Iowa Wild provides meals for metro students through Tame the Hunger event
DES MOINES, Iowa — WHO 13's Lindsey Burrell sat down with Ben Gislason, voice of the Iowa Wild, and Jennifer Stalder with Des Moines Public Schools SUCCESS program to talk about the Wild's annual Tame the Hunger event.
The charitable endeavor allows Wild fans to brush shoulders with their favorite players while packing meals for metro students and families. The Iowa Wild have packaged more than 271,000 meals since starting the event in 2017.
Fans can sign up for the event through March 14, and the event itself will take place on March 20 at the EMC Expo Center.
To sign up, click here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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New York Times
3 days ago
- New York Times
Paul Skenes' stats with Pirates are mind-blowing — especially the non-wins
Editor's note: This is a bonus Weird & Wild. To read this week's main W&W column, go here. I've always enjoyed visiting Pittsburgh in the summer. Then again, I'm not Paul Skenes. Maybe you've noticed this, but when the Greatest Pirates Pitching Phenom Ever takes the mound, amazing things happen. It would be cool if winning was one of those things. But hey, don't get greedy! Advertisement Here at Weird and Wild World HQ, we've spent some time looking at this. And maybe it's just us, but we're starting to notice a common theme running through these starts by Skenes, a once-in-a-generation talent, pitching for a team that mostly forces that generation to cover its eyes a lot. It doesn't matter how well Skenes pitches. It doesn't matter how long Skenes pitches. It doesn't matter if he's facing the Mets or the Marlins. It always ends the same. By which I mean you won't be reading many box scores that say: WP — Skenes That's just a fact. But now here come more facts: Over Skenes' past seven starts, he has a 1.77 ERA, he's averaging over six innings a start … and the Pirates are 2-5. Is that even possible? But there's more. Of course there's more. Over Skenes' 13 starts this season, he's leading the National League in bWAR, WHIP, innings pitched, quality starts, opponent average and even (cough, cough) a new-age stat known as Win Probability Added … and the Pirates have still found a way to ignore that 'win probability' stuff and go 5-8 when he pitches. But wait. It gets worse. Would you like to know how much worse? You've come to the right place. They're taking not winning to a whole new level — In his two seasons in the big leagues, Skenes is now up to 21 career starts in which he hasn't gotten a win. Somehow, it doesn't feel like that's his fault. His numbers, just in those non-wins: a 2.59 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Ready for the complete list of everyone in history with that many starts (or more) whose career ERA is that spectacular in their non-wins? (This is since earned runs became an official stat in 1913 — and not counting openers.) It won't take long. Here it comes: Paul Skenes — 2.59 That's a wrap on that list. (Source: Baseball Reference / Katie Sharp) Advertisement But here's even more perspective: Only one pitcher in history is even within half a run of that: Hoyt Wilhelm (who spent most of his career as a reliever), at 2.99. And the next closest active starter — Jacob deGrom — has an ERA in those games nearly a full run higher (at 3.54). So there's that. But also … Crazy Eights — Skenes has made three career starts of eight innings or longer. His ERA in those starts is 1.48. His record in those starts is … what else? … 0-3. The record of all other MLB starters over the past two seasons, in starts of eight innings or longer: How about 86-5! And just for fun … how about we throw in a few more tidbits where those came from? These are just in games he hasn't won: • Four non-wins this season in starts of five innings or longer, with no more than three hits allowed. That would be — shockingly, I know — the most of any pitcher in baseball. • Nine non-wins, in his career, in starts of five innings or longer, with no more than one run allowed. That's tied for (yep) the most in baseball in that span. • Ten non-wins, in his career, in starts of five innings or longer, with no more than one earned run allowed. That's tied for most in the NL, and it's one behind Yusei Kikuchi for most in baseball. All of this is happening at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, in real life, to one of the special talents we've seen pass through our sport in this century. To everyone in Pittsburgh, we can only say: Sorry! And just seven weeks until Steelers training camp! GO DEEPER Pirates don't want to trade Paul Skenes. But they'd have to weigh these 5 prospect packages GO DEEPER Rosenthal: Would the Pirates trade Paul Skenes? A fascinating but unlikely idea for now
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Yahoo
Minnesota Wild Youngster Is Going To Be Well-Paid This Summer -- But It Shouldn't Be By The Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres have their own collection of restricted free agent players to deal with this summer -- most notably, defenseman Bowen Byram and left winger J.J. Peterka -- and although the Sabres have more than enough salary cap space to make a splash ($23.2 million, as per Puck Pedia), one looming RFA who is getting a lot of attention of late is one they should absolutely steer clear of. We're talking about Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi. The 23-year-old Austrian had a solid season for Minnesota this year, setting new personal bests in goals (24), assists (36) and points (60), but there's a reason why his name has cropped up in media speculation: when the Wild had to put their best lineup together for their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Rossi was relegated to the fourth line, averaging only 11:08 of ice time. Rossi did post two goals and three points in six playoff games, but the prevailing sentiment is that he's going to be parting ways with the Wild either via trade, offer-sheet, or both. Given that Rossi made a relatively-modest $863,334 this season, he's bound to get a considerable raise on his next deal. But why should the Sabres -- not exactly the most physically-imposing team in the NHL -- want to add a 5-foot-9 forward to the mix? Besides, Buffalo has its share of youngsters, and giving up the type of assets the Wild would want (a first-round draft pick and a decent prospect) does not seem to be a wise move for the Sabres. No one is saying Rossi isn't talented. He's not close to his prime yet, and a 30-goal year certainly isn't out of the question for him in the future. But considering where the Sabres are in their competitve development, adding a youngster who couldn't be a meaningful part of an up-and-coming Wild team isn't a move that many legitimate playoff teams would make, at least in the short-term. The Sabres need someone with more experience than Rossi can offer right now. They don't need to surrender picks and prospects when they've got youngsters in-house who should get a longer look at the NHL level. Let some other team take a chance on Rossi, as Buffalo doesn't need to take that risk at the moment. Here's Why Oilers' Clutch Player Needs To Be A Free-Agent Target For Sabres In their current playoff push, the Edmonton Oilers have received contributions from throughout the lineup. But one player -- albeit a currently-injured player -- is someone the Buffalo Sabres ought to be targeting when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Sabres did have success with another Austrian native -- former star winger Thomas Vanek -- but in this case, they should be leaving well enough alone and focusing their efforts on acquiring a more proven commodity than Rossi. He's going to be well-compensated by one team or another this summer, but Rossi almost assuredly won't be coming to Buffalo. The risk/reward of adding someone who, for all we know, could take a backward or lateral step this coming season just doesn't make sense for the Sabres. So put away those Buffalo jerseys with 'Rossi' on the nameplate. He's not going to be a Sabre, and that's not a bad thing for where Buffalo is in its development.


New York Times
29-05-2025
- New York Times
Wild offseason needs: How Minnesota measures up to NHL conference finalists
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The path seems arduous. Think about the Central Division — from the Dallas Stars, who are in another conference final, to the Avalanche, who usually reload, and top-seed Winnipeg. The Utah Mammoth have an impressive young core and the Nashville Predators aren't likely to belly flop again. Advertisement So, where do the Minnesota Wild fit among the Western Conference contenders? They went from the best record in the league in mid-December to just sneaking into the playoffs after a dramatic win in the season finale. But the oh-so-close loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round did feel different than the others in the last decade. 'I don't think there's any question this is a team on the rise,' said former NHL GM Craig Button. On the rise, sure, but how close to actually making a run? This pivotal summer will have a lot to do with it. GM and president of hockey operations Bill Guerin is armed with $16.4 million and a potentially valuable trade chip in Marco Rossi to bolster his roster. There are needs, for sure, and to figure out where, we used Dom Luszczyszyn's Net Rating model to compare the state of the Wild roster to the average roster of the NHL's four conference finalists. This snapshot of the Wild roster is a bit incomplete, considering Rossi's possible departure, plus some rookies slated to make the lineup in Zeev Buium, Danila Yurov and Liam Ohgren. The ratings here are based on what they contributed during the 2024-25 season. For Buium, it was his college numbers at the University of Denver; for Yurov, we used replacement-level stats as he's coming from the KHL. But it provides a picture of how the Wild compare to the average roster from the four teams that won two playoff rounds: the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers. The Net Rating model has a long track record of demonstrating predictive value, and even though it's imperfect, there's some reliability in how it can put into perspective what individual players are contributing to the team's success from an offensive and defensive standpoint. We based this on the idea that the Wild would not re-sign pending unrestricted free agents Gustav Nyquist, Justin Brazeau, Marcus Johansson and Jon Merrill. Declan Chisholm is a restricted free agent, though if he's re-signed, he could end up a seventh defenseman with Buium jumping into the lineup. Advertisement What stands out right away is how well the Wild match up to the top teams in terms of how they defend. Their overall rating of 18.9 tops the average of the four conference finalists, with a stick tap to the forward group of stout two-way players like Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno. The defensive rating for the Wild's blue line, despite a minus-4.3 rating for Zach Bogosian and a minus-1.7 rating for Jake Middleton, is 6.4, above the 4.4 for the conference finalists. The defense, as Guerin has put it, is pretty much set. What does need some work, and perhaps some significant help, is the offensive support in the forward group beyond Kaprizov and Boldy. The average conference finalist has two forwards in the elite category, meaning above the 11 in net rating. The Wild pretty much have that in Kaprizov (19.3), arguably one of the top 10 players in the world, and Boldy (10.2). Joel Eriksson Ek (9.1) matches up pretty well as the supporting top-line forward to the conference finalist (9.8). But there are only two other Wild forwards with a positive net rating: Mats Zuccarello (5.5) and Rossi (4.2), who could be on the move. The conference finalists have at least three other top six forwards with a rating of three or above. Foligno, for what it's worth, was at a minus-0.3 net rating even though he had arguably one of his best seasons. The Wild's blue line is solid overall, especially the top four with Brock Faber and Jonas Brodin, and Jared Spurgeon is tops in terms of the net rating at 5.2. The conference finalists' average has a No. 1 defenseman at 10.3, a top-pair defenseman at 8.0 and another top-four D at 4.3. Brodin is the Wild's next highest at 3.7, though we can see Faber's 1.2 net rating as lower than what he produces as a franchise-caliber defenseman. If Jake Middleton bounces back with a better year from an analytical perspective and Buium grows into the star many people believe he'll be, then this group will be much closer. Advertisement In net, Filip Gustavsson showed he's a solid No. 1, though his net rating is 2.7, below that of the conference finalist (7.9). But we think most wouldn't mind having Gustavsson over Stuart Skinner (Oilers) and Frederik Andersen (Hurricanes). Meanwhile, Jake Oettinger (Stars) and Sergei Bobrovsky (Panthers) do have an edge. So, what do the Wild need this summer? Guerin made it clear at his exit interview press conference what he's focused on this summer. He'd like to upgrade his center position, supporting their No. 1 in Joel Eriksson Ek, who is also their top shutdown pivot. 'I think Ekky needs a little help,' Guerin said. 'He's in a battle every single night. And there's no easy nights for him. So I think we could create some help there.' There will be some internal help in the form of top prospect Yurov, a skilled playmaker who has won a title in the KHL. Guerin admitted there would be some 'growing pains' as Yurov tries to prove his 200-foot game, so let's not just guarantee he'll be a 2C right away. And if the Wild do trade Rossi, who has been a top-six center most of the season, that leaves another hole. That's why you're hearing about the Wild being interested in veteran UFA Brock Nelson. He's 33 and the money would have to be right, but he'd bring a stabilizing presence up the middle to take some defensive pressure off of Eriksson Ek. The UFA market for centers isn't extremely deep, and while Sam Bennett seems like a great fit, his price is only going up during these playoffs, and there's no guarantee he gets to July 1. John Tavares is out there, if he doesn't re-sign in Toronto, and Matt Duchene played for John Hynes before in Nashville and would likely come cheaper. Guerin also said he 'wouldn't be opposed to a scoring winger.' Balanced scoring is something of a need for the Wild, who dropped off quite a bit when Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov missed several months with injuries. Zuccarello didn't produce as much when not on a line with Kaprizov. They're probably going to lose UFA Marcus Johansson, who was a mainstay as a second-line winger all year. Advertisement This is where the Wild being connected to the likes of Brock Boeser comes in; for what it's worth, Boeser's net rating of 4.4 last season was the same as Rossi's. Prospect Ohgren could get a shot if he's ready. Ryan Hartman's impressive playoffs performance was reminiscent of his 34-goal season a few years back, so he could be an option in the top six. The Wild could also address this hole in a Rossi trade. Whether it's targeting the likes of JJ Peterka from Buffalo or another scoring winger, Minnesota could use a boost here. Patrick Kane is also a free agent, as is clutch performer and agitator Brad Marchand. Does Nikolaj Ehlers re-sign with the Jets? If you look at the sizable difference between the Wild's forward net rating and that of the conference finalists, the eye-watering negative numbers in Minnesota's projected bottom six play a large role. The lowest-rated five forwards on Minnesota combined for minus-29.6, compared to minus-16 for the conference finalists. Yakov Trenin underwhelmed in the first season of a four-year, $14 million deal, which is why his net rating was minus-6.7. He looked like a much different player in the postseason, a forechecking force who created both of Marco Rossi's goals. If Trenin plays like that, his number will look a lot different, and so will his role. And if the Wild do add in free agency, perhaps Vinnie Hinostroza (minus-4.9) is more of a 13th forward. The combined minus-15.5 for Ohgren and Yurov is partly due to Ohgren's small sample size in the NHL and Yurov being put at replacement level for this exercise as an unknown. So the 20-point gap between Minnesota and the contenders can be bridged in some portion. But the Wild could use some attention in the bottom six. They looked like they missed Brandon Duhaime, who was a beloved 'dawg' in his first year with the Capitals. In hindsight, Nico Sturm would have been a great addition at the trade deadline. The Wild need a fourth-line center who can win draws and kill penalties while driving that line. If Minnesota adds and it pushes Gaudreau down there, that's one thing. But as for wingers, why not give a look to Corey Perry? The 40-year-old former MVP still plays at a high level and can be useful on any line from first to fourth. He brings an edge and swagger to the room, too, much like a Pat Maroon. Advertisement The elephant in the room is whether Rossi is here playing for the Wild next season, vs. being on this chart. But if Rossi isn't, the 2020 No. 9 pick leaves a hole in the middle. That's still 24 goals and 60 points on a team that struggled with secondary scoring. The emergence of Hartman late in the season offers the belief he can step into a top-six center role again. But there still needs to be some more depth added here. We'll explore in future articles what a return for Rossi might be, but it would make sense for the Wild to ask for an impact forward in return, vs. futures like a first- and third-round pick, similar to what the compensation might be if they lost Rossi in an offer-sheet situation. (Top photo of Kirill Kaprizov and Gustav Forsling: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)