The Iowa Wild are a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team based in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. They are the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) affiliate of the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). The Wild play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena. The team was formerly the Houston Aeros, in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, before being relocated to Des Moines, beginning with the 2013–14 AHL season as the Iowa Wild. The Wild is the second AHL team based in Des Moines following the

Iowa Stars The Iowa Stars, later known as the Iowa Chops, were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The club was based in Des Moines, Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena. History The Stars were founded by Howard Baldwin, of Hockey Holdi ...

, which had been the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

' AHL affiliate from

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

until

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

(in the team's final season ( 2008–09), they were known as the Iowa Chops and were affiliated with the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

). The affiliation between the two Wild franchises is the first of two between

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

area franchises and Iowa minor league franchises, as the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and the

Iowa Wolves The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Des Moines, Iowa, and are affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena and compete in the Western ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

also share an affiliation.

History

The Iowa Wild franchise began as the Houston Aeros, a 1994 expansion team in the International Hockey League (IHL) that played out of the Compaq Center. The Aeros were one of six IHL teams to join the

(AHL) in 2001 when the IHL folded. Upon joining the AHL, the Aeros affiliated with the

's one-year-old expansion team, the

. The AHL version of the Aeros won the 2003

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

and also reached the 2011 Calder Cup finals, but lost to the

Binghamton Senators The Binghamton Senators were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2002 to 2017. Nicknamed the B-Sens, they played in Binghamton, New York, at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The B-Sens w ...

. In 2003, the majority ownership of the franchise was sold to Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group of the Wild, while former owner Chuck Watson retained a 10% minority share along with Houston native Nick Sheppard holding a 4% share. The team then moved home games to the new Toyota Center. 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 to

, beginning with the 2013–14 season with home games at Wells Fargo Arena. The Iowa Wild inaugural season was opened on October 12 with a 1–0 win over the

Oklahoma City Barons The Oklahoma City Barons were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team's first season was 2010–11 AHL season, 2010–11. They played their home games at the Cox Convention Center, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ...

. The opening night attendance was 10,200. The team failed to make the playoffs for its first five seasons. On February 22, 2018, the Minnesota Wild extended their contract through 2023. In 2019, the team reached the playoffs for the first time since relocating from Houston, reaching the division finals and losing to the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

in six games. The following 2019–20 season was then curtailed by the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

with the Wild holding second place in the division and no playoffs were held. The 2020–21 season was then delayed due to the pandemic, with a shortened season held and no

playoffs.

Season-by-season results

Players

Current roster

Updated May 3, 2025.

Team captains

* Jake Dowell, 2013–14 * Stephane Veilleux, 2014–15 * Maxime Fortunus, 2015–16 *

Mike Weber Michael Weber (born December 16, 1987) is an American former professional ice hockey Defenceman, defenseman. He previously played with the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL) and Frölunda HC of the Swedis ...

, 2016–17 * Cal O'Reilly, 2017–19 * Cody McLeod, 2021–22 * Mason Shaw, 2022 * Dakota Mermis, 2022–24 * Cameron Crotty, 2024–present

Franchise records and leaders

Scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers for the Iowa Wild in the AHL. Figures are updated after each completed season. ''Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; = current Iowa player''

References

External links

Iowa Wild official website
{{Iowa Sports American Hockey League teams Minnesota Wild minor league affiliates Ice hockey teams in Iowa Sports in Des Moines, Iowa Ice hockey clubs established in 2013 2013 establishments in Iowa