The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders have picked up just one win at home so far this United States Hockey League season. The club has a chance to right that ship with two home games this weekend. The Iowa Heartlanders secured one win last weekend on a three-for-three road trip.
The Iowa Heartlanders played four ECHL games in five days last week, in three different cities. But they beat Kalamazoo and Wheeling and lost to Fort Wayne in a shootout, picking up five of a possible eight standings points. Meanwhile, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders lost twice in their annual Thanksgiving home and home against Waterloo, one in overtime.
Former NHL player Adam Johnson died in late October when his throat was accidentally slashed by the skate of an opposing player in a professional hockey game in England. Since that tragedy, whether players of all ages should wear protective neck guards has become a hot topic.
Here is a look at the two hockey clubs representing the Corridor. The Iowa Heartlanders are on a winning roll, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders lost twice last week and have had their top goal scorer leave.
The Iowa Heartlanders were the last team to win an ECHL game this season, but they’ve won four in a row after toppling Utah, 3-2, Wednesday morning at Xtream Arena. The play of goaltender Peyton Jones has been integral in this run.
Defenseman Joel Kjellberg of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders played all last season with the club but didn’t have a goal. He already has six of them in 16 games this season.
The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders had one of those rough three-games-in-as-many-days weekends, all in three different cities. But they won twice and lost in a shootout, picking up five of six possible standings points.
Winger Pavel Novak was promoted last week to the AHL’s Iowa Wild. He returned to the ice after a season away two weeks ago with the Iowa Heartlanders, scoring a pair of goals in two games, his first after recovering from treatment for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
In the first edition of Corridor Cross Checks for the 2023-24 season, we look back at the first two games of the ECHL season for the Iowa Heartlanders and the first nine games of the USHL season for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.
The Iowa Heartlanders begin their 2023-24 ECHL season with home games Thursday and Friday nights against the Rapid City Rush at Xtream Arena. The third-year club has struggled on and off the ice its first two years but feels confident about making strides both ways this season.
The Iowa Heartlanders professional hockey club has been purchased by a group headed by Michael Devlin, who is majority owner of the United States Hockey League’s Des Moines Buccaneers
Iowa Heartlanders Coach and General Manager Derek Damon is conducting youth hockey camps this week at Coralville’s Coral Ridge Mall. He believes growing the sport with youngsters is integral in growing the ECHL franchise overall.
The Iowa Heartlanders failed to make the ECHL’s Kelly Cup playoffs in their second year of existence. They finished last in the league in attendance. But Head Coach/General Manager Derek Damon is excited for the franchise’s future on and off the ice.
The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders officially qualified for the United States Hockey League playoffs with a win this past Friday night over Youngstown. The Iowa Heartlanders had their ECHL season conclude with a pair of wins over Wheeling.
The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders had their home game Friday night against Madison postponed by weather. That’d be summer-like weather: severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
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