Minnesota 2021-2022 Affiliates Thread (Iowa Wild, Iowa Heartlanders)

[Dr Jan Itor]

Iowa with a come from behind 2-1 win last night over SD Gulls. A lot more chances than the score suggests- both Dostal and MacIntyre were good. Dewar one timer with the goalie pulled tied it up(assist Addison and Rossi). The Addison scored on a rebound after Dewar's shot hit the post(assist by Dewar and Shaw). First game back, and Dewar looks vg. Had an all round good game with excellent chances, some nice passing, and sent Jacob Perrault into his bench with a hit.

- Rossi is the best forward with the puck on his stick. Smart. Would like to see him with really smart offensive players like Boldy and Fiala. Seems to be able to wiggle out of trouble, but would like to see more strength from him. He gets knocked off the puck, even at the AHL level, and is only average in puck battles. Physical maturity might help him gain strength?

I would think and hope so.

 

[57special]

Iowa up 1-0 in the 1st on a goal by Chaffee. The Gulls have the most astonishingly awful colored uniforms I have ever seen, best described as Graperoo Purple.

My wife says the unis are Lavender.

Iowa loses 5-3. Chaffee with two goals, Firstov with two assists. Firstov starting to adjust. You can see some skill there...has decent size...

Chaffee has the team lead in goals, and in far fewer games than Rau and Rossi(#2 and 3 in goal scoring).

 

[Minnewildsota]

Very interesting Becoming Wild episode regarding Iowa:




While their record may not show much, there's probably a lot of development going on down there. I think Tim Army gets it.

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

Very interesting Becoming Wild episode regarding Iowa:




While their record may not show much, there's probably a lot of development going on down there. I think Tim Army gets it.

What makes you think he gets it?

 

[Minnewildsota]

What makes you think he gets it?

I don't have the exact quote but it was something like:

In the NHL, you win at all costs. Down here (AHL) is about developing, and sometimes that means you need to let players fail.

 

[57special]

1-1 after 1st against Tucson. Addison from Chaffee and Dewar. Iowa is outshooting them by something like 20+ to 8.
Soderstrom, one of my favorites from the 2019 draft, is playing for Tucson. Looks good, but nothing special.

2-1. Rau from Dewar (beautiful little feed from behind the net, thought it was Rossi) and Shaw.

3-1 Stevens cleaning up Beckman's shot off the post.

4-1 still in 2nd. Rau, from Addison and Rossi, I think? The boxscore is comically wrong on some of these goals. They said Dewar and chaffee, but that can't be right...Addison clearly shot the puck that Rau deflected.

5-1 Rau hattie. Shaw assist.

6-1 Rossi from Chaffee.

 

[57special]

Iowa beats Tucson 5-1
Dewar
Shaw
Chaffee
Hicketts

all had 1g, 1a

Rossi and Beckman with an assist.

 

[Minnewildsota]

Iowa beats Tucson 5-1
1.Dewar
2.Shaw
3.Chaffee
4.Hicketts

all had 1g, 1a

Rossi and Beckman with an assist.

That's only 4?

 

[57special]

That's only 4?

Yeah, I usually only report on players that are younger and have NHL upside. Players like Rau are vg at the AHL level, but most of us think that his probability of having a NHL career is very low. I only included Hicketts above (again, a vg AHL player)because he fit the 1g, 1a narrative.

 

[57special]

Iowa up 2-0 in the 3rd. 2nd goal was Chaffee on a snipe from Addison and Rossi.
Addison is so chippy.
McIntyre has stopped 27 shots. As I've said before, he is Iowa's best goalie since Kahkonen.

 

[thestonedkoala]

McIntyre has stopped 27 shots. As I've said before, he is Iowa's best goalie since Kahkonen.

That's not saying much.

 

[57special]

That's not saying much.

It's not not saying much, either. It's not like we have a bunch of defensive geniuses on the Blue line.

 

[thestonedkoala]

It's not not saying much, either. It's not like we have a bunch of defensive geniuses on the Blue line.

I mean Addison is a good prospect and you have had guys that are what the MLB calls AAAA - not good enough for the NHL, but doing better in the AHL.

 

[57special]

I mean Addison is a good prospect and you have had guys that are what the MLB calls AAAA - not good enough for the NHL, but doing better in the AHL.

Addison is a vg offensive Dman(NHL top4 easily), but not a great defender. I still think he is better than Benn, especially if he has a guy like Kulikov on the other side, but now that Goli has been re-signed i don't know what to think.

 

[57special]

Iowa loses to MIL 2-1 in a SO. McIntyre was vg again(clearly Iowa's #1), but Ingram was even better for MIL. In general, Iowa was the better team, but they take way too many penalties.
Hicketts scored, from Shaw. IMO, Dewar is the best Iowa forward, followed closely by Rossi, Rau, Shaw, Chaffee.
Beckman and Swaney are struggling, but still decent. Giroux finally got in a game. He's not been very good. Firstov wasn't playing.
Addison was quiet, but always out there on 3 v 3, in rotation with Hicketts and Mermis. Dewar's strength, instincts, and speed really shine then, also. The only thing he is missing is high end puck handling and vision, though he is well above average in those areas in the AHL. He's not very big, obviously, but he is strong on his skates, and smart.

 

[57special]

Wild lose 3-1 last night. Shaw from Rau.
Rossi looks OK, but does not have the size or speed to take over games. He is able to protect himself better now, but still gets knocked off the puck. Similarly sized players like Rau, Shaw, and Dewar are stronger.
McIntyre still has decent numbers, but am not enough of a goalie guy to tell if he is actually good. I don't think the Iowa D is particularly good, so it's not like he is getting much help from them.

 

[57special]

Iowa 5-4 in OT. Beckman and Chaffee with 1g, 1a. Firstov not playing. Khovanov with rare start, and an assist.
Rossi not on the scoreboard again. He's just not much of a factor.

 

[57special]

McIntyre has a save % of .920, this year, behind a pretty mediocre D, IMO. Since moving from Houston, only Stalock (2016-17), Kuemper (2013-14), and KK (2019-20) have matched that, except for a couple of G with a very small sample size.
IMO, he's definitely good enough to be an injury call up. I'm not sure I can say that about any of our other goalies under contract.

 

[57special]

Iowa wins 5-2

Swaney - 2g, 2a
Shaw - 1g, 2a
Rau - 1g, 1a
Rossi - 1g
Addison - 1a

 

[57special]

McIntyre pitching a SO after two periods, stopping 25 shots. Chaffee has 5 shots already in the game.
Iowa loses 1-0. McIntyre stops 33 shots.

 

[57special]

Up 1-0 over Rockford in the 1st. PPG Shaw from Addison and Rossi. Deflection on Addison's point shot.

2-0. PPG. Swaney from Mermis and Hicketts.

2-1 Extremely soft goal on McIntyre(who has been really good all year). Soft dump in from outside the blue line that he missed with his catching glove.

2-2 in 2nd. Iowa with lots of chances.

I don't mind Khovanov. Smart, good puck handler, stocky and pretty strong. They are playing him with McLeod and Baddock.



If Iowa doesn't win they are out of the playoffs.

 

[lakai17]

What happened to Beckman? 1g, 2a in his last 10 games. Is he not capitalizing on chances? Bad puck luck? He an impact in games still? He seems to be slumping lately.

 

[57special]

What happened to Beckman? 1g, 2a in his last 10 games. Is he not capitalizing on chances? Bad puck luck? He an impact in games still? He seems to be slumping lately.

Not playing with much talent, and he's not around the puck much. Don't know if he's hit a rookie wall, or what. His skating and effort looks ok, but seems to be thinking rather than just shooting instinctively.

 

[57special]

Iowa will not make the playoffs. Not impressed with the coaching. A lot of dumb penalties, poor puck support, mysterious line combinations, and playing mediocrities/goons over players that at least have some upside to explore. I don't know if they don't know how to coach defense, or they just don't have any talent, but they are hard to watch.

 

[Mickey the mouse]

Iowa will not make the playoffs. Not impressed with the coaching. A lot of dumb penalties, poor puck support, mysterious line combinations, and playing mediocrities/goons over players that at least have some upside to explore. I don't know if they don't know how to coach defense, or they just don't have any talent, but they are hard to watch.

Definitely lack of talent