Wild fires Iowa coach Kurt Kleinendorst, re-hires John Torchetti as replacement

With the Iowa Wild off to an American Hockey League-worst 2-10 start after finishing last in the Western Conference a year ago, Kurt Kleinendorst is out as head coach of the Wild's minor-league affiliate, sources say.

The Wild has tabbed John Torchetti as Kleinendorst's replacement, according to sources, and he will be on the ice to coach the Baby Wild during Tuesday's practice. Torchetti, 50, who won a Stanley Cup as a Chicago Blackhawks assistant in 2010, returns to the Wild after coaching the Houston Aeros to back-to-back postseason berths. He was supposed to relocate with the team to Des Moines, but he exercised an out clause to take a job in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League last year.

Kleinendorst, 53, was informed of the Wild's decision by director of minor-league operations Jim Mill after Sunday's loss to the Chicago Wolves. An announcement is expected Tuesday morning.

The Iowa Wild, despite such prospects as Tyler Graovac, Kurtis Gabriel, Zack Phillips and Brett Bulmer and skilled players like Jordan Schroeder, Michael Keranen and Zack Mitchell, averages only 2.25 goals per game, has allowed 3.8 goals per game and has won once at home.

Johan Gustafsson is off to a 2-6 start with a 3.70 goals-against average and .884 save percentage.

It's been more and more clear the past few weeks that General Manager Chuck Fletcher was growing increasingly displeased with Iowa's play and was worried about the development of some of its prospects would stall.

After the latest loss Sunday, Kleinendorst was quoted on Tom Witosky's Twitter account (@toskyAHLWild) regarding the season's tough start, "Trust me I know. It hurts. It is not pretty. Obviously, it is a huge, huge reflection on me."

Assistant coach Steve Poapst and the rest of Iowa's staff was retained.

Kleinendorst, a Grand Rapids, Minn., native, came to the Wild after coaching the University of Alabama-Huntsville for one year. The longtime New Jersey Devils assistant coach was a finalist for the Aeros' head-coaching position in 2010. It went to now-Wild coach Mike Yeo instead, and Kleinendorst was hired by the Ottawa Senators to coach their AHL affiliate in Binghamton. Coincidentally, Kleinendorst's Baby Sens rallied from a 2-1 series deficit to beat Yeo's Aeros before Yeo came to Minnesota.

Torchetti, 50, coached CSKA Moscow last year after having an out clause in his Wild contract with the Aeros. At the time, Fletcher said Torchetti couldn't pass up a "huge deal," but he apparently left after one year because of the unrest politically in Russia last year. Torchetti went 32-20-2 in Moscow.

Torchetti's Houston Aeros went 75-51-26 in two seasons. He has been an interim head coach with the Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings (so he has been through transitions before) and has been an assistant with Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Chicago.

He has got almost 20 years of pro coaching experience, spending time in the ECHL, CHL (Coach of the Year in 1995 in San Antonio), IHL (Coach of the Year in 1998 in Fort Wayne), AHL and NHL, and was also a minor-league general manager.

From my Torchetti hired blog a few years back:

He's a former minor-league goal scorer who got his career started playing for Rick Dudley for the old Atlantic Coast League's Carolina Thunderbirds in the mid-80s. Dudley used to drive the buses and Torchetti would sit in the front seat and stay up every night 'til 3 or 4 in the morning talking hockey and life with Dudley. They've been tight ever since.

When Wild assistant GM Brent Flahr ran the San Antonio minor-league franchise for Florida, Torchetti was the head coach and they became good friends.

Torchetti is a guy who worked for free in his first coaching job in Greensboro. On the side, he drove a taxi to earn a living. He hails from Northeast and has the thickest Boston accent you've ever heard, so get ready for that.