Iowa Wild
CityDes Moines, Iowa
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceWestern
DivisionCentral
Founded1994 (In the IHL)
Operated2013–present
Home arenaWells Fargo Arena
ColorsForest green, Iron Range red, harvest gold, Minnesota wheat, white
         
Owner(s)Minnesota Sports and Entertainment
General managerMichael Murray[1]
Head coachBrett McLean
CaptainDakota Mermis
MediaBally Sports North
KXNO
AHL.TV (Internet)
AffiliatesMinnesota Wild (NHL)
Iowa Heartlanders (ECHL)
Franchise history
1994–2013Houston Aeros
2013–presentIowa Wild
Current season

The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Des Moines, Iowa. Beginning play for the 2013–14 season as the AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL), the team's home games are held at Wells Fargo Arena.

The team was formerly the Houston Aeros, in Houston, Texas, before being relocated to Des Moines, beginning with the 2013–14 AHL season as the Iowa Wild.[2][3] The Wild is the second AHL team based in Des Moines following 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).

The affiliation between the two Wild franchises is the first of two between Twin Cities area franchises and Iowa minor league franchises, as the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association and the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League also share an affiliation.

History

The Iowa Wild franchise began as the Houston Aeros, a 1994 expansion team in the International Hockey League (IHL) that played out of the Compaq Center. The Aeros were one of six IHL teams to join the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2001 when the IHL folded. Upon joining the AHL, the Aeros affiliated with the National Hockey League's one-year-old expansion team, the Minnesota Wild. The AHL version of the Aeros won the 2003 Calder Cup and also reached the 2011 Calder Cup finals, but lost to the Binghamton Senators. In 2003, the majority ownership of the franchise was sold to Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group of the Wild, while former owner Chuck Watson retained a 10% minority share along with Houston native Nick Sheppard holding a 4% share. The team then moved home games to the new Toyota Center.[4]

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 with home games at Wells Fargo Arena.[5] 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.[6] The team failed to make the playoffs for its first five seasons.

On February 22, 2018, the Minnesota Wild extended their contract through 2023.[7] In 2019, the team reached the playoffs for the first time since relocating from Houston, reaching the division finals and losing to the Chicago Wolves in six games. The following 2019–20 season was then curtailed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic with the Wild holding second place in the division and no playoffs were held. The 2020–21 season was then delayed due to the pandemic, with a shortened season held and no Calder Cup playoffs.

Season-by-season results

Regular season Playoffs Average
attendance[8]
Season Games Won Lost OTL SOL Points PCT Goals
for 		Goals
against 		Standing Year Prelims 1st
round 		2nd
round 		3rd
round 		Finals
2013–14 76 27 36 7 6 67 .441 169 235 5th, Midwest 2014 Did not qualify 5,883
2014–15 76 23 49 2 2 50 .329 172 245 5th, Midwest 2015 Did not qualify 5,659
2015–16 76 24 41 5 6 59 .388 169 225 8th, Central 2016 Did not qualify 5,846
2016–17 76 36 31 7 2 81 .533 182 196 6th, Central 2017 Did not qualify 6,019
2017–18 76 33 27 10 6 82 .539 232 246 5th, Central 2018 Did not qualify 6,153
2018–19 76 37 26 8 5 87 .572 242 230 3rd, Central 2019 — W, 3–2, MIL L, 2–4, CHI — — 6,409
2019–20 63 37 18 4 4 82 .651 194 171 2nd, Central 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 6,351
2020–21 34 17 13 4 0 38 .559 107 113 4th, Central 2021 No playoffs were held 3,273[9]
2021–22 72 32 31 4 5 73 .507 202 209 6th, Central 2022 Did not qualify 5,435
2022–23 72 34 27 6 5 79 .549 211 211 4th, Central 2023 L, 0–2 RFD — — — — 6,296
2023–24 72 27 37 4 4 62 .431 184 245 6th, Central 2024 Did not qualify 6,401

Players

Current roster

Updated May 1, 2024.[10]

Team roster
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
19 Canada Caedan Bankier C L 21 2023 White Rock, British Columbia Minnesota
11 Canada Adam Beckman (A) LW L 22 2021 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Minnesota
40 France Louis Boudon C L 25 2023 Grenoble, France Iowa
14 Canada Brett Budgell LW L 22 2023 St. John's, Newfoundland Iowa
4 United States Will Butcher D L 29 2024 Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Minnesota
12 United States Kevin Conley F L 27 2022 Wausau, Wisconsin Iowa
47 United States Casey Dornbach RW R 26 2023 Edina, Minnesota Iowa
20 Canada Turner Elson C R 31 2024 New Westminster, British Columbia Minnesota
7 Russia Vladislav Firstov LW L 22 2022 Yaroslavl, Russia Minnesota
29 United States Steven Fogarty (A) C R 31 2022 Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Minnesota
6 United States Gavin Hain C L 24 2023 Grand Rapids, Minnesota Iowa
52 Canada Daemon Hunt D L 21 2022 Brandon, Manitoba Minnesota
18 Sweden Simon Johansson D R 24 2022 Stockholm, Sweden Minnesota
92 Canada Hunter Jones G L 23 2021 Brantford, Ontario Minnesota
44 Canada Kale Kessy LW L 31 2023 Shaunavon, Saskatchewan Iowa
16 Canada Jujhar Khaira LW L 29 2023 Surrey, British Columbia Minnesota
71 Canada Carson Lambos D L 21 2023 Winnipeg, Manitoba Minnesota
49 Canada Kyle Masters D R 21 2023 Edmonton, Alberta Minnesota
70 United States Zane McIntyre G L 31 2022 Thief River Falls, Minnesota Minnesota
43 Canada Greg Meireles C R 25 2023 Ottawa, Ontario Iowa
17 Canada Brenden Miller D L 30 2023 Orangeville, Ontario Iowa
36 Canada Michael Milne LW L 21 2022 Abbotsford, British Columbia Minnesota
8 Czech Republic Pavel Novak RW R 22 2023 Tabor, Czech Republic Minnesota
22 Canada Ryan O'Rourke D L 21 2022 Pickering, Ontario Minnesota
3 United States Jack Peart D L 20 2024 Grand Rapids, Minnesota Minnesota
74 Czech Republic Adam Raska RW R 22 2023 Koprivnice, Czech Republic Minnesota
21 Czech Republic David Spacek D R 21 2023 Columbus, Ohio Minnesota
13 United States Nick Swaney (A) RW R 26 2021 Lakeville, Minnesota Minnesota
24 Canada Joel Teasdale LW L 25 2023 Repentigny, Quebec Iowa
27 United States Luke Toporowski LW L 23 2024 Bettendorf, Iowa Minnesota
25 United States Sammy Walker C R 24 2022 Edina, Minnesota Minnesota
30 Sweden Jesper Wallstedt G L 21 2022 Västerås, Sweden Minnesota

Team captains

Franchise records and leaders

Scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers for the Iowa Wild in the AHL. Figures are updated after each completed season.[11]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;   = current Iowa player

Points
Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Kyle Rau C 244 88 111 199 .81
Sam Anas C 259 72 125 197 .76
Gerald Mayhew RW 228 97 81 178 .78
Zack Mitchell RW 250 66 66 132 .53
Cal O'Reilly C 142 31 100 131 .92
Mason Shaw C 197 43 78 121 .61
Brennan Menell D 199 15 101 116 .58
Adam Beckman LW 181 57 51 108 .60
Marco Rossi C 116 34 70 104 .90
Colton Beck LW 319 41 63 104 .33

References

  1. ^ "Minnesota Wild Announces Promotions and Additions to Hockey Operations Department". OurSports Central. September 24, 2021.
  2. ^ "Wild AHL Affiliate Moving To Iowa". Minnesota Wild. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-18.
  3. ^ Birch, Tommy; Leistikow, Chad (2013-04-18). "Is Des Moines ready to try pro hockey again?". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2013-04-18.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Relocation Likely if Aeros Can't Get A New Lease Deal at Toyota Center". Houston Chronicle. January 18, 2013.
  5. ^ "It's official: Aeros hockey team leaving Houston at end of season". ABC13. April 19, 2013.
  6. ^ 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.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ Wild, Iowa. "FIVE YEARS IN: JUST GETTING STARTED | Iowa Wild". www.iowawild.com. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  8. ^ "Iowa Wild yearly attendance". HockeyDB. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  9. ^ Reduced capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  10. ^ "Iowa Wild Roster". American Hockey League. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  11. ^ "Iowa Wild - All Time AHL leaders". hockeydb.com. April 20, 2024. Retrieved April 20, 2024.

External links

Iowa Wild
Minnesota Wild
American Hockey League
Sports teams based in Iowa
Categories