Iowa Wild

Iowa Wild
2016–17 AHL season
City Des Moines, Iowa
League American Hockey League
Conference Western
Division Central
Founded 1994 (In the IHL)
Operated 2013–present
Home arena Wells Fargo Arena
Colors Green, wheat, white, red
                   
Owner(s) Minnesota Sports and Entertainment (majority)
General manager Brent Flahr
Head coach Derek Lalonde
Media Fox Sports North
KXNO
Affiliates Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Quad City Mallards (ECHL)
Franchise history
1994–2013 Houston Aeros
2013–present Iowa Wild

The Iowa Wild is an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, that began play from the 2013–14 season. The team plays at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. On November 10, after a 2-10 start to the season, head coach Kurt Kleinendorst was fired and replaced by John Torchetti.

The team used to be known as the Houston Aeros, calling Houston, Texas, home and most recently playing at the Toyota Center. On April 18, 2013, it was announced that the Aeros would move to Des Moines, beginning with the 2013-14 AHL season and be known as the Iowa Wild.[1][2]

The Wild is the second AHL team to call Des Moines home. The city was home to the Iowa Stars, which had been the Dallas Stars' AHL affiliate from 2005 until 2008 (in the team's final season (2008-09), they were known as the Iowa Chops and were affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks).

History

Houston Heritage

The Houston Aeros were an expansion team in the International Hockey League in 1994. The team's name is a homage to the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association in the 1970s, one of the teams Gordie Howe played for in the WHA. The Aeros were the second IHL team to be named after a WHA franchise, the first being the Phoenix Roadrunners; unlike the Roadrunners, who used the same logo as their WHA predecessor, the IHL Aeros used a new logo, a bomber flying over the team name based on the Boeing B-17 or B-25 Mitchell. The Aeros would defeat the Orlando Solar Bears to win the 1999 Turner Cup, following an impressive 54-win season.

The Aeros were one of six IHL teams to join the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2001 when the IHL folded. The AHL version of the Aeros would go on to win the 2003 Calder Cup; they would reach the 2011 Calder Cup finals as well but lost to the Binghamton Senators. They served as the AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and were affiliated with the ECHL revival of the Orlando Solar Bears for the 2012–13 season.

The team played their home games in the Toyota Center, which they moved to from the Compaq Center for the 2003–04 season.

The principal owner was Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, with Chuck Watson, the former owner, owning a 10% minority share along with Houston Native, Nick Sheppard, holding a 4% share.

In Iowa

On April 18, 2013, the Minnesota Wild announced that Minnesota Sports and Entertainment were unable to reach a lease agreement with the Toyota Center, and the Aeros would be relocated to Des Moines, Iowa beginning with the 2013–14 season and play their home games in Wells Fargo Arena. The Iowa Wild inaugural season was opened on October 12 with a 1-0 win over the Oklahoma City Barons. The opening night attendance was 10,200.[3]

Season-by-season results

Players

Current roster

Updated November 18, 2016.[4]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
7 United States Anas, SamSam Anas C R 23 2016 Potomac, Maryland Minnesota
36 Canada Beck, ColtonColton Beck LW L 26 2015 Langley, British Columbia Iowa
44 Switzerland Bertschy, ChristophChristoph Bertschy RW R 22 2015 Le Mouret, Switzerland Minnesota
12 United States Cannone, PatPat Cannone C R 30 2016 Bayport, New York Minnesota
15 United States Czarnowczan, ScottScott Czarnowczan D L 25 2016 Macomb, Michigan Iowa
28 Canada Downing, GraysonGrayson Downing C L 24 2015 Abbotsford, British Columbia Minnesota
18 Canada Fortunus, MaximeMaxime Fortunus (C) D R 33 2015 La Prairie, Quebec Iowa
39 Canada Gabriel, KurtisKurtis Gabriel RW R 23 2014 Newmarket, Ontario Minnesota
2 Canada Gélinas, GuillaumeGuillaume Gélinas D L 23 2014 Quebec, Quebec Minnesota
14 United States Gilmour, AdamAdam Gilmour RW R 22 2016 Hanover, Massachusetts Minnesota
29 Canada Hagel, MarcMarc Hagel F R 28 2014 Hamilton, Ontario Minnesota
11 Canada Hoggan, JeffJeff Hoggan LW L 38 2016 Hope, British Columbia Iowa
16 Canada Labbé, DylanDylan Labbé D L 21 2015 Levis, Quebec Minnesota
20 Canada Lang, ChaseChase Lang RW R 20 2016 Nanaimo, British Columbia Minnesota
22 United States Lucia, MarioMario Lucia LW L 23 2016 Fairbanks, Alaska Minnesota
34 United States Michalek, StevenSteven Michalek G L 23 2015 Hartford, Connecticut Minnesota
13 Sweden Olofsson, GustavGustav Olofsson (A) D L 22 2014 Borås, Sweden Minnesota
8 United States Palmquist, ZachZach Palmquist D L 25 2015 South St. Paul, Minnesota Minnesota
21 Finland Pulkkinen, TeemuTeemu Pulkkinen RW R 24 2016 Vantaa, Finland Minnesota
26 United States Saracino, NickNick Saracino LW L 24 2016 St. Louis, Missouri Iowa
10 United States Schroeder, JordanJordan Schroeder C R 26 2014 Prior Lake, Minnesota Minnesota
3 United States Seeler, NickNick Seeler D L 23 2016 Eden Prairie, Minnesota Minnesota
32 United States Stalock, AlexAlex Stalock G L 29 2016 St. Paul, Minnesota Minnesota
17 United States Tuch, AlexAlex Tuch RW R 20 2016 Syracuse, New York Minnesota
6 United States Warner, HunterHunter Warner D R 21 2016 Cambridge, Minnesota Minnesota
27 United States Weber, MikeMike Weber D L 28 2016 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Iowa

References

  1. "Wild AHL Affiliate Moving To Iowa". Minnesota Wild. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-18.
  2. Birch, Tommy; Leistikow, Chad (2013-04-18). "Is Des Moines ready to try pro hockey again?". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2013-04-18.
  3. As former sole owner of the team, Chuck Watson owns the rights to the Aeros name, prompting the name change."Wild statement on AHL affiliate". Houston Aeros. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-18.
  4. "TheAHL.com –Iowa Wild Roster". Retrieved 2015-01-10.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.