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.
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.
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