Taffe Reassigned To Houston

After two games with the Minnesota Wild, Jeff Taffe has been reassigned to the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League.

Taffe had an assist in each game with the Wild while skating on a line with Mikko Koivu and Dany Heatley. The Hastings, Minn., native was the fourth Minnesotan to skate for the Wild this season and 11th all-time.

The move likely means that Cal Clutterbuck is ready to come back to the lineup on Tuesday when the NHL-leading Wild travels to Winnipeg, and tries to extend its win-streak to eight games against the Jets.

NHL Players To Host Charity Game In Cottage Grove

Not only did Xcel Energy Center provide a place to see some of the Wild’s future stars in person, it also proved to be the perfect remedy to scorching hot temperatures outdoors.

If you’re looking for another arena to seek shelter from the heat, you should hit up Cottage Grove Ice Arena on Wednesday night, July 20 for a charity hockey game to benefit the Cottage Grove Hockey Association, the Hastings Hockey Association and Defending The Blue Line.

The event was organized by three local NHLers, including Hastings native Jeff Taffe, who recently signed with the Wild. Derek Stepan and Taylor Chorney, who are also from Hastings, are the other organizers.

NHL stars scheduled to take part include David Backes, Brent Burns, Alex Goligoski, Matt Hendricks, Phil Housley, Erik Johnson, Jamie McBain, Ryan McDonagh, Kyle Okposo, T.J. Oshie, Zach Parise, Dan Sexton, Drew Stafford and Blake Wheeler.

The players will be available for an autograph session before the game from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Autographed jerseys will also be auctioned off after the game.

Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the Hastings Ice Arena and the Cottage Grove Ice Arena.

Wild Signs Powe, Taffe; “Becoming Wild” Premieres July 8

Good afternoon, Wild fans!

There was plenty of big Wild news over the 4th of July holiday and there continued to be more announcements today. OK, so maybe today’s news isn’t quite at “blockbuster” level like the trade Sunday night, but there is certainly plenty of cool stuff to tell you about.

Firstly, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher announced this afternoon that the Wild has signed center Darroll Powe to a three-year contract and center Jeff Taffe to a one-year, two-way contract.  You’ll remember, the Wild acquired the 26-year-old Powe from Philadelphia for a 2013 third-round draft pick on June 27 and held his rights as a restricted free agent. He registered 17 points (7-10=17) and 41 PIM in 81 games for Philly last season, leading the Flyers with 196 hits and setting career highs in assists and points. The Saskatoon, Sask., native played three NHL seasons with the Flyers after signing as a free agent out of Princeton University. It was also announced that Powe will wear No. 14 with the Wild. Hear what Powe had to say about the contract here.

Many Minnesota hockey fans remember Taffe, the former Golden Gopher from Hastings. The 30-year-old notched 67 points (30-37=67) in 74 games for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs last season, skating in one game with the Chicago Blackhawks. The 1999 Mr. Hockey Minnesota has posted 44 points in 175 NHL games with Phoenix, the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh, Florida and Chicago. Stay up to date with all of the Wild signings on the transactions page and contract chart on wild.com

Of course, many fans are still talking about the trade the Wild made Sunday night with San Jose, acquiring Dany Heatley for Martin Havlat. If you were too busy having picnics and lighting fireworks to get all of the details on the deal, click here for audio, video and more. The Hockey Lodge also sent over the first photo of Heatley’s new Wild jersey, which is currently available at the Xcel Energy Center Hockey Lodge location and is available for pre-orders on hockeylodge.com. It’ll take some time to get used to the new names on the No. 10 and 15 jerseys, but there have been plenty of fans making us aware that they are excited to see the former Sharks skate with the Wild.

Secondly, the Wild also announced today that it has named John Torchetti as new head coach of the Houston Aeros. Torchetti fills the spot of Mike Yeo, who of course left Houston to become the new Wild head coach. The 46-year-old Boston native comes to the Aeros after serving as an associate coach for the Atlanta Thrashers last season. His 27 years of professional hockey experience as a player, coach and manager include NHL coaching experience with Tampa Bay, Florida, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta. For the full announcement and audio of Torchetti’s reaction to the announcement, click here.

Finally, the Wild announced a really cool project with FOX Sports North and Olson that I’d bet Wild fans will love. “Becoming Wild,” presented by Toyota, is a six-part TV series that documents the Wild offseason through unprecedented, behind-the-scenes coverage of the hockey operations department. I’d say it’s similar to the NHL’s 24-7 series on HBO this year. One of the best parts about the series, which will premiere on July 8 after the Twins game on FS North, is that filming started before any of this summer’s excitement and drama happened, meaning it was caught on camera and fans will get to see it. For more on the series, including broadcast dates and clips of the premiere episode, click here. Outtakes and full episodes will be available on wild.com after the premiere of that episode airs on FS North. I was lucky enough to get to watch the first episode, which covers the Aeros run to the Calder Cup Finals, and will tell you two things: 1. I don’t know how anyone will watch the episode and not be incredibly excited to see Mike Yeo coach the Wild and 2. While the coaches-healthy scratches scrimmage is a great scene, not all of the best parts are given away in the preview clips. There’s a Matt Kassian vs. the rest of the team discussion about whether he could fight Manny Pacquiao that could well be a fan favorite.