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

Early History (2020-22)

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. On January 12, 2021, the team was approved by the ECHL Board of Governors to join the league for the 2021–22 season. In March 2021, the team announced it had hired former ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna as team president. The team name, Iowa Heartlanders, was announced on May 20, 2021. On June 17, the Heartlanders announced they would be the affiliate of the Minnesota Wild. On July 27, 2021, the Heartlanders named Gerry Fleming as their inaugural head coach.

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. In November, Kris Bennett was named the team's first captain, with Jake Linhart and Riese Zmolek given alternate captain roles.

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.

Transition to new ownership (2023-24)

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 (2023–24) was filled with a number of records: the club tied its longest winning streak ever and achieved its longest points streak ever (9). On April 13, 2024, the Heartlanders sold out Xtream Arena for the first time ever, in a 7-4 win over the Kansas City Mavericks to conclude the season.

Best season in team history (2024-25)

The Heartlanders achieved their best season ever in 2024-25, winning 36 games (36-25-7-4, 83 points) and finishing 3rd in the Central Division. The team showed improvement in the stands as well; four of the top-ten attended games in team history came in the second half of the regular season, including the highest-attended game in team history on Apr. 12, 2025 vs. Cincinnati.

Iowa's overall consistency and team defense was a key for Derek Damon's squad; Iowa started off with a 13-5-3 record, had multiple six-game winning streaks, and only suffered one slump in March where the team went 0-4-2 over a two-weekend span.

Rookie goaltenders William Rousseau (2.69 GAA) and Kyle McClellan (2.62 GAA) were rocks in net throughout the regular season. Both saw time in the Kelly Cup Playoffs as well.

Yuki Miura, the team Captain, led the team with a career-high 21 goals. Rookie T.J. Walsh topped the squad with 43 points.

Iowa faced division rival Fort Wayne (2nd seed) in the Central Division Semifinals. The Heartlanders won game 1 on the road, then took a 3-2 series lead with home victories in Game 4 (2 OT) and Game 5. Fort Wayne came back to win the series, taking advantage of a Heartlanders squad that was missing their entire top line due to injury throughout the back half of the first-round.

Season-by-season records

References

External links

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ECHL teams
Iowa Heartlanders players
Ice hockey clubs established in 2021
Ice hockey teams in Iowa
Coralville, Iowa
2021 establishments in Iowa
Minnesota Wild minor league affiliates

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