Down on the Farm: Iowa Wild takes over TRIA Rink

Wild.com's Down on the Farm presented by Just Bare Chicken keeps tabs on the Iowa Wild all throughout the season.
ST. PAUL --A little over one week after the Minnesota Wild played its first ever preseason game in Des Moines, Iowa, it was the Iowa Wild's turn at TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center in downtown St. Paul.

In front of several hundred fans, many clad in Iowa Wild jerseys, Minnesota's American Hockey League dropped a 4-2 decision to the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday night.
But the results of the exhibition games at TRIA Rink -- the two teams were scheduled to play again Saturday at 4 p.m. -- were of less importance.

Firstly, new Iowa coach Tim Army was finally able to get a good look at his team beyond the players he saw at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament, where veterans like Cal O'Reilly and Landon Ferraro did not play.
"I like where we're at," Army said. "We had a great week of practice and then we
got Sammy [Anas], [Justin] Kloos and [Carson] Soucy
back on Thursday]. It was still an encouraging game for us because we did see us executing and working to execute the things we talked about the first week of practice."
It was also an opportunity for some of Iowa's younger players to be exposed to St. Paul for a little bit longer, and to spend more time at TRIA Rink, which for the first time this season, will largely be the Wild's home rink. Minnesota will practice at TRIA Rink every day with Xcel Energy Center serving as home base on game days only.
"It's a nice motivational tool, because this is where you want to be," Army said. "It's all part of the package; you want to play in the National Hockey League because it's the best league in the world. But these are the little pieces of it that make it such a great place to play. This is another example for them."
While the relationship between the two clubs has always been a tight one, new Minnesota General Manager Paul Fenton has plenty of experience in the AHL, having run Nashville's AHL team in MIlwaukee for more than a decade.
During his time with the Predators organization, it adopted a slogan that the road to Nashville went through Milwaukee.
With the help of new Wild assistant GM Tom Kurvers, who will serve as Iowa's GM, Minnesota would like the road to St. Paul to go through Des Moines.
But that's a process that will take some time, for both the organization and the players.
"What we want to be able to say to these guys is it may not be a quick road either," Kurvers said. "It may take up to three or four years to iron out their game, to improve their game and to get strong enough to play in the NHL. It can't be in a hurry, because there are too many players that are locked into the NHL that are really good.
"You have to earn your way up there and show it. We want guys to stick with it, and it may take longer than they want to. But we want guys to arrive in the NHL and arrive with the ability to stay there and play well for the team in Minnesota."
**Related:**
- [Army ready for another crack at head coaching post - Shaw comes full circle in Traverse City return