MITCHELL EAGER TO SHOW HE BELONGS

Oct 3, 2014

By Tom Witosky

Iowawild.com

Follow Tom @toskyAHLWild

MITCHELL EAGER TO SHOW HE BELONGS

Zack Mitchell, one of the Iowa Wild’s promising young forwards, used just one phrase Wednesday to describe his first night on home ice as a professional hockey player.

“Just being here is an honor,” he said simply after he and his teammates put a bright shine on the American Hockey League Wild’s first game of the 2014-15 season -- a 7-4 preseason victory over the Chicago Wolves at Wells Fargo Arena. Mitchell was among three players with two assists in burst of team scoring sure to encourage Wild fans about the season.

The 21-year-old Ontario native is one of several junior hockey players recently signed by the Minnesota Wild to improve club size, ruggedness and offensive capability. The goal is to embed as a perennial National Hockey League playoff participant and Stanley Cup contender while also returning its American Hockey League franchise to playoff contender status.

“Mitch has really good vision on the ice to go along with a lot of offensive ability,” Jim Mill, the Iowa Wild general manager, said during Wednesday’s game. “But he has to make a lot of adjustments to make as well. It is a different game up here.”

Mitchell, who wasn’t drafted in the entry drafts in 2011 and 2012, signed a three-year entry level contract with the Wild last March while helping to lead his major junior team, the Guelph Storm, to the Ontario Hockey League championship for the first time in 10 years. Mitchell finished the regular season with 31 goals and 52 assists and 12 goals and 18 assists in 20 playoff games.

He said that the challenge of getting a professional contract as a free agent has prompted him to appreciate the hard work it has taken.

“Nothing has been guaranteed because I wasn’t drafted and signed as a free agent,” Mitchell said. “So it was real exciting for me to sign my first professional contract with the Minnesota Wild.”

It also was a vindication of difficult decision Mitchell made when he was still in high school. Mitchell chose to play major junior hockey instead of attending Harvard University where he would have played college hockey.

“Harvard was one of the best schools in the world,” Mitchell told the Toronto Star in an interview in May. “It was a tough decision to make at 16, but I wanted to be a professional hockey player. I have no regrets.”

Mill said that Mitchell’s offensive ability has impressed him, but added that Mitchell, like a number of the younger players trying to make the roster, has some growing-up to do as well.

“It is a high intensity grind every night that demands young players like Zack be consistent in every game if they are going to succeed,” Mill said. “This is about playing hockey against players who for the last 10 years have been some of the best in the world on their way up to the NHL.”

Mill said Mitchell and several other younger players have the potential of rounding out a good mix of veterans and youngsters for the season.

“Our real good younger guys are a year older whether they are going into the second year or third year,” Mill said. “And potentially the veteran guys we are going to have here are going to be a really good group for the young kids.”

 Now in Iowa and fighting for a spot on the Wild roster, Mitchell said that the competition and the chance to play in the AHL make it worthwhile for him.

“The competition is really good,” Mitchell said. “We have guys who are working really hard to make the team and we have guys who have been up and down to the NHL and AHL. No one knows where everybody is going to fall yet but that makes even more fun.”

Mitchell also said that while this year’s group of players understands that last year’s problems – much of it the result of injuries and call-ups that required using nine different goalies and 52 roster players before the season was over, no one is dwelling on it.

“Everyone is aware of it, but they’ve brought in a lot of new players this year and the atmosphere in the locker room is really good,” Mitchell said. “To score seven goals tonight is a sign of what this team should be able to do.  It is a good start.”

As for his future with the Wild, Mitchell said that he is confident there will be a place for him no matter how long it takes.

“I really appreciate being given the chance to play here and maybe one day to play in the NHL,” he said. “So far in Iowa, it’s been great.