PHILLIPS PREPARES FOR NEXT STEP

Oct 9, 2014

By Tom Witosky

Iowawild.com

Follow Tom @toskyAHLWild

Iowa Wild forward Zack Phillips knows exactly what is expected of him this season.

“The goal is to show up for every game and play just as well as I can,’ the 21-year-old Fredericton, New Brunswick native said. “I need to play consistent and do whatever I can to help the team win.”

Phillips also knows what’s at stake as the season begins Friday with the Wild opening the 2014-15 season on the road against Western Division rival San Antonio.  He is beginning the third year of his three-year entry level contract that likely will determine whether he remains with the Wild down the road.

Drafted by Minnesota in the first round (28^th overall) in 2011, Phillips brought a strong junior resume to the Wild after 68 goals in two seasons with 107 assists for the St. John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Last year, Phillips led the Wild in scoring with 12 goals and 21 assists and was the only player to skate in every one of the Wild’s 76 regular season games.

But neither Phillips nor Coach Kurt Kleinendorst was satisfied with the season.

“He was one of the players who had to listen to some real honest commentary after last season and it didn’t just come from me, it came from pretty much everybody from the organization that matters,” Kleinendorst said.

But Phillips arrived for training camp in what he described as “the best shape I’ve ever been” after spending almost the entire summer working on his physical conditioning and his hockey.

“It was a working summer,” Phillips said this week. “There was some golf and fishing -- just normal stuff. But I spent the summer working out to get ready for this season.”

Kleinendorst and other Wild coaches noticed immediately.

“Zack listened and went home and worked hard. He came to training camp and showed everyone that he had gone home and worked hard,” Kleinendorst said.

As part of the reward for his hard work, Phillips played in two preseason games and was impressive in both outings, particularly the first one, Kleinendorst said. In the Wild’s 4-3 win over Winnipeg, Phillips skated on the fourth line with Iowa Wild teammate Stephane Veilleux and forward Cody Almond.

“Things went really well,” Phillips said of the line. “I made good decisions with the puck.  We got the pucks deep and cycled them well. I felt comfortable out there and thought we did really well.”

After being reassigned to Iowa, Phillips has been adjusting to a group of new teammates that club officials expect to transform the team back into a perennial playoff team. Phillips said that he had noticed the club had scored 12 goals in its two preseason games against Chicago while he still was with Minnesota.

“That made me feel good,” he said. “We didn’t have too many of those kinds of nights last year. It makes me feel we are going to have more chances to put the puck in the net and give the fans something to cheer about.”

Phillips also said that team chemistry has been good as well particularly the mix of veterans like forward Brett Sutter, who played last year for Charlotte, and defenseman Justin Falk, who played last three seasons in the NHL.

 “They are all great guys and they are getting along really well with us,” Phillips said. “We also have a lot of young guys who have been brought in and they are really skilled and can definitely skate and score. We are going to be a well-rounded team.”

As the season begins, the Wild coaching staff will have its collective eye on Phillips progress.

“Now what he has to do is take the next step,” Kleinendorst said. “He has to continue to work hard and go out and have a solid season.”

Jim Mill, Iowa general manager, agreed.

 “Zack has to add consistency to his game,” Mill said. “He has to be responsible defensively but still be able to use his offensive skills and abilities because that is what he is. I think his entire game can get better.”

Ice Shavings…Coach Kleinendorst said fans can expect to see different combinations on offensive lines and defensive pairings for a while. “Early on, I would think we will have some line changes, some roster changes. I hope we find a winning formula right off, but we may not. That will depend on a lot of things as we get through the early part of the season…Kleinendorst also said that the 12 goal output in the Wild’s two preseason games is an indication of the team’s offensive abilities. “I have been doing it long enough to tell that this group has the ability to score goals.   Just watching them in practice and how they practice and perform. I think we have a much better offensive flair.”” … Locker room leadership for the Wild will be part of Stephane Veilleux’s assignment now that he will be wearing the captain’s “C” on his Iowa Wild sweater. Veilleux played most of last season here in Iowa, but played for Minnesota in the playoffs and was one of the last player’s out of camp assigned to Iowa this year. “I like leadership. I like soldiers,” Kleinendorst said of  Veilleux and alternative captains Justin Falk and Brett Sutter.  “You can’t argue with any of those choices.

Ice Shavings II…Iowa GM Jim Mill joked that Minnesota had signed an affiliation agreement with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL instead of the Orlando Sun Bears because “Orlando is just too far away” and denied he is using it to motivate players to play better.  The real reason, Mill said, is that the Aces have won three ECHL championships in nine seasons including one last year. He also said the Aces head coach, Rob Murray, “is the best coach in that league.” … Mill said that he also expects Iowa to carry a few more players early on, but trim the AHL roster as the season progresses. “This time of year there are always a lot of players,” he said. “Every organization has that because that is the way you set-up going into the year. You know things will change in a month or two, but you need those kinds of numbers.”