Articles Tagged: Iowa Heartlanders

The Iowa Heartlanders are on a five-game win streak going into a pair of big games this week at home against the Toledo Walleye. Iowa is four points back of Toledo for first place in the ECHL’s Central Division.

A.J. Reyelts of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders was honored Monday as the United States Hockey League’s Goalie of the Week. The 18-year-old Minnesota resident’s mother and father both played hockey in college and his older brother plays junior hockey in the NAHL as a forward, which is how A.J. got started as a goaltender.

Defenseman Jules Boscq of the Iowa Heartlanders had a pair of goals in his team’s overtime loss Sunday to Bloomington. Those were the first two of his pro career in North America. The 22-year-old from France appears to have a bright future.

The Iowa Heartlanders and Bloomington Bison have played each other seven times so far in the early portion of the ECHL season. Sunday’s 3-2 Bloomington win in overtime was the third of six consecutive games between the teams.

Matthew Sop of the Iowa Heartlanders is tied for second in the ECHL in points a dozen or so games into the season. The 21-year-old rookie forward is living away from home for the first time, spending his entire career playing junior in his hometown of Kitchener, Ontari.

The NCAA Division I Council last week voted to allow players from the three Canadian Hockey League major junior leagues to play college hockey, beginning next season. They had been ineligible for American college hockey previously because they receive financial stipends. How this new ruling affects the United States Hockey League, of which the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are a member, is anyone’s guess at this point.

Forward Daniel Astapovich of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders played in the United States Hockey League two seasons ago. He spent last season in the lower-level North American Hockey League, getting another USHL shot this season.

Of all things, Dakota Raabe of the Iowa Heartlanders was a surfer growing up in Southern California, a member of his high school’s surfing team.

Riese Zmolek played junior hockey for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, played college hockey and then played professionally for the Iowa Heartlanders. His brother, Will, played junior hockey for the RoughRiders and is in his first season with the Hearlanders.

Forward Will Calverley was literally knocked out of game for the Iowa Heartlanders this past March at Cincinnati. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher and didn’t play again the rest of the ECHL season. After contemplating hanging up his skates for good, Calverley decided to continue to play and is an alternate captain for Iowa, which begins its season at home this weekend.

In the first edition of Corridor Cross Checks for the 2024-25 hockey season, we take a look at the upcoming ECHL season for the Iowa Heartlanders and Week 3 of the United States Hockey League season for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders announced Friday an extension of their working agreement with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. The Wild can assign contracted players to the Coralville club. Almost three dozen Heartlanders have played with the Wild’s top minor league team, the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders released their 2024-25 schedule Tuesday. The fourth-year club plays the expansion Bloomington Bison, its nearest geographic competitor, 15 times.

The Iowa Heartlanders announced Friday they have signed head coach and general manager Derek Damon to a multi-year contract extension. Damon has been part of the Heartlanders organization since their inaugural ECHL season.

The Iowa Heartlanders concluded their season over the weekend on a high note. They beat Kansas City, 7-4, before a franchise-record crowd of 4,878. They still finished last in the Central Division, last in the Western Conference with a 27-37-6-2 record.