Wild farm team moving?

[OnAFly]

Out of the STrib's Michael Russo Blog

During an American Hockey League Board of Governors conference call Thursday, the Wild will officially seek approval to relocate the Houston Aeros to Des Moines, Iowa, next season.

If approved, as expected, the Wild will rename the team the Iowa Wild and host a news conference in Des Moines on Monday.

The team will play at the Wells Fargo Arena. The Wild was unable to come to a lease agreement in Houston with the Toyota Center.

In other Wild news, Mikael Granlund traveled with the team to San Jose. The team should learn after Thursday's morning skate whether or not Mike Rupp can play against the Sharks.

Granlund was reassigned to Houston on Tuesday only to be called back up on an emergency becasue Rupp was banged up. Granlund then scored against the Oilers, his first goal since Jan 19

Too bad they couldn't find a way to get them into Minnesota. Would be cool to have two options around town and I think they could support it.

[hoppe56307]

Too bad they couldn't find a way to get them into Minnesota. Would be cool to have two options around town and I think they could support it.

That would be awesome, maybe they should have talked to St Cloud to play at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

[BartmanMN]

Pumped for my Minnesota buddy who lives in Des Moines. Hope it goes through.

[solbes]

Hockey in the corn, I like it. Certainly close enough to have regional interest. Iowa is loaded with USHL teams (5!), so there is some good support there.

You can get from here to there in under 4 hrs, so not bad.

[toughguy]

They went with "Iowa Wild"??? I actually like Iowa but "Wild" doesn't describe it very well. Couldn't have they gone with something else? I agree that having the team in Rochester, St. Cloud or Duluth would have been better. It would allow us fans to keep a better eye on our prospects as they come up.

[10,000 Casts]

Now the coaches can tell them that if they don't play hard, they'll be on a bus to Iowa! That would get me to play hard... lol just kidding, I actually like Des Moines, it's a great town.

[shamus]

pretty cool that they will be so close, but yeah, weird mascot choice. I can't think of many AHL teams named after their affiliate. feel bad for the houston fans though, especially since we know what it's like to have a team pulled away from us.