IOWA WILD ANNOUNCES BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR 2020-21 SEASON
Feb 4, 2021Iowa Wild, in conjunction with iHeartMedia and Mediacom, announced today the broadcast schedule for the 2020-21 American Hockey League (AHL) season.
For the eighth consecutive season, 1460 AM and 106.3 FM KXNO will be the home of Wild Hockey in Des Moines, broadcasting a minimum 30 of 34 games live on the station in their entirety, while all Iowa Wild games this season will be streamed live on iHeartRadio’s website and app. KXNO has served as the Wild’s flagship station since the team’s opening season in 2013.
“We are so excited to partner with KXNO and iHeartMedia again to broadcast our games to fans unable to attend so they can enjoy the excitement of Wild hockey,” said Iowa Wild President Todd Frederickson. “We can’t wait to get back to playing at Wells Fargo Arena with fans on Friday, Feb 5, but we understand not everyone will be comfortable coming back to the arena. Having our games available on KXNO is a huge positive for us and our fans.”
“Hockey Gone Wild” will also return this season to KXNO Radio, as the monthly hockey talk show is set to air four times throughout the season. The show features player and coach interviews, features on Wild players, in-depth hockey talk and more. Dates for “Hockey Gone Wild” shows will be announced at a later date.
“We’re elated to get Iowa Wild hockey back on the air after the abrupt end to a great season in 2020,” said KXNO Program Director Andrew Downs. “We’re extremely proud of our partnership with the Wild and are thrilled to be bringing world-class hockey to our audience."
Joe O’Donnell is back for his eighth season in the broadcast booth with Iowa and enters his 16th season overall of calling pro hockey on the radio. The Havertown, PA native is in his 13th season with the Minnesota Wild organization, beginning with the Houston Aeros. The 41-year-old also worked in Idaho (ECHL) and Reading (ECHL) and along the way called the 2011 AHL Calder Cup Finals, as well as the ECHL’s 2007 All-Star Game and 2007 Kelly Cup Finals. O’Donnell was named the ECHL’s Broadcaster of the Year in 2007. He will also serve as the lead play-by-play broadcaster for Iowa Wild TV broadcasts.
Select Iowa Wild games will again be broadcasted on MC22. During the past seven seasons, Mediacom and the Wild have partnered to bring hockey to televisions across Central Iowa and for the 2020-21 season, MC22 will broadcast six Wild home games.
TV Games on MC22
Sat., Feb. 13 vs. Rockford*
Sat., Mar. 13 vs. Chicago*
Sat., Mar. 27 vs. Grand Rapids*
Fri., Apr. 9 vs. Chicago*
Fri., May 7 vs. Rockford
Sat., May 15 vs. Texas*
*Dates subject to change
Ben Gislason will serve as play-by-play broadcaster for select games and be the primary host of “Hockey Gone Wild” on KXNO Radio this season. The newly hired Manager of Media Relations for the Wild has filled in for O’Donnell a number of times over the last two seasons on KXNO. Prior to joining the Wild, Gislason was the Director of Broadcasting and Communications with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL. During his three seasons there he called the 2019 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, represented USHL Media at the 2018 and 2019 NHL Drafts and was instrumental in the Buccaneers capturing USHL Media Team of the Year honors in 2019.
AHLTV, brought to you by Explore Minnesota, will return for the 2020-21 season. AHLTV features live streaming of every AHL game in high definition on desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices, as well as over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and Android TV. AHLTV subscriptions, which include live and archived games, will begin at just $44.99 (US) for the entire 2020-21 regular season.
AHL opening weekend games are free to view on AHLTV. Fans can visit theahl.com/AHLTV to register for a free AHLTV account and to purchase subscriptions for the 2020-21 regular season.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. For more information, please visit www.iowawild.com.
###