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

[Paul Bunyan]

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.

My Burger

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

That looks insane.

Yeah, it was alright but there are so many options it's pretty hard to choose on a tight schedule. I had basically their version of street tacos, but I think our Yardhouse here does them better (though theirs are MUCH cheaper, so it's kind of like comparing Denny's steak to an actual steak house) but the burrito was solid. Their chips are the best though. Absolutely fantastic.

Everything closed at 10, which meant....I missed the end of the game because I was outvoted and didn't drive us there. That's the one odd thing about moving back here, or to other less populated parts of the Midwest (or not college towns) is the lack of late night options, and also the lack of people out even in big metro areas.

Des Moines has a cool vibe though, I will 100% be going back down there.

Did you go with a bunch of friends up here to see Iowa play as well I presume?

 

[tomgilbertfan]

That looks insane.

Yeah, it was alright but there are so many options it's pretty hard to choose on a tight schedule. I had basically their version of street tacos, but I think our Yardhouse here does them better (though theirs are MUCH cheaper, so it's kind of like comparing Denny's steak to an actual steak house) but the burrito was solid. Their chips are the best though. Absolutely fantastic.

Everything closed at 10, which meant....I missed the end of the game because I was outvoted and didn't drive us there. That's the one odd thing about moving back here, or to other less populated parts of the Midwest (or not college towns) is the lack of late night options, and also the lack of people out even in big metro areas.

Des Moines has a cool vibe though, I will 100% be going back down there.

Did you go with a bunch of friends up here to see Iowa play as well I presume?

Actually no, me and a bunch of friends and one Professor went to Des Moines for a few days to go to an Entomolgical Society of America branch meeting. It was way more fun than it sounds, really interesting talks, met some really famous people in the world of Entomology, and our Professor paid for most of the meals because she's awesome. I'm definitely itching to go back to see an Iowa Wild game though, especially since one of my friends is going to med school in Des Moines.

 

[Paul Bunyan]

Actually no, me and a bunch of friends and one Professor went to Des Moines for a few days to go to an Entomolgical Society of America branch meeting. It was way more fun than it sounds, really interesting talks, met some really famous people in the world of Entomology, and our Professor paid for most of the meals because she's awesome. I'm definitely itching to go back to see an Iowa Wild game though, especially since one of my friends is going to med school in Des Moines.

You should definitely mark it down as a thing to do, the Wells Fargo Center is one of the better places in which I've watched hockey in what is more of a basketball / concert arena and if fans are that into it on a Tuesday night with the worst team in the league....imagine when it's a weekend set and they aren't bottom feeders!

 

[dechire]

It's a minor ECHL signing but as a Chiefs fan I thought I'd give you guys my take on Liam Stewart who just signed with the Mallards last week and is playing in their playoff run. He's the son of Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter which is usually the first thing people say about him but beyond that he's a great character guy and was very popular among fans here in Spokane. He's a solid two-way player with above average defensive play. He's not going to wow you offensively but he scores some clutch goals and can play up if needed. He took over as 1C for over a month this past season and did very well. And he scored in his debut game so hopefully that continues. I don't know if he'll ever be more than a minor league player but he was a great guy in the community and a really good player here. I hope he has success in your organization

Also he plays for Team Britain internationally which is something unique

 

[Paul Bunyan]

I had no idea Rod had a son that played puck. He's a big Celtic fan, so I assume his son might be too. Nice to see him playing for QC now!

 

[Puckcrazy51]

Zack Philips with 12 pts in 16 games since trade--more assists than he had in 50 games in Iowa-good kid, wish him continued success, obviously needed the change.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

 

[tyratoku]

Yeah, tgf, I saw that quote earlier today. Kind of excites me a bit to see what he is going to change with the roster.

We have the following players coming in for their first full season:

G Brody Hoffman [Vermont UFA]

D Zach Palmquist (7gp, 0g + 1a = 1 -2)
D Gustav Olofsson (1gp, 0g + 0a, +/- 0)
D Dylan Labbe (3gp, 0g + 0a, +/- 2)
D Hunter Warner [From WHL Maybe]

C Grayson Downing (5gp, 0g + 4a = 4 -1)
RW Jared Knight (15gp, 3g + 4a = 7 +1)
F Pavel Jenys [From OHL Maybe] (7gp, 0g + 3a = 3 +1)
F Christoph Bertschy [Played in Swiss league last year]

Lots of talent right there. Small sample size for the Iowa guys and all that, but there are some impressive numbers right there for some of them.

Granted, we are losing at least Johan Gustafsson + Josh Harding, probably many more, but there is a good group of guys coming in there. That's half the defense and a full line of forwards, even if Jenys doesn't play in Iowa full time next season. Which he probably shouldn't.

Even so. Lots of room for improvement. They can cut a lot of dead weight (Bulmer [RFA], Rechlicz [UFA], Bickel [UFA], Gogol [RFA])

Bussieres and Brassart severely underperformed last season but are under contract for next season. I expect improvement or they're pretty much done.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Plus maybe Michalek and Folin. Wish Lucia would've made the jump, but whatever.

 

[Affiliate Watcher]

Anybody know what the contract length is between the Mallards and the Wild? Our Brampton Beast are doing an elimination game in preparation to announcing our new affiliation, and the last 2 hints were given today.
The three teams left for a possible affiliation are Montreal (God I hope not), New Jersey (Meh), and Minnesota (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!)
Nothing against QC but if we have a chance at being a beneficiary of THE Hockey STATE I would absolutely love that!

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

Was Iowa really just bad or poorly run ?

 

[tyratoku]

Was Iowa really just bad or poorly run ?

They dug a big hole at the beginning of the season when they had their old coach. Then they switched coaches and improved from terrible to just bad.

There are some players down there but they need more.

 

[Paul Bunyan]

Anybody know what the contract length is between the Mallards and the Wild? Our Brampton Beast are doing an elimination game in preparation to announcing our new affiliation, and the last 2 hints were given today.
The three teams left for a possible affiliation are Montreal (God I hope not), New Jersey (Meh), and Minnesota (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!)
Nothing against QC but if we have a chance at being a beneficiary of THE Hockey STATE I would absolutely love that!

Really? I'd be surprised if they picked Brampton after all QC is closer, and you literally go up stream to QC-Des Moines-StP.

The Wild had two this year (Alaska as well --- I know that was a year deal) so perhaps it will be dual again or they will make one move.

I had heard rumblings of Brampton failing, apparently that's not the case now?

There are some players down there but they need more.

Bingo. Preferably skilled players. In the game I went to it was 5-2 Marlies, granted the baby Wild had nothing to play for, but even still Curry was everywhere to keep it to 5. There are reasons why guys like Zucker and Haula were big there a lot of it is speed, and they definitely need some of that.