Iowa Wild General Manager Jim Mill watched intently Wednesday morning from a chair on the mezzanine level of Wells Fargo Arena as three forwards maneuvered around two defensemen during a three-on-two drill.
Shortly after a goal is scored, the goalie pushed out the puck from inside the net, Mill smiled: “That’s good. I like that.”
Meanwhile, a key member of that roster, goalie Darcy Kuemper, was just arriving in downtown Des Moines – a place that immediately reminded him of his hometown. What impressed the 23-year-old Saskatoon native the most, however, was the arena and the locker room where he will be spending most of his time this winter.
“It is awesome,” said Kuemper, who played 21 games for the Houston Aeros and six games last season for Minnesota last season. He is expected to be the Iowa’s mainstay goalie this season. “They are doing an awesome job already of getting us ready for the season.”
Now that Minnesota club officials have made up their minds on most the NHL roster, Iowa Head Coach Kevin Kleinendorst and Assistant Coach Steve Poapst begin to prepare their club for the 2013-14 season in the American Hockey League, the club’s first season in Iowa.
Mill said that he expects the first week of practice to be intense as well as helpful in getting ready for the season, which begins Oct. 12 – a week later than just about every other AHL team.
“We will turn it into an advantage because we have the chance to work a bit longer on our preparation,” Mill said. “These guys have had a lot of time to practice and some have already played in exhibition games.”
Mill also said that the club has agreed to scrimmage against the Milwaukee Admirals a week before their respective seasons begin. The teams will meet at the I-Wireless Center in Moline.
“They don’t start the season until the same time we do so we agreed to have a scrimmage halfway between Milwaukee and Des Moines,” Mill said. The Wild’s Central Hockey League affiliate, the Quad City Mallards, play at the I-Wireless Center.
That scrimmage would be in addition to the Sept. 28 road preseason game on the road at Chicago and the Oct. 2 Green-White Scrimmage at Wells Fargo Arena.
Most of the 25 players expected into training camp arrived Monday and Tuesday, but Kleinendorst and
Mill got good news during the Wild’s intense 90-minute practice: Six veterans cleared waivers and are expected to be at practice Thursday in Des Moines. Those players include four defensemen expected to help Kuemper and likely back-up goalie Johan Gustafsson. This will hopefully turn the Wild into one of the AHL’s top defensive teams.
Defensive players clearing waivers were veterans Brian Connelly, Steve Kampfer, Jonathon Blum and Jon Landry. Blum split his seasons the past two years between AHL Milwaukee and NHL Nashville. Landry played much of the last two years with AHL Bridgeport. Kampfer, who played for Sioux City in the USHL in 2004-05 and 05-06, played 55 games last year in Houston. Connelly has played four full seasons in the AHL, including last year in Houston.
Other players clearing waivers include former Des Moines Buccaneers forward Chad Rau, who has played four years in the AHL and Carson McMillan, another center with four years AHL experience. Both are expected to bring leadership to the locker room.
Kleinendorst reacted to the news all six veterans were on their way to Iowa with a smile though he acknowledged they are likely to be disappointed about being sent down to the minors.
“They will come to work like they always do,” Kleinendorst said. “There is a certain amount of disappointment and that is understandable. I feel for them because I have been in their shoes and know exactly what they are going through.”
But Kleinendorst, who has participated in Minnesota’s training camp the last two weeks, said he sees no problem predicting the veterans will come to Iowa ready to go to work.
“They have been schooled that the moment they walk into the building, they are ready for an honest day’s work. That just comes with professionalism and they are professionals,” he said.
Kleinendorst also said that the veterans on the Wild roster will play a key role, particularly in training camp and the early part of the season.
“Every organization needs those kinds of players and we have it. It gives you leadership in the locker room, particularly when it comes to my team,” he said. “But as an organization it gives you depth.”
Kleinendorst also praised the Minnesota front office for “a wonderful job of bringing in quality people and that is refreshing to me.”
“It doesn’t take much, only one or two players can create headaches and make my life miserable,” he said. “You can overcome that, but when you don’t have to overcome it from my end, it just means all my energy gets to go in the right way. I appreciate the people in this organization because these are good guys.”
Tom Witosky, who spent 33 years as a reporter for the Des Moines Register specializing in investigative reporting in sports, politics, and business, is now a freelance writer. He also was the beat writer for the Iowa Barnstormers during the days of Kurt Warner. He began his love of hockey playing on Lake Minnetonka and fondly remembers the days of Danny Grant and J.P. Parise with the Minnesota North Stars. His blog on All Things Iowa Wild will appear regularly.
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