GAME PREVIEW: IOWA WILD VS. ROCKFORD ICEHOGS
Oct 9, 2026Iowa Wild (1-0-0-1; 3 pts.) vs. Rockford IceHogs (0-1-0-0; 0 pts.)
The Iowa Wild take on the Rockford IceHogs in the home opener at Casey’s Center on Friday at 7 p.m. Opening Night, presented by Kwik Star, features a magnet schedule giveaway (Hicklin Doors & KXNO) for the first 1,500 fans.
WATCH: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN: 1460 AM and 106.3 FM on KXnO
ALL-TIME SERIES
All-Time Iowa Wild Record: 64-56-8-6 (32-32-1-2 at Iowa, 32-24-7-4 at Rockford)
Last Time: Iowa beat Rockford 5-4 at BMO Center on Apr. 10... Jean-Luc Foudy scored the winner for the Wild with 5:36 to play... Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, Hunter Haight (2), and Gerry Mayhew also scored for Iowa... Samuel Hlavaj stopped 26-of-30 shots... The Wild went 1-for-4 on the power play
2025-26: Iowa finished 3-4-2-1 against Rockford in 2025-26... Six games in the season series were decided by a single goal... Ben Jones Boyd led Iowa skaters with 10 points (5-5=10) against Rockford... Brett Seney (4-9=13)) paced IceHogs skaters against the Wild... Cal Petersen posted a 2-2-2 record with a 2.50 GAA and 0.892 SV% in six appearances
TEAM NOTES
HOT START: Iowa picked up three points at Texas during the season’s opening weekend... The Wild had previously won each of the season’s first two games just twice (2018-19, 2019-20) and had not won either of their first two games since 2021-22
SPECIAL TEAMS: Iowa opened the 2026-27 season with power-play goals in back-to-back games... The Wild are 3-for-11 with the man advantage... Iowa went 11-for-43 (25.6%) on the power play against Rockford last season... The IceHogs went 7-for-28 (25%)
PENALTY SHOT HISTORY: Iowa faced an overtime penalty shot for the second time in team history on Saturday at Texas... Riley Mercer stopped Dylan Hryckowian to extend the game at the 1:32 mark of overtime... Jonatan Berggren scored on Jesper Wallstedt 1:16 into overtime on Nov. 4, 2022 in a 5-4 loss to Grand Rapids
DES MOINES DEBUTS
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Two skaters in Iowa’s lineup have exclusively played for the Wild on the road
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Charlie Stramel made his professional debut on Friday at Texas
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Viking Gustafsson Nyberg also played two games with Iowa at Texas in 2025-26
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Justin Kirkland has skated at Casey’s Center as a visiting player (Tucson [2023-24], San Diego [2022-23], Milwaukee [2016-19])
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Jagger Joshua and Nick Rhéaume have never played in Des Moines
MULTI-POINT GAMES
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Five players (Hunter Haight, Riley Heidt, Rieger Lorenz, Tyler Pitlick, Mason Shaw) have registered multi-point games for Iowa
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Shaw recorded a goal and two assists in Saturday’s win at Texas
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Pitlick recorded four multi-point games last season
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Heidt had two three-point games in 2025-26
For more information on Iowa Wild hockey, visit www.iowawild.com. Fans can purchase single-game tickets through the team’s website at www.iowawild.com. Group tickets (10 or more), suites, Wild 365 memberships or premium tickets can be purchased by contacting the Iowa Wild Ticket Department at 515-564-8700 or tickets@iowawild.com. Season tickets for 2026-27 are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets for the upcoming season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365.
Visit http://www.iowawild.com/pressbox for the latest news and information from the team including press releases, game notes, multimedia content, and daily statistics.
Iowa Wild games are now streaming on AHLTV on FloHockey. Fans can visit FloHockey.tv now to create a free account, purchase subscriptions for the 2026-27 season, and watch all Iowa Wild games online.