Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Back home in Des Moines this weekend, the Iowa Wild are enjoying the climate-controlled environs inside Casey’s Center.
No wind chill, none of the biting cold from last week’s outdoor game in Minnesota.
And they are also enjoying the return of goaltender Cal Petersen.
Petersen missed six weeks due to injury before getting the start last Saturday in Milwaukee, his first action since Dec. 12. It was a solid effort, too, one in which he provided 27 saves and held the Wild in a one-goal game until a late Admirals empty-netter.
Petersen, a product of Waterloo, Iowa, signed with the Minnesota Wild as a free agent last July, affording him his first opportunity to play in his home state since his junior days with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League.
With Minnesota committed to Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt in net, Petersen knew full well that an assignment to Iowa would be likely. But the fit worked for both sides. The Wild got goaltending insurance in Petersen, who has played 106 games in the NHL with Los Angeles and Philadelphia. And Petersen got a chance to be just two hours from his hometown, making it easy for family and friends to see him play.
Petersen is also able to give back to Iowa. He and the Wild teamed with Scheels, a sporting-goods retailer with a significant Midwest footprint, to launch the Goalies Give Back community program last month. The mission is simple: purchase new goaltending equipment for young players and cut down the cost of ice time – two major impediments to getting the next generation of kids into the game. Petersen will donate $1 per save this season, with Scheels matching that donation.
But Petersen is doing more than simply lending his name – or even money – to the effort.
The program had a hockey equipment drive last month in partnership with MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex in nearby West Des Moines. The Des Moines Youth Hockey Association donated that equipment to local players free of cost. DMYHA also holds evening goaltending clinics, and Petersen and his Iowa teammates will also be showing up to them as volunteer instructors. Goalies Give Back will also provide funds to reduce the clinic’s costs.
Floor hockey? That has been a pastime for students throughout the decades, so Petersen and his teammates will also give out equipment for floor hockey at local schools and after-school programs.
A chance to skate on Casey Center’s ice? DMYHA goalies will have a chance to join Petersen at the home of the Wild for a clinic and an “all-goalie game.” That event is set for March 30.
Pro hockey does not always allow players to stay in one place for very long. When Petersen joined the Minnesota organization last summer, he wanted to connect with Des Moines.
“I think it’s growing,” Petersen said of the state’s hockey scene. “There’s a beautiful new facility there in the RecPlex, and I’ve gotten a chance a few times to go out and skate with some of the local kids. I think there’s a really great foundation, and there’s an even better opportunity for Iowa to be more of an established hotbed for hockey players.”
Cost keeps a lot of kids out of hockey. Between equipment, ice time and a shortage of local rinks, getting kids into hockey and able to experience its rewards has been a significant challenge for the sport. Across Iowa’s northern border, Minnesota has a hockey culture going back decades. Iowa is not there yet.
“That’s a little bit of my goal with that program that I started,” Petersen explained. “Making sure they had the right resources to where cost isn’t an immediate barrier to trying to play goalie or get on the ice. If that’s able to help out a little bit, it gets more kids to want to try goalie and make it a thing for them.”
After joining Iowa, Petersen went to the team’s front office and pitched his idea. Media relations senior manager Alec Lessner and community relations manager Nick Spolec helped him to map out plans further, fill in the details and bring the project from concept to reality.
“They have done a really good job of giving it legs and putting a lot of their own effort into it,” Petersen continued. “They’ve been a huge part of getting the awareness out there. It’s been a big-time collective effort that they’ve embraced.
“There’s a lot of people that really care immensely about growing the game and being there for the kids.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
