WILD HUNGRY TO START NEW SEASON

Sep 27, 2014

By Tom Witosky

Writer for iowawild.com

Follow Tom on Twitter @toskyAHLWild

WILD HUNGRY TO START THE NEW SEASON

When the Iowa Wild ended its 2013-14 season, head coach Kurt Kleinendorst knew major changes were coming.

After all, the Wild ‘s first season was well in hand with the team above .500 and in position to make the playoffs in late January. February changed the dynamic as Iowa was hindered by injuries and NHL call ups, leading to a disappointing record of 27-36-7-6. Over the Minnesota Wild’s 13-year AHL tenure, it failed to make the Calder Cup playoffs for only the third time since the 2001-02 season. In the spring, Iowa was not as busy as its parent club, which surprised some hockey fans by fighting its way into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs before losing in a tough six-game battle with Chicago.

“We had such a poor season down here at the same time they were doing well seemed like a bit of setback to the organization,” Kleinendorst said Friday after the club’s first training camp practice. “Over the years, this franchise has enjoyed a lot of success in the American League and it is what has helped the big club develop their success in the NHL.”

As a result, Kleinendorst said, he spent time reflecting on how to reverse last year’s problems while Jim Mill, the club’s general manager, and other members of the Minnesota front office, spent the off-season looking for the right players to rebuild the team. With training camp beginning this weekend, several things are different – the club’s roster, what Kleinendorst will expect from his team and that Iowa feels like home. 

“We are light years ahead of where we were last year,” Kleinendorst said remembering how he and the club’s players arrived in Iowa without a finished locker room and dealing with the problems of getting used to a new city, while at the same time starting the AHL season. “Last year, the players didn’t know where they wanted to live. I didn’t know where I wanted to live.”

In addition, the club appears to have restocked its roster with a group of bigger players and with reputations substantially more aggressive on the ice. Kleinendorst declined to talk about specific players because of the start of training camp, but said that fans should expect to see a much different team from last year.

“We aren’t going to be the Broad Street Bullies,” Kleinendorst said, referring to the notorious brawlers of the 1970’s Philadelphia Flyers. “But we are going to play the game aggressively and with energy. We are going to finish our forechecks and put in the effort necessary to win.”

Iowa ranked at the bottom of the AHL last year with only 169 goals, but Kleinendorst feels confident those problems have been addressed. He also said that he expects better leadership on the team.

“Teams will go through a season like we had every now and then,” he said. “We are addressing both issues with some of our new players and we think that it will be a much more productive team.”

Kleinendorst also pointed the finger at himself for part of last year’s problems. He said that this season he intends to place emphasis on winning games as much as development of players.

Last year, the club provided several players who contributed substantially to Minnesota’s surge late in the season that guaranteed them a spot in the playoffs as well as second round finish. Goalie Darcy Kuemper, who recently signed a two-year contract extension with the Wild, defensemen Jon Blum and forwards Erik Haula, Jason Zucker and Stephan Veilleux were among those contributors.

“You don’t have to overstate the fact that we are here for development,” Kleinedorst said. “We all know that. But there was too much talk about that going on last season and not enough about winning. I let the guys off the hook to a certain extent because as long as development was in place everything was fine.”

Kleinendorst said that he will be less tolerant of inconsistent play and won’t hesitate much to bench players not getting that message. He also expects the club to have a winning record at home – something that didn’t happen last season.

“They can learn and develop if you show them that they must be consistent. If they are not consistent, then they can’t play,” he said. “We are going to do what we have to do to make sure we are developing them in a winning environment.”

As part of that effort, Kleinendorst said that the club intends to have a part-time goalie coach as well as a strength and conditioning coach something that the club didn’t have last year.

“You learn each season and look for ways to improve,” he said. “These are two areas that I really think we need to develop players and to win.”

Kleinendorst said that he expects to have a roster solidified by the end of the next week and believes there are several players likely headed toward Iowa that will be able to contribute to getting the Iowa Wild into the playoffs.

“Our talent pool is a couple notches higher than it was last year and that is encouraging,” he said.