Des Moines hopes the third time is a charm for the American Hockey League. The Minnesota Wild formally announced they are moving their AHL franchise from Houston to Des Moines.

The Iowa Wild will begin play in October. “The Minnesota Wild is thrilled, absolutely thrilled to join a great sports market in Des Moines. Our ownership group is committed to a long term success of hockey in Des Moines, owner Craig Leipold said today.

“We have a large following throughout the upper midwest and we will be entrenched in this community.”

Leipold says the Wild want to become involved in all levels of hockey. “Make no mistake, we want to win. And winning is good for all of us. It’s good for ticket sales, it’s good for fan support, it good to keep the owner happy, it’s good for the players, so winning is what we try do,” Leipold says.

“But it’s not the only thing we do. We will strive and work diligently to be a positive influence in this community.”

Wells Fargo Arena was home to the Iowa Stars and Iowa Chops of the AHL from 2005 to 2009. AHL president David Andrews says it will be different and better with onwership and management which is only 3 hours away. Iowa Events Center general manager Chris Connolly says the proximity to the Twin Cities will help this franchise be successful.

Connolly says the Wild has been very successful and they expect that to carry over into Des Moines. Connolly says the city was not desperate for a hockey team but the Wild were a perfect fit.

Connolly says there has been a lot of reaction from hockey fans since the AHL approved the move last week. “It’s been unreal, ever since the vote last Thursday was announced, we’ve been flooded with phone calls,” Connolly says.

Professional could be coming back to Des Moines. A report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the NHL’s Minnesota Wild are set to move their American Hockey League affiliate, the Houston Aeros, to Des Moines to play in Wells Fargo Arena. Chris Connolly is general manager of the Iowa Events Center.

Connolly says they’ve had some discussions with Minnesota and know that their lease with Houston is coming to an end. He says they are just in a standby mode right now.

Des Moines had an AHL franchose for four years before the Iowa Chops closes up shop following the 2009 season. The Chops had out of state owners. The Wild own the Houston franchise.

Connolly says while they have been working to get hockey back they are not desperate for a team and it needs to be the right situation.

He says they have the Iowa Energy basketball team and the Iowa Barnstormers football team and they need the right hockey team if they decide to go that route.

Connolly says it may be a few weeks before they hear anything official.

The North Iowa Bulls won the USA Hockey Tier III National Championship Monday with a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Junior Hockey League’s Twin Cities Northern Lights in at the Rochester Minnesota Rec Center. It capped off a season where the Bulls won a total of 52 games, including 11 straight wins in the post-season.

North Iowa coach Todd Sanden says it’s one of the best hockey teams he’s ever seen. He says, “These guys have taken care of me all year long. I can’t be prouder of them. From the start of the season to the end of the season, they did nothing but win. You look at our record, it’s outstanding by any standards, and we’re very proud to be involved with these kids. And the community, everybody has shown up and been supportive all year long.”

It was a whirlwind 24-hour period for the Bulls, winning their national semifinal game over the Helena Big Horns of the American West Hockey League in double-overtime late Sunday night, and turning around to play the Northern Lights at noon yesterday. Sanden said the quick turn-around from Sunday’s second semifinal didn’t concern him at all.

He says he liked carrying the momentum of a win in a dramatic fashion, and Twin Cities also sat and watched the Bulls play, which may have given them a false sense that North Iowa would come out tired on Monday. Sanden says the toughest period all season has been the first, and when the score was 1-1 after the first, he felt good since they averaged about six goals a game this season.

Six different Bulls scored in the championship game, something that Sanden proved what he’s known throughout the season…he had a quality roster that just wasn’t led by one or two stars. He says he’s talked about the team’s depth all season, and all four lines scored in the championship game.

He says when you get leadership from your older players and they are committed to getting things done as far as producing points and making sure players are “toeing the line” on the ice as well as off the ice, you’re going to be successful.) Eric Behrend tied the game at 1-1 for the Bulls with 1:19 to go.

Patrick Sivets and Conor Jonasson (JOHN-ah -sun) then extended the lead to 3-1 in the second. The Northern Lights cut the lead to 3-2 with 6:47 to go in regulation, but then North Iowa scored three times in the span of 1:13 with goals by James Hughes, Richie Marenis and an empty netter by Connor Langfield. North Iowa’s championship season comes in the team’s second year in existence in the North American 3 Hockey League.

It’s the second time a junior hockey national championship has been won by a Mason City-based team, as the North Iowa Huskies won the USA Hockey Junior A national championship in 1989

By Bob Fisher KRIB Mason City

The Waterloo Black Hawks will get an early start to the next hockey season. The Black Hawks will represent the United States in the Junior Club World Cup Tournament in Russia this August.

Waterloo coach P.K. O’Handley who says the players are thrilled with the opportunity to represent their country. He says it’s an opportunity to grow as a team and see a part of the world they might not otherwise get to see.

O’Handley says it’s a “unique and humbling” thing to be on a national team and be playing in a foreign country. O’Handley says the team will meet for training camp in July. The tournament will be August 18th through the 26th.

By Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Oelwein

The United States Hockey League’s Clark Cup Finals will be decided Wednesday night when the Waterloo Black Hawks travel to Green Bay for the fifth and deciding game of what has been an intense championship series for both players and fans.

The Black Hawks evened the best-of-five set and forced the winner-takes-all game when they beat the Gamblers 5-3 in Game Four Saturday night in Waterloo.

Black Hawks Coach P.K. O’Handley says he expects another strenuous game Wednesday evening. “It should be a great environment much like here,” O’Handley says. He expects the crowed to be into and expects a good game.

Waterloo is facing a team that hasn’t lost back-to-back games all season. However, the Black Hawks won 2 of their last 3 games played against the Gamblers in Green Bay.

Waterloo entered the Clark Cup Finals having won 19 of 23 games, but still wasn’t expected to give the USHL’s regular-season champion much of a challenge when the series began. A road victory, though, in Game One helped put the Black Hawks in position to win the title and O’Handley says all the pressure is on the Gamblers to stop Waterloo.

“I still think the pressure is on them, the fact that we are in game 5 says a lot about our hockey team,” O’Handley says. He says his team just wanted an opportunity to win, and while Green Bay has a chance to win, they certainly have more pressure as the favorite.

If the Black Hawks beat Green Bay at the Resch Center, they’ll become the first team since the Des Moines Buccaneers in 2006 to win Game Five of the Clark Cup Finals on the road.

By Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Oelwein

The Waterloo Black Hawks are wrapping up their first season in the United States Hockey League’s Western Conference, but the change of scenery has led to their first trip to the Clark Cup Finals in four years. The Black Hawks open the best-of-5 Clark Cup championship series Saturday night against the Green Bay Gamblers and veteran goalie Ryan McKay.

Waterloo coach P.K. O’Handley says McKay is one of the best that’s ever been in the league. The Black Hawks last reached the Clark Cup Finals four years ago and they enter this series feeling like the underdog. He says his guys want to win and that’s the beauty of sports, the underdog can win such challenges.

Five players on O’Handley’s team have scored at least 10 points during this year’s playoff run, and team veterans Jamie Hill and Tyler Zepeda are atop the leaderboard. Each is in his third year in the Cedar Valley.

The Black Hawks have beaten all three Nebraska teams in the USHL on the way to the championship series, and done so in less than a month. O’Handley says his team got used to making the road trip through western Iowa. “We’ve spent a little time on I-80 and I can along with every else on our team can tell you about the truck stops and the road construction,” O’Handley says.

Games 1 and 2 in the series will be Saturday and Sunday evening in Green Bay. Waterloo hosts Game 3 next Friday night.

By Austin Draude, KLMJ, Hampton