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Iowa Heartlanders
Iowa Heartlanders primary logo
City: Coralville, Iowa
League: ECHL
Conference: Western
Division: Central
Founded: 2021
Home Arena: Xtream Arena powered by Mediacom
Colors: Black, sunrise yellow, grey, white
                   
Owner(s): Michael Devlin
Head Coach: Derek Damon
Affiliates: Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Iowa Wild (AHL)
Franchise history
2021–present: Iowa Heartlanders

The Iowa Heartlanders are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Coralville, Iowa. The team began play in the 2021–22 ECHL season, playing their home games at Xtream Arena.

History[]

On September 17, 2020, Newfoundland Growlers' majority owner Dean MacDonald (through his group Deacon Sports and Entertainment) came to an agreement with the city of Coralville to place an ECHL team in Xtream Arena, pending league approval, for the 2021–22 season.[1] On January 12, 2021, the team was approved by the ECHL Board of Governors to join the league for the 2021–22 season.[2] In March 2021, the team announced it had hired former ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna as team president.[3] The team name, Iowa Heartlanders, was announced on May 20, 2021.[4] On June 17, the Heartlanders announced they would be the affiliate of the Minnesota Wild.[5] On July 27, 2021, the Heartlanders named Gerry Fleming as their inaugural head coach.[6]

Prairie Wild Rose

The Iowa state flower, the Prairie wild rose will be used as the secondary team logo.

On October 22, 2021, the Heartlanders played their first game against the Kansas City Mavericks and won 7–4 at home with more than 4000 in attendance.[citation needed] In November, Kris Bennett was named the team's first captain, with Jake Linhart and Riese Zmolek given alternate captain roles.[citation needed]

The Heartlanders finished their inaugural season with 29 wins, which included a franchise-best seven-game winning streak from mid-February - early March 2022.

In the summer of 2022, former head coach Gerry Fleming accepted an opportunity in the DEL (top German pro league) with a club in Frankfurt, Germany. The move paved the way for Fleming's assistant coach Derek Damon to take over the head coaching position. Damon was officially announced as the second coach in team history on July 5, 2022.

The Heartlanders set the team's all-time attendance record on Opening Night 2022 (Oct. 21, 2022) vs. the Idaho Steelheads. This record was broken on April 13, 2024 in the final game in the season, against the Kansas City Mavericks.


In July 2023, Michael Devlin became the team's majority owner. The switch helped improve the team's local direction and resources. Devlin, founded Heartlanders Hockey LLC and brought a strong hockey background to the team, having already been the primary owner of the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers.

The team's third season in 2023-24 was filled with a number of records: the club tied its longest winning streak ever and achieved its longest points streak ever. On Apr. 13, 2024, the Heartlanders almost sold out Xtream Arena for the first time ever, drawing just under 5,000 fans, in a 7-4 romp over the Kansas City Mavericks to conclude the season on a high note. (The team announced a sell out for marketing purposes however, the game was not actually sold out.)

Season-by-season records[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA Standing Year 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Kelly Cup
2021–22 72 29 33 9 1 68 229 263 7th, Central 2022 did not qualify
2022–23 72 22 36 13 1 58 189 256 7th, Central 2023 did not qualify
2023–24 72 27 37 6 2 62 186 250 7th, Central 2024 did not qualify

Players[]

Current roster[]

Updated May 1, 2024[7]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
4 Flag of the United States Brinkman, BenBen Brinkman

D L 24 2023 Edina, Minnesota Heartlanders
18 Flag of Canada Calverley, WillWill Calverley

C L 26 2023 Scarborough, Ontario Heartlanders
89 Flag of Canada Campoli, NickNick Campoli

C L 25 2022 Toronto, Ontario Heartlanders
71 Flag of the United States Coughlin, LiamLiam Coughlin

C L 30 2023 South Boston, Massachusetts Heartlanders
34 Flag of the United States DeRidder, DrewDrew DeRidder

G L 24 2023 Fenton, Michigan Heartlanders
16 Flag of the United States Durflinger, JakeJake Durflinger

RW R 27 2022 Walnut Creek, California Heartlanders
19 Flag of the United States Goodsir, AdamAdam Goodsir

F L 26 2023 Okemos, Michigan Heartlanders
43 Flag of Canada Henault, LoukaLouka Henault

D L 24 2023 Montreal, Quebec Heartlanders
41 Flag of the United States Jones, PeytonPeyton Jones

G L 28 2023 Langhorne, Pennsylvania Heartlanders
5 Flag of the United States Lellig, HunterHunter Lellig

D R 26 2023 Waterloo, Iowa Heartlanders
3 Flag of the United States Lipe, ChrisChris Lipe

D R 25 2023 Rockford, Michigan Heartlanders
38 Flag of Canada MacMaster, TannerTanner MacMaster

C L 29 2023 Calgary, Alberta Heartlanders
7 Flag of the United States McKernan, KevinKevin McKernan

D R 30 2022 Grafton, Massachusetts Heartlanders
36 Flag of Japan Miura, YukiYuki Miura

C R 28 2021 Tokyo, Japan Heartlanders
88 Flag of the United States Perbix, JackJack Perbix

C R 24 2024 Elk River, Minnesota Heartlanders
22 Flag of the United States Raabe, DakotaDakota Raabe

F L 27 2024 Capistrano Beach, California Heartlanders
14 Flag of the United States Wells, JustinJustin Wells

D L 26 2022 North Canton, Ohio Heartlanders

References[]

  1. Coralville announces it is getting a professional hockey team (September 17, 2020).
  2. ECHL Approves Two Expansion Memberships. ECHL (January 12, 2021).
  3. Iowa Names Mckenna as Team President. ECHL (March 26, 2021).
  4. Introducing the Iowa Heartlanders. ECHL (May 20, 2021).
  5. Minnesota Wild Announces Affiliation Agreement with Iowa Heartlanders (June 17, 2021).
  6. Gerry Fleming Named Heartlanders First Head Coach. Iowa Heartlanders (July 27, 2021).
  7. Iowa Heartlanders roster. EliteProspects.com (May 1, 2024). Retrieved on May 1, 2024.

External links[]

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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Iowa Heartlanders. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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