Iowa Wild Update 11/7/14: A Trio of Losses Set IA at the Bottom
The troubles in Iowa have not ended with the start of the new season. Entering play this weekend the Baby Wild are 2-8-0-0 and sit at last place in the Western Conference. In fact, they’ve got the worst record in the entire American Hockey League (AHL).
Before we get to the week’s recap, I recommend you go check out Andrew’s profile of Iowa Wild forward Tyler Graovac.
Since we last checked in, the Wild have played three games, a weekend set on the road against the Oklahoma City Barons and an early morning game — the earliest in team history — against the Rockford IceHogs.
On Saturday, the team got a pair of goals from winger Marc Hagel and another from preseason signee Ryan Walters, who also had an assist and three shots. Iowa outshot Oklahoma City 31-24, but still came up short. Johan Gustafsson got the net and stopped 19 of 23 (final goal was EN). Gustafsson has a GAA of 3.49 and a save percentage of .891 through his first seven games of the season (including Sunday’s game). Hopes that his struggles last year were the product of the transition to North American hockey have not yet be assuaged, though I think we’ll see that shift as Iowa figures out its game and turns around the current slump.
Jordan Schroeder, one of the bright spots on the struggling team (four goals, eight assists in ten games), tallied five shots in the loss.
Sunday the tables turned in shots, but not the scoreboard with Iowa losing 4-2. Michael Keranen (three goals, four assists in ten games) and Zack Phillips got the Iowa tallies with Ryan Walters, Stu Bickel, Kurtis Gabriel, and Brett Sutter grabbing assists. Gabriel also grabbed 15 penalty minutes when he was given a game misconduct toward the end of the match for charging. Gustafsson got the net for the second night in a row and stopped 30 of 34.
In Thursday’s early game the team really struggled. By mid-second period Rockford had a commanding 4-0 lead on the Wild. But the Wild fought back, scoring two in the second (Hagel and Brady Brassart) before Schroeder struck early in the third to make it a 3-4 game. But it was only about five minutes later on the power play that Rockford’s Joakim Nordstrom made it 5-3, the score that would remain on the board at the end of the night. In addition to those goals Bickel and Sutter had two assists each, with Walters and Keranen each adding another. Both Hagel and Schroeder led the team with five shots apiece.
The net was given over to John Curry on Thursday, who stopped 39 of 44 Rockford shots.
Transactions
– Iowa released Jake Parenteau from his professional tryout (PTO) on Tuesday of this week. Parenteau played four games with Iowa and notched the first point of his pro career after finishing a four-year stint playing for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. He played 113 career games for the Gophers (#OneOfUs), tallying four goals and 18 points.
– The Wild released defenseman Nick Rioux from his professional tryout with the team on Friday. He was reassigned to one of the team’s two ECHL affiliates, the Quad City Mallards. In a corresponding move the team recalled defenseman Corbin Baldwin, who they had assigned to the Alaska Aces in late October.
Next up
The Wild play the Chicago Wolves (6-2-2-0) twice over the weekend.
Saturday, November 8 vs. Chicago Wolves
Sunday, November vs. Chicago Wolves
The DVD Bonus Features
An interview with Zack Phillips:
Oh, and go read Andrew’s profile of Tyler Graovac.