Articles Tagged: Iowa Heartlanders

The Iowa Heartlanders have hit the college free-agent market hard in the last couple of weeks, signing six players who recently ended their college careers in the United States.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are in possession of a United States Hockey League playoff berth with 11 games remaining in the regular season. The club hopes to climb the standings down the stretch in hopes of hosting a first-round playoff series.

In this week’s Corridor Cross Checks, we write about a good week for both the Iowa Heartlanders and Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. And about the University of Iowa men’s club hockey team, which has qualified for the ACHA Division II national tournament.

Corridor Cross Checks: Tanner MacMaster was playing professional hockey in Sweden, but wasn’t entirely happy with his situation there. His old Quinnipiac teammate Kevin McKernan began selling him on the merits of playing in the ECHL with the Iowa Heartlanders, and now here MacMaster is, making a difference.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Youngstown Phantoms are playing their USHL game Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, home of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders acquired forward Jack Musa from Madison in a significant USHL trade last week. Musa was Madison’s leading scorer, a two-year USHL player and commit to college hockey power Boston University.

The Iowa Heartlanders lost their first 20 ECHL games this season away from Xtream Arena. That streak came to a halt this past weekend, with the club winning back-to-back games Wheeling.

If you know anything about Mark Carlson and his approach to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders junior hockey program he has built over 23 seasons here, you know there wasn’t much of a celebration of his 750th career coaching victory this past Saturday night.

Iowa Heartlanders defenseman Bo Hanson set a franchise record for games played when he spent three seasons of junior hockey with Muskegon of the USHL. Then it was five seasons of college hockey at three different schools. As a pro, he’s been property of three ECHL franchises already.

The Iowa Heartlanders lost Sunday afternoon at home to Toledo, 5-1. They dropped all three games this weekend to the Walleye. But a positive was a season-high 45 shots on goal.

Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders has had one heck of a month on the ice. He was part of a United States national team that won a gold medal at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge, was to take part in Monday night’s BioSteel All-American Game in Michigan, was included on NHL Central Scouting’s Mid-Term Rankings of potential NHL draft pick. He’s also had two hat tricks and leads the USHL in scoring by defensemen.

The Iowa Heartlanders are last in the ECHL’s Central Division in large part due to lack of success in close games. Meanwhile, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are on a heater, winning their last five games and going 7-2-0-1 in their last 10.

Anthony DeAngelo played for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders as a 14 and 15-year-old in 2010-11. The Philadelphia Flyers defenseman is giving back to the community where his career really began as part of a “Tony D Saves For The Children” promotion.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders resume the United States Hockey League season Wednesday night at home against the Chicago Steel. The club has been holding its own despite not having its intended lineup available for any games so far this season.

The Iowa Heartlanders have played an ECHL-high 10 games that have gone beyond regulation this season. They’ve only one three, though that third one came in their last game, a Saturday night thriller over Kalamazoo.