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MNWild: Iowa Wild Training Camp Roster and Brief Introduction!

September 28, 2013, 2:36 PM ET [7 Comments]
Tony Dean
Minnesota Wild Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild has relocated to Des Moines, Iowa this season after a lease dispute caused a rift between the Wild organization and Toyota Center Operators. It is widely believed that Les Alexander the current owner of the Houston Rockets and the operator of the Toyota Center was the driving force behind the Aeros no longer playing in the Toyota Center. Houston has a long history of supporting minor league hockey and the Aeros had a long history of putting an entertaining minor league hockey product on the ice for the Houston hockey fans. While Houston and Alexander have been mentioned as a possible destination for NHL expansion, I think it is not very realistic at this point. The Wild now has all the risk/reward of attempting to be successful in the minor league hockey business in Des Moines where others have failed previously. The Wild sure seems bought in to making the Iowa Wild the next big thing and having their minor league affiliate easily accessible sure seems to be beneficial financially and to the hockey operations. The question will be can the Iowa Wild develop a hockey community willing to be season ticket holders at the Wells Fargo Arena and will they draw Wild fans to travel to see the minor league affiliate play?


Per the team’s website:

Iowa Wild Training Camp Roster:
Forwards: Tyler Graovac, Erik Haula, Kris Foucault, Gary Steffes, Raphael Bussieres, Stephane Veilleux, Chad Rau, Warren Peters, Ryley Grantham, Carson McMillan, Josh Caron, Mike Hellyer, Marshall Everson, Taylor Matson, Zack Phillips.

Defensemen: Carl Sneep, Colton Jobke, Jonathon Blum, Jon Landry, Kyle Medvec, Brian Connelly, Blake Kessel, Corbin Baldwin, Steven Kampfer, Nicholas Rioux, Tyler Yaworski.

Goalies: Darcy Kuemper, John Curry, Mark Guggenberger.

Injured/Called Up:Brett Bulmer(Injured), Tyler Cuma(Reassigned today), Johan Gustafsson(Reassigned Today), and David Steckel(Should Join team once clears waivers)

The Iowa Wild will play a preseason game in Chicago on Friday evening, meeting the Wolves in Franklin Park, IL at 7 p.m.
Fans will get their first look at the Iowa Wild on Wednesday, October 2nd at 7:00 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena for the Green-White Scrimmage. The event is open to the public. Admission is free with the donation of a non-perishable food item (one per person). All donations will go to movethefood.org. Seating will be on a first come, first-served basis.


I think that Wild fans and Iowa hockey fans should be very confident that the @IAWild team that will be on the ice this season will be a fun team to watch. The Wild did very well to restock this 2013-14 team with high draft picks and intriguing talented young players. I look forward to seeing how all the first year professional players/draft picks respond to AHL play. Also because the Iowa Wild is just 3 1/2 hours from St. Paul the top tier prospects could find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL which will give fans a chance see the future of the franchise live and in person especially in the 1st year of the franchise.

The other issue that I would like to mention is the Wild will have a new Head Coach in Iowa Kurt Kleinendorst who is a MN native originally from Grand Rapids. Kleinendorst has a very impressive coaching resume with particular experience coaching in the AHL for the Senators and Devils. Kleinendorst also an assistant and later head coach for the United States National Development Program leading them in 2010 to a gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World U18 Championship. I am eager to see if his experience coaching developmental prospects is beneficial to the development of several of the Wild' high draft picks now positioned to play important minutes for the IOWA Wild this season. The Wild saw last year's bench boss John Torchetti opt out of his contract to sign a deal to coach a KHL team that currently is run by retired NHL star Sergei Federov. Kleinendorst was the runner up for the Aeros job when Chuck Fletcher and staff hired Mike Yeo to be the Aeros coach. It will be very important to the Wild moving forward that players are able to make the Iowa Wild competitive in the AHL while also taking strides in their development towards contributing in the NHL someday. This season should be a very good indicator of Kleinendorst's value to the organization as a coach and leader of young hockey professionals in Iowa!

Last thought being it will be very telling where players end up on lines in Iowa and what roles they are entrusted. I am hoping to see Zach Phillips on a line with Tyler Graovac because of their skill sets. I think Erik Haula and Raphael Bussieres could be very tough and skilled on a line together. I think also Wild fans were very hopeful Jonathon Blum would enter the opening of the NHL with Wild but he will get a very good opportunity to earn his way to Saint Paul playing Top4 pairing minutes in Iowa. Also the 2 young goalie prospects Darcy Kuempfer and Johan Gustafsson will be in competition all season long which is very good for the Wild organization.

Just My Thoughts,
Tony Dean
@AWKD
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