in 2000, but even before that Walters and his father got to go to the Xcel Energy Center during its construction where they met Gordie Howe and stood next to the Stanley Cup. Walters said he has been to “a handful of games” in St. Paul ever since.

Walters recalled a game when a friend and high school classmate, who was a family friend of former Minnesota Wild goaltender Dwayne Roloson, got tickets for them to go into the locker room after a game, meet some of the players and were shown around.

During the 2009-10 season, his third and final year with the Buccaneers, he finished second on the team in four stat categories: goals (21), assists (40), points (61) and penalty minutes (102).

At UNO, Walters showed strong progression between his freshman and junior years tallying 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) his freshman year and 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) his sophomore year before breaking out for 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) as a junior. Walters’ senior season, however, saw a decline in his production as he tallied just 34 points including just seven goals, the lowest season output of any of his four years as a Maverick.

“Ryan had a little bit of a tough year last year compared to being the returning leading scorer his senior year,” said Dean Blais, Walters’ coach at UNO. “So he was expecting All-American, Hobey Baker-type stats because he’s always been a goal scorer. Josh Archibald was our player last year that scored the big goals and signed with Pittsburgh, whereas Ryan got a little bit of a wakeup call for whatever reason.

“Obviously, he’s been a good hockey player and he’s had to prove it a little bit this year to get that contract with the Wild.”

Walters scored his first goal in an Iowa Wild sweater in a preseason game against the Chicago Wolves on Oct. 1 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, a game the Wild won 7-4.

Iowa Wild coach Kurt Kleinendorst said Walters has had a “knack for scoring” so far this preseason.

“He’s got a nice touch with the puck, he’s a very intelligent player,” Kleinendorst said. “The one thing that we’ll have to find out, that we will find out as we move forward is the pace of the game and is he able to play the game with pace. Can he survive in a game that is fast and for the most part furious because he does a lot of things well.”

Kleinendorst said that the things Walters will have to work on are his strength and his skating, foot speed and quickness.

Despite his down year with UNO as a senior, Blais thinks Walters could get back to scoring big-time goals for the Iowa Wild and eventually find himself in a Minnesota Wild jersey.

“In juniors he led Des Moines (USHL) in scoring, he led us in scoring, so it doesn’t surprise me that he might make the Wild,” Blais said. “He might go to Iowa starting out but I think, as the year goes, he’s going to score big goals. He might be Iowa’s leading scorer and eventually end up in the [Minnesota] Wild jersey.”

Walters said it’s exciting to have the potential for his next step be to play for his hometown team, the team he went to watch play when he was a kid.

“Playing in front of your hometown fans, it’s something you always think about growing up as a kid,” Walters said. “It’s one of your goals and now that it’s actually here and could happen, it’s really nice.”

The post Homeward Bound? 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.

Frustration may be starting to set in for the Iowa Wild.

The Wild (25-30-6-4, 60 pts.) are currently on a four-game losing streak and coming out of a game where they had nine players receive misconducts, compiled 162 penalty minutes and finished with only nine total skaters in a 7-0 loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Wednesday.

“I cannot imagine that, as far as the frustrations go, that this wouldn’t be the bottom for us,” Wild coach Kurt Kleinendorst said after the loss.

While technically still in the playoff race, the Wild’s chances of making it with just 11 games left to play this season seem long behind them as they currently sit in last place in the American Hockey League’s Western Conference with 60 points.

“We’re a better team than we’ve been showing,” Wild captain Jake Dowell said. “The bottom line is that we need to actually show it and we can’t just keep up with the lip service and telling everybody we’re better and we played hard but we deserve better. The bottom line is that this is a results game and we’re not getting the results and that starts with me and trickles on down.”

The Wild have just concluded a six-game home stand in which they won their first game back on March 16, but lost five-straight after that. They have struggled at home, currently sitting with a record of 11-20-3-1 at Wells Fargo Arena this season.

“The good thing is we’re getting out of town,” Kleinendorst said. “I still for the life of me can’t figure out why we can’t perform here but we don’t. Yet we go on the road and play really well. Same team, same guys, same preparation, same everything. It’s mind boggling.”

The Wild will start their road trip in Toronto on Saturday with a game against the Marlies at 2 p.m. Then they will play against the Utica Comets on Sunday, the Grand Rapids Griffins on April 2, the Milwaukee Admirals on April 4 and against the Chicago Wolves on April 6 before returning to home ice on April 11.

The post Trouble at the Farm 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:
Jonathon Blum, shown in a game against the San Antonio Rampage on Jan. 24, has been recalled and reassigned multiple times in January.
(Photo: Josh Huskin, San Antonio Ramapge)

Iowa Wild strive for synchronicity despite a roster in constant flux …

The Minnesota Wild have been plagued with injuries so far in the 2013-14 season. With players like forward and captain Mikko Koivu, goaltender Josh Harding and defenseman Jared Spurgeon currently out with injuries and many more having injury troubles at one time or another this season the Wild have been forced to fill their roster spots with players from their AHL affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa.

When this happens, the Iowa Wild must also find a way to fill roster spots and compete in the AHL. So far in January the Iowa Wild have signed seven players to professional try-out (PTO) contracts and have called up two players from the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.

Iowa Wild coach Kurt Kleinendorst talked about getting a team of new faces in sync.

“You have to understand who’s not here, where are they, who we replaced them with and where did they come from,” Kleinendorst said. “When Chuck (Fletcher) or Jim (Mill) calls they’re not asking me for my fourth-line players. They’re taking the very best of what we have and then we’re doing the same thing down in the ECHL … We can’t replace those guys, we can’t expect to replace those guys. What we have to do is find a way to make it work with the guys (we have), and we will.”

The Wild have found success with the players they’ve had to call up but they have struggled at times. After a 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Marlies in Des Moines back on Jan. 15, a game that the Wild led 3-2 with 5:56 to go in the third period, forward Carson MacMillan said that they try not to use new faces as an excuse.

“Every player that’s come up has given their heart out and there’s lots of ice time up for grabs,” MacMillan said. “Guys need to step up and we all just need to give a little extra more.”

Players that have been signed to PTOs this month from Orlando include forwards Tyler Murovich, Justin Mercier, Jim McKenzie, Mike Ullrich, Broc Little, Mickey Lang and defenseman Nicholas Rioux. Little and Rioux have since been release from their PTOs and returned to Orlando.

The Iowa Wild have been without two of their biggest scoring threats in Jason Zucker and Erik Haula as well as their No. 1 goaltender Darcy Kuemper for most of the month of January so far. Defenseman Jonathon Blum has been recalled by Minnesota and reassigned to Iowa twice so far in January.

Zucker was called up on Jan. 1 and Kuemper was called up on Jan. 2 and both have been with Minnesota since. Haula was called up on Jan. 6 and has also been with Minnesota since.

While the Wild have compiled a 6-2-1-3 record in the month of January, Kleinendorst said that it takes time to get a team with so many new faces in sync.

“It takes a lot of time under normal circumstances to get your guys in sync, in to a rhythm,” Kleinendorst said. “That means being predictable to one another … when we have the puck, being predictable to one another when they have the puck; there’s a lot that goes into it.”

He went on to say that they are “very close” to getting into a rhythm.

“I’m impressed with how far they’ve come in such a short period of time, but we’re going to have some moments where we’re not quite perfect yet,” Kleinendorst said.

John Curry has been called upon a couple of times this season in the absence of Kuemper and has done well for the Wild. So far this season he has a .944 save percentage with a 4-2-1 record in seven appearances. He had a 45-save, shutout performance in a 1-0 win against the Lake Erie Monsters in Des Moines on Jan. 18.

The Wild just finished a road trip to Texas going 2-0-0-1 in three games. On Wednesday, Jan. 22, they fell at the hands of the Texas Stars 5-4 in a shootout in Cedar Park, Texas but bounced back and beat the San Antonio Rampage on Friday, Jan. 24 5-4 in a shootout and 2-1 in overtime the next night. Curry got the start in Saturday’s game and stopped 25 of 26 Rampage shots.

The Wild continue their season on Friday at home against the Milwaukee Admirals and then travel to take on the Chicago Wolves in Rosemont, Ill. on Saturday.

The post Getting help in Minnesota means needing help in Iowa appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
Jason Zucker skates with the puck against Chicago on Oct. 24.
(Photo: Reese Strickland/Iowa Wild)

Chances abound but Iowa Wild struggling to score, particularly at home.

DES MOINES—Since the Houston Aeros moved to Des Moines and became the Iowa Wild this season, they have done just about everything to get a new fan base excited for professional hockey to be in the state of Iowa once again. One problem the Wild have so far this season, however, is that they are struggling to score goals, especially in front of the home crowd.

The Wild’s 37 goals for so far this season ranks 28th in the 30-team AHL, ahead of only Worcestrer (35 GF) and Utica (34 GF). In their most recent six-game home stand, the Wild only scored five goals, were shut out twice and went 0-6 over that stretch. The Wild have been shut out a total of three times this season so far, all at home.

The lack of scoring this season hasn’t been due to a lack of chances though as the Wild have out shot their opponents eight times this season in 17 games. Of the eight times they out shot their opponents, the Wild have only won two of those games, a 1-0 win against Oklahoma City on opening night at Wells Fargo Arena in which they out shot the Barons 29-27 and a 7-2 win over Charlotte on the road in which they out shot the Checkers 33-27.

In a recent game against Grand Rapids, the defending Calder Cup Champions, the Wild lost 2-1 despite out shooting the Griffins 32-22. Iowa’s only goal came with just 33 seconds left in the third period on a shot by Brett Bulmer and ended a six-period goal drought for the Wild at home.

After that loss, their fourth-straight, Wild head coach Kurt Kleinendorst talked about his team’s scoring struggles and how they are generating scoring opportunities.

“Generally you’re more concerned with generating,” said Kleinendorst. “If you’re not generating then you’ve got concerns. We’re creating, we’re just not finding a way to put the puck in the back of the net.”

Bulmer after that game said that he thinks they’ll be able to “battle” their way through the scoring drought.

“It’s just a part in the season, it happens,” Bulmer said. “I think you can look at any team in the NHL, they’re going to go through it as well. You battle through it and things will turn around.”

As far as scoring chances go, Wild forward Jason Zucker, who is currently playing with the parent club, the Minnesota Wild, is second on the team in shots on goal with 36 despite playing just 12 games with Iowa. Zucker seems to frequently be in good position to score and get shots on net and has eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) this season to show for it.

“I give a lot of credit to (Erik) Haula, (Taylor) Matson and (Chad) Rau and whoever else I was playing with to get me the puck and things like that and, for me, I know when I’m playing well, I’m getting pucks on net and getting chances,” said Zucker.

Zucker had 11 shots on goal in a 5-2 loss to San Antonio at home on Nov. 15 but was unable to put the puck in the net. Getting so many chances in a game and not finding a way to score didn’t have Zucker frustrated.

“I’ll get frustrated when I’m not getting any chances,” said Zucker.

It’s not like the scoring has been hard to come by in every game this season for the Wild, but they have had trouble producing goals at Wells Fargo Arena in front of the home crowd. Out of 13 games at home the Wild have scored more than two goals just twice, a 5-4 shootout win against Chicago on Oct. 24 and a 4-2 win against Texas on Nov. 1.

Playing on the road has been a different story. The Wild have scored more than two goals in three out of four road games this season including three goals and seven goals in Charlotte on Oct. 19 and 20 and five goals against Rockford on Nov. 9.

The Wild may be in a scoring slump right now, but Zucker said that he believes that a slump is just a state of mind.

“It has nothing to do with what you’re doing, it has everything to do with how you prepare for every game,” said Zucker. “If you come in saying ‘oh, well we’re in a slump, we’re going to lose’ then you’re going to lose and I can guarantee you that’s not our mindset at all. It’s definitely not my mindset.”

Kleinendorst said that confidence plays a big factor in their current scoring slump.

“We’re on the wrong side of that line and nothing comes easy for us right now,” said Kleinendorst. He said that to come out of the slump they are going to have to keep doing what they’re doing.

“It starts by coming out and getting a win, starting to feel about yourself and all the hard work that we’re putting in, it’s going to pay off at some point. I just couldn’t tell you when that’s going to be,” said Kleinendorst.

The post Des Moines Drought 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).

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