Iowa Heartlanders encouraged about potential progress on and off the ice in Year 3

CORALVILLE — He’s been around since day one. He’s one of the only ones who has been around since day one.

Yuki Miura is in his third season as a forward for the Iowa Heartlanders, a guy who quickly became a fan favorite. Unfortunately he has incurred a lot of losing so far in his professional hockey career.

That might just change this winter.

“I think so,” Miura said Wednesday afternoon at Coral Ridge Mall, after his team’s final practice before the start of the 2023-24 ECHL season. “The first year and second year, I mean, we still had some talented players. I think we had great groups. But this year, we actually have a lot of experienced players ... and we’ve got some talented rookies. I’m really excited. Let’s see how it goes, but I believe it’s the best team over the last three years.”

The Heartlanders kick things off with back-to-back home games Thursday and Friday at Xtream Arena against the Rapid City Rush. Opening faceoff is 6:35 both nights.

There seems to be some internal optimism on multiple fronts here. The franchise has struggled its first two years of existence, finishing second to last and last in ECHL attendance, respectively, and toward the bottom of the league’s standings both seasons.

But there is new ownership in New York-based businessman Michael Devlin, who appears to have brought fresh air and ideas to the table. On the ice, the Heartlanders seem to have a solid mix of experience and youth.

At least to start the season. They lightheartedly call the ECHL the Ever Changing Hockey League for a reason.

“We’re more solid, our depth from top to bottom,” said head coach Derek Damon. “It’s not as noticeable from top to bottom.”

Damon also has been around from the start. He was an assistant coach for Gerry Fleming in the inaugural 2021-22 season and took over head coaching duties last season.

Goaltender Hunter Jones is the other Heartlander who’s a three-year guy, though he also has spent a lot of time with the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild. The AHL is the top minor league in the sport in North America, with the ECHL considered a notch below.

Both Iowa clubs are affiliated with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, though that affiliation hasn’t helped the Heartlanders too much from a player perspective, especially last season. There are three guys on two-way NHL contracts on the opening-night Heartlanders roster, however, in Jones and forwards Pavel Novak and Maxim Cajkovic.

Jones was a second-round pick of the Wild in 2019, Novak a fifth-rounder in 2020, and Cajkovic a third-rounder of the Tampa Bay Lighting in 2019. Additionally, the Heartlanders have AHL-contracted players in defenseman Landon Kosior and forwards Brett Budgell and Louis Boudon.

You need guys like that to be successful.

“The previous years, we relied on those guys to carry the load,” Damon said. “It’s not saying those guys aren’t good hockey players, it’s just that we’ve put an emphasis on building a solid team. Our depth is hopefully what’s going to carry us this year.”

Damon and associate head coach Joe Exter have worked arduously to bring in players with pro experience, guys like forward Tanner MacMaster and defenseman Kevin McKernan (the team’s captain), who have played for a number of years.

They also were able to sign some promising players out of U.S. colleges like forwards Jesse Jacques and Gavin Haim. The latter played at powerhouse North Dakota and could be a difference maker, Damon said, though he signed a Player Tryout Contract with the Iowa Wild late Wednesday afternoon.

The emphasis for this group is to get off to a better start. The Heartlanders have struggled mightily their first two seasons before Christmas, essentially playing their way out of playoff contention.

“We want to munch points early,” Damon said. “That’s our view, to munch points early. Obviously we want to get off to a good start. We have two games at home to start. That’s why our focus was to get two preseason games in Fort Wayne this past weekend. We’re not going into this weekend not knowing what we have.”

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