I now present...the WORST moments in Wild History.

[mnwildgophers]

Isn't Edmonton's going to be in OKC?

[GopherState]

Originally Posted by Bookman

I've thought for some time that the Wild and the Stars should swap AHL agreements; let the Stars have Houston, and the Wild take Iowa.

Dallas is going to have their AHL affiliate outside Austin now. I'd like to have the Aeros move to Duluth when the new DECC opens, but there's so much hockey available in the area it's hard to see how well the AHL would do in the State of Hockey; especially after the Moose were rejected.

Originally Posted by Wildlife

Does any other team have their AHL team as far away?

Most of the western teams do because the league is concentrated in the Northeast, around Chicagoland and Texas. There are a couple outliers like Charlotte, Winnipeg and Abbotsford, BC but for the most part the AHL has a small footprint.

Originally Posted by mnwildgophers

Isn't Edmonton's going to be in OKC?

Yep.

[Groper*]

Originally Posted by BigT2002

All those picks rely soley on Tommy Thompson than anything.....

If I wanted any teams AHL club, it would be Washington's at this point. 2nd year in a row in the Calder Finals, and they won it last year. However, my point still stands from a previous post that no one in Minnesota GAF about how Houston does. They honestly need to relocate that team to Wisconsin or even Duluth or something! Get it close to the organization so we can actually watch them play....

Dr still has the Veto power so he isnt totally clean from those.

[Jarick]

Generally vote for Risebrough, who's responsible for pretty much all he major f-ups (Thelen, Pouliot, trading up for Gillies and Cuma, not letting Rolston, Demitra, Gaborik walk, pretty much every deadline trade except Roloson, etc).

[thestonedkoala]

Originally Posted by Wildlife

Does any other team have their AHL team as far away?

Chicago/Atlanta comes to mind. San Jose/Springfield?

Houston has a very rich hockey history. Why the hell would you move them?

[Bookman]

Because it would be cool to have a set up like Boston, where Providence (or Pawtucket for baseball) is just an expensive cab ride away.

[GopherState]

That's not really feasible for the Wild's AHL team given how isolated the Twin Cities are. The nearest options are Duluth (3 hour drive), Des Moines (4 hour drive) and Milwaukee (5.5 hour drive). None of those are close enough to impact fans wanting to go see their AHL team (besides possibly Duluth) and it's not like Des Moines or Duluth have great airline service into their airports. Especially compared to a city like Houston, which has two airports and is a hub to almost every major city.

[firstroundbust]

Originally Posted by thespeckledkiwi

Chicago/Atlanta comes to mind. San Jose/Springfield?

San Jose's AHL team is in Worcester. Isn't Florida's affiliate in Rochester NY?


As for Thompson/DR/Drafting...

There is some blame to be placed on the guys who made the picks...but I've come around to believe that the most egregious offense was that there was little to no system for prospect development, unless you were a 1st rounder. Think about how few players were signed and sent to Houston- I'm not saying that some of the picks would have been world beaters, but I think that the notion that "NHL contracts are like a golden ticket" instead of developing players was of negative consequence.