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2014-15 Iowa Wild, Quad City Mallards, & Alaska Aces Thread

Circulartheory

Circulartheory

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Apr 22, 2006
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Minnesota said:
The only player out of that bunch we should have high hopes for is Olofsson, IMO. All the others are huge question marks as to whether they can handle the rigors of professional hockey, let alone NHL hockey.
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I don't think many of us are "betting" these guys will be NHL talent but I don't think it is out of the question to expect some of those mentioned guys to be solid AHLers next year. I, for one, am expecting Labbe, Olofsson, Bertschy (Lucia and Gilmour if they make the jump) to be solid AHLers as bottom four defensemen or bottom six AHLers next season.

Add them with Graovac and some AHL veterans and we might be a decent team in Iowa.
 
Minnesota

Minnesota

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Circulartheory said:
I don't think many of us are "betting" these guys will be NHL talent but I don't think it is out of the question to expect some of those mentioned guys to be solid AHLers next year. I, for one, am expecting Labbe, Olofsson, Bertschy (Lucia and Gilmour if they make the jump) to be solid AHLers as bottom four defensemen or bottom six AHLers next season.

Add them with Graovac and some AHL veterans and we might be a decent team in Iowa.
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- Lucia might make the jump next season.
- I expect Gilmour to continue playing with Tuch at BC since he's currently only a Sophomore.
- Bertschy didn't sign an ELC with the Wild and hasn't competed in any prospect events... I wouldn't even consider him a Wild prospect anymore; guessing he stays in Sweden.
- I could see Labbe making the jump. I'd like to see him play against tougher competition in the AHL. He's got nice upside.
- Olofsson will obviously play for Iowa.

Not sure I'd say we have a good bunch of vets in Iowa, though. We have a lot of under-performing prospects and newly-signed college players.
 
Avder

Avder

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At this point I'm a lot less concerned about if some of those guys make it to the NHL than I am if they can make Iowa competitive.
 

tyratoku

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Minnesota said:
- Lucia might make the jump next season.
- I expect Gilmour to continue playing with Tuch at BC since he's currently only a Sophomore.
- Bertschy didn't sign an ELC with the Wild and hasn't competed in any prospect events... I wouldn't even consider him a Wild prospect anymore; guessing he stays in Sweden.
- I could see Labbe making the jump. I'd like to see him play against tougher competition in the AHL. He's got nice upside.
- Olofsson will obviously play for Iowa.

Not sure I'd say we have a good bunch of vets in Iowa, though. We have a lot of under-performing prospects and newly-signed college players.
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Russo said just the other day he fully expects Bertschy to sign a contract and come over for next season. He's coming over.

And like the others said, it's Switzerland.
 
Minnesota

Minnesota

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Mistyped Sweden/Switzerland.

Looks like I was wrong, Baertschy is coming over to NA. Still, I have doubts he makes an NHL impact. We've seen Almond try and try again to break into the league. Albeit, they're completely different types of players.
 
Circulartheory

Circulartheory

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Minnesota said:
Mistyped Sweden/Switzerland.

Looks like I was wrong, Baertschy is coming over to NA. Still, I have doubts he makes an NHL impact. We've seen Almond try and try again to break into the league. Albeit, they're completely different types of players.
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Yeah, I don't think many of us are holding our breaths for any of those prospects. But for me, its one of those things where, if they make the AHL, its like "throw em in and hope they grow".

I won't bet of any of them but not ready to say I doubt their ability to become NHLers either. Prospects are propsects; they're projects. They all still have a lot of time and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

So, yay with Bertschy!
 
torero

torero

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Circulartheory said:
Yeah, I don't think many of us are holding our breaths for any of those prospects. But for me, its one of those things where, if they make the AHL, its like "throw em in and hope they grow".

I won't bet of any of them but not ready to say I doubt their ability to become NHLers either. Prospects are propsects; they're projects. They all still have a lot of time and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

So, yay with Bertschy!
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On the side of the players it is the exact same thing, we had some of the best players here over that simply didn't make it through the AHL !!
Like Roman Wick or Andres Ambuhl to name the most notorious.

For some young players, it is also a year to improve their skills. they produce 0,5 point/game and are not deemed NHL material yet a year or two in the North American system rounds their game. These player will be good players here in Switzerland yet with one or two years in a more physical and smaller rink game, it completes their game and they become better with NHL option in case of a good fit.

As per for Bärtschy, he chose the "Swiss route" therefore he is off your radars. (not the organisation's though), his chances to make the NHL are limited due to his size yet he is very smart and could be a sort of pest like Zuccarello with a bit more size and a hard shot.
 

tyratoku

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torero said:
On the side of the players it is the exact same thing, we had some of the best players here over that simply didn't make it through the AHL !!
Like Roman Wick or Andres Ambuhl to name the most notorious.

For some young players, it is also a year to improve their skills. they produce 0,5 point/game and are not deemed NHL material yet a year or two in the North American system rounds their game. These player will be good players here in Switzerland yet with one or two years in a more physical and smaller rink game, it completes their game and they become better with NHL option in case of a good fit.

As per for Bärtschy, he chose the "Swiss route" therefore he is off your radars. (not the organisation's though), his chances to make the NHL are limited due to his size yet he is very smart and could be a sort of pest like Zuccarello with a bit more size and a hard shot.
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That's good to hear.

And as to the NHL impact question, I'm not holding my breath or expecting him to make it into the NHL, but even some help in the AHL would be greatly appreciated at this point. They need better players and they need scorers. Bertschy can be that type of player - especially at that level.
 

tyratoku

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Iowa got their second shutout of the season last night.
Another shutout for Mr. John Curry tonight! Two Friday nights in a row!
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Tom Witosky
Tonight is the fourth straight night #IAWild has scored at least 3 goals. Averaging 4.25 goals per game in the last 4.
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The new guys are also doing well.
Name | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/-
Grayson Downing | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2
Pavel Jenys | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3
Zach Palmquist | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0
Jared Knight | 11 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4

Nothing exceptional, but this run they're going on at the end of the season is certainly a building block for next year.
 
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Rumblick

Rumblick

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Hershey Bears fan here with a question for the Iowa fans on the board: What's the scoop on Joel Rechlicz's season? I noted he'd been stuck on 20 GP for a long time. Was it injury, other players doing better, or something else that kept him out of the lineup?

Thanks for any updates.
 
Circulartheory

Circulartheory

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Apr 22, 2006
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torero said:
On the side of the players it is the exact same thing, we had some of the best players here over that simply didn't make it through the AHL !!
Like Roman Wick or Andres Ambuhl to name the most notorious.

For some young players, it is also a year to improve their skills. they produce 0,5 point/game and are not deemed NHL material yet a year or two in the North American system rounds their game. These player will be good players here in Switzerland yet with one or two years in a more physical and smaller rink game, it completes their game and they become better with NHL option in case of a good fit.

As per for Bärtschy, he chose the "Swiss route" therefore he is off your radars. (not the organisation's though), his chances to make the NHL are limited due to his size yet he is very smart and could be a sort of pest like Zuccarello with a bit more size and a hard shot.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Development is never a consistent thing. So all one can really hope is that they make it to their appropriate competition level for their age, and give them all the tools for them to figure it out themselves (time, teammates etc.)

So with guys like Labbe, Bertschy, Olofsson, etc. I am extremely excited for them and so far, they have developed well. But I enter in with careful optimism knowing that only a small percentage of players make the NHL. At the very least, I expect them to hold their own at the AHL level. If they start dropping competition level into the ECHL or struggle to take up regular minutes in the AHL, that is when I start worrying.

Anyways, I am interested to see if the incoming youngsters (Downing, Labbe, Palmqvist, Bertschy and sort of Olofsson) can make Iowa more competitive next year and take up more than just bottom pairing or bottom six roles.
 

mdrn

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Mar 17, 2015
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Rumblick said:
Hershey Bears fan here with a question for the Iowa fans on the board: What's the scoop on Joel Rechlicz's season? I noted he'd been stuck on 20 GP for a long time. Was it injury, other players doing better, or something else that kept him out of the lineup?

Thanks for any updates.
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Several rumors out there but nothing in stone, the truth is between Joel and the the team and neither is speaking which is understandable until the end of the season which for the Wild is tonight and Joel is MIA. I liked Joel and his work / PR ethics to even sit and give blood for an autographed hat. So until he surfaces no one knows...
 
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tyratoku

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May 28, 2010
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Russo says that Olofsson will come back this weekend and play the last two games of the season.

Looks like I'll have to try and catch the game.
 
Paul Bunyan

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Well, I had a blast at the game. The people in Des Moines were a great bunch.

I bought an Iowa Wild finger for a little kid while I was picking up swag for my hockey family here (spread the word of Wild!) and started talking to his Dad and some of their friends.

It was pretty funny, when one said "Don't judge us for a crowd on Tuesday night", but in truth, it's actually a nice facility, and a pretty great city.

The fans were pretty up for it, heckling the goalie even though they were down in the game for the most part, and we had a blast. I assume these are old Iowa Stars / Iowa Chops or USHL fans who have taken their old traditions and chants and put them on this team and we could hear them all the way from the top of the arena.

Hagel for me was by far the most impressive watching live, he's legit. Archambault had some decent passes, and despite the final of 5-2 Curry was on point for a lot of it, then got screened, they had a few defensive lapses and the game got out of control.

A couple of decent signings and healthy players and I think they'd be a decent team next year.

Thanks to all the Iowa Wild fans for welcoming us down, next year I'll definitely be down for a 2 set at least, it was really fun and the best AHL puck I've seen (which, in fairness isn't much --- Lake Erie vs. Toronto and Rockford vs. Houston at the X) but it was entertaining.
 
tomgilbertfan

tomgilbertfan

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Jun 22, 2008
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Paul Bunyan said:
Nope, actually heard it "wasn't that good", so the foodies in my group voted tacopocalypse. Also, we gorged at Hessen Haus, the other sounded lighter.

Hessen Haus and Tacopocalypse and Hampton Breakfast. :laugh:
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Tacopocalypse is pretty good. Zombie Burger is super fun, I had a burger there that was a bacon burger, but with mac and cheese on top, and the buns were 2 deep-fried mac n cheese patties. We went during the airing of a new Walking Dead and the place was so fun. It's not a 5-star restaurant but it's ridiculous and rad.

1890566_10201421579493532_2100213922_o.jpg


My Burger

We had 2 of those big platter things at Hessen Haus with my group, great place.
 
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