| Iowa Wild | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Des Moines, Iowa |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Central |
| Founded | 1994 (IHL) |
| Operated | 2013–present |
| Home arena | Casey's Center |
| Colors | Forest green, Iron Range red, harvest gold, Minnesota wheat, white |
| Owner | Minnesota Sports and Entertainment |
| General manager | Matt Hendricks[1] |
| Head coach | Greg Cronin |
| Captain | Ben Jones |
| Media | Fanduel Sports Network North KXNO AHL.TV (Internet) |
| Affiliates | Minnesota Wild (NHL) Iowa Heartlanders (ECHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1994–2013 | Houston Aeros |
| 2013–present | Iowa Wild |
 Current season | |
TheIowa Wild are a professionalice hockey team based inDes Moines, Iowa. They are theAmerican Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of theMinnesota Wild of theNational Hockey League (NHL). The Wild play their home games atCasey's Center.
The team was formerly theHouston Aeros, inHouston, Texas, before being relocated to Des Moines, beginning with the 2013–14 AHL season as the Iowa Wild.[2][3] The Wild is the second AHL team based in Des Moines following theIowa Stars, which had been theDallas Stars' AHL affiliate from2005 until2008 (in the team's final season (2008–09), they were known as theIowa Chops and were affiliated with theAnaheim Ducks).
The affiliation between the two Wild franchises is the first of two betweenTwin Cities area franchises and Iowa minor league franchises, as theMinnesota Timberwolves of theNational Basketball Association and theIowa Wolves of theNBA G League also share an affiliation.
The Iowa Wild franchise began as theHouston Aeros, a 1994 expansion team in theInternational Hockey League (IHL) that played out of theCompaq Center. The Aeros were one of six IHL teams to join theAmerican Hockey League (AHL) in 2001 when the IHL folded. Upon joining the AHL, the Aeros affiliated with theNational Hockey League's one-year-old expansion team, theMinnesota Wild. The AHL version of the Aeros won the 2003Calder Cup and also reached the 2011 Calder Cup finals, but lost to theBinghamton Senators. In 2003, the majority ownership of the franchise was sold to Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group of the Wild, while former ownerChuck Watson retained a 10% minority share along with Houston native Nick Sheppard holding a 4% share. The team then moved home games to the newToyota Center.[4]
On April 18, 2013, the Minnesota Wild announced that Minnesota Sports and Entertainment were unable to reach a lease agreement with the Toyota Center, and the Aeros would be relocated toDes Moines, Iowa, beginning with the 2013–14 season with home games atWells Fargo Arena.[5] The Iowa Wild inaugural season was opened on October 12 with a 1–0 win over theOklahoma City Barons. The opening night attendance was 10,200.[6] The team failed to make the playoffs for its first five seasons.
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On February 22, 2018, the Minnesota Wild extended their contract through 2023.[7] In 2019, the team reached the playoffs for the first time since relocating from Houston, reaching the division finals and losing to theChicago Wolves in six games. The following2019–20 season was then curtailed by the onset of theCOVID-19 pandemic with the Wild holding second place in the division and no playoffs were held. The2020–21 season was then delayed due to the pandemic, with a shortened season held and noCalder Cup playoffs.
| Regular season | Playoffs | Average attendance[8] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | OTL | SOL | Points | PCT | Goals for | Goals against | Standing | Year | Prelims | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Finals | |
| 2013–14 | 76 | 27 | 36 | 7 | 6 | 67 | .441 | 169 | 235 | 5th, Midwest | 2014 | Did not qualify | 5,883 | ||||
| 2014–15 | 76 | 23 | 49 | 2 | 2 | 50 | .329 | 172 | 245 | 5th, Midwest | 2015 | Did not qualify | 5,659 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 76 | 24 | 41 | 5 | 6 | 59 | .388 | 169 | 225 | 8th, Central | 2016 | Did not qualify | 5,846 | ||||
| 2016–17 | 76 | 36 | 31 | 7 | 2 | 81 | .533 | 182 | 196 | 6th, Central | 2017 | Did not qualify | 6,019 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 76 | 33 | 27 | 10 | 6 | 82 | .539 | 232 | 246 | 5th, Central | 2018 | Did not qualify | 6,153 | ||||
| 2018–19 | 76 | 37 | 26 | 8 | 5 | 87 | .572 | 242 | 230 | 3rd, Central | 2019 | — | W, 3–2,MIL | L, 2–4,CHI | — | — | 6,409 |
| 2019–20 | 63 | 37 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 82 | .651 | 194 | 171 | 2nd, Central | 2020 | Season cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic | 6,351 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 34 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 38 | .559 | 107 | 113 | 4th, Central | 2021 | No playoffs were held | 3,273[9] | ||||
| 2021–22 | 72 | 32 | 31 | 4 | 5 | 73 | .507 | 202 | 209 | 6th, Central | 2022 | Did not qualify | 5,435 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 72 | 34 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 79 | .549 | 211 | 211 | 4th, Central | 2023 | L, 0–2RFD | — | — | — | — | 6,296 |
| 2023–24 | 72 | 27 | 37 | 4 | 4 | 62 | .431 | 184 | 245 | 6th, Central | 2024 | Did not qualify | 6,401 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 72 | 27 | 37 | 6 | 2 | 62 | .431 | 201 | 251 | 6th, Central | 2025 | Did not qualify | 6,237 | ||||
Updated January 26, 2026.[10]
These are the top-ten point-scorers for the Iowa Wild in the AHL. Figures are updated after each completed season.[11]
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; = current Iowa player
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | P/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Rau | C | 244 | 88 | 111 | 199 | .81 |
| Sam Anas | C | 259 | 72 | 125 | 197 | .76 |
| Gerald Mayhew | RW | 228 | 97 | 81 | 178 | .78 |
| Zack Mitchell | RW | 250 | 66 | 66 | 132 | .53 |
| Cal O'Reilly | C | 142 | 31 | 100 | 131 | .92 |
| Mason Shaw | C | 197 | 43 | 78 | 121 | .61 |
| Brennan Menell | D | 199 | 15 | 101 | 116 | .58 |
| Adam Beckman | LW | 181 | 57 | 51 | 108 | .60 |
| Marco Rossi | C | 116 | 34 | 70 | 104 | .90 |
| Colton Beck | LW | 319 | 41 | 63 | 104 | .33 |
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