New coach 'Torch' lights up Iowa Wild

If you try to explain why Des Moines is not much of a hockey town, John Torchetti will shrug.

If you ask him why the Iowa Wild have started winning more often since he became coach, he'll point to a handful of players filtering through the locker room at Wells Fargo Arena.

And if you pry into personal matters — does he have any family? — the 50-year-old native of Boston says: "I've got enough kids right here."

You see, the man they call "Torch" is a hockey lifer, going wherever the ice takes him.

Before landing in Iowa, Torchetti was coaching a team in Moscow. His resume is dotted with NHL jobs, including brief stints as an interim coach for the Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings.

Through it all, he holds only one regret:

"I never get to see the finished product," Torchetti said. "That's what half my problem is. But that's OK. I'll get my chance.

"I'm not worried about it. I'm very happy where I'm at."

That's good news for the Wild, because Torchetti brings the sort of personality and perseverance this hockey-confused community needs.

In the past decade, Des Moines has been home to two AHL franchises — under three different names — but nothing ever seemed comfortable.

Folks in this city identify themselves as Hawkeyes, Cyclones, Panthers or Bulldogs. Keeping track of the Wild is like trying to remember your mother's maiden name.

This is nothing new to Torch.

He began his career in Winston Salem, N.C., where college football and basketball are quasi-religions and NASCAR drivers are deities.

As if that wasn't daunting enough, Torchetti was an unpaid intern who earned money as a cab driver.

"I just told myself I was going to sit in that cab for 12 hours and try to make $300 a day," he recalled. "Then, I bought my own cab and I could just go when I wanted."

When the Wild hired Torchetti in November, replacing former coach Kurt Kleinendorst, they were an AHL-worst 2-10.

Since then, they'd posted respectable 11-11 mark heading into Tuesday's game against Chicago, gaining 24 out of a possible 48 points in the standings.

"I think when Torch came in, he had a mindset of getting us to play the right way," said center Jordan Schroeder, who was called up to Minnesota last week. "We bought into his system."

Of course, winning is only part of the mission statement at the minor-league level.

Player development is the primary goal.

"Torch brought the fresh air for a lot of guys," said Kurtis Gabriel, a 21-year-old forward in his first professional season. "He's a big player's coach, but he knows when to kick your butt.

"I think that's been really good for me."

There's a reason it's easy for Torchetti to connect with players on a motivational level: experience.

He's traveled through at least a half-dozen leagues, earned multiple coach-of-the-year honors and was even on the Chicago Blackhawks staff when they won a Stanley Cup in 2010.

"You want to get your hands on it once," Torchetti said of the Cup. "After you get it once, you want it 10 times more."

Torchetti was solid in his brief tenure with the Panthers (posting a 10-12-5 record) and Kings (5-7).

"Management changed on both," he explained. "I got offered the job in Florida when the change was made, but it wasn't what I wanted in terms of the contract.

"That was one, probably, if I looked back, I would have taken it."

This is Torchetti's second skate with the Wild's AHL affiliate. He served as coach when the team was known as the Houston Aeros.

He's brought promising results, and the Wild's average attendance of 5,500 per game is slightly higher than the league average.

Can Torchetti's fiery approach help the Wild transcend niche status and broaden their appeal?

"I just moved into my place," Torchetti said with a grin. "But we have great fans. I think our fans have noticed the change.

"I think our fans know the direction we're moving."