Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Iowa Heartlanders say there is room for 2 hockey teams in the Corridor

CEDAR RAPIDS — Let’s get this out of the way right away.

The Iowa Heartlanders don’t want to put the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders out of business. The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders don’t secretly hope the Iowa Heartlanders fail.

A junior hockey franchise located in the north end of the Corridor and a first-year professional hockey franchise located in the south end, they proclaim, at least publicly, there is zero animosity between them. There is room for both, they say, and the two teams can co-exist and thrive.

And that despite being just 20 miles apart, the goal (no pun intended) is growing — or continuing to grow — the sport in historically non-traditional hockey areas.

“I think it’s great for both communities,” said RoughRiders Coach/General Manager/President Mark Carlson. “They are different markets. Best sport in the world, in my opinion. Two great buildings. Two real good organizations.

“More people playing youth hockey. More people watching the game live. Best sport in the world to watch live. More growth in the overall game. More kids playing. More people liking it. It’s a win-win situation for the sport of hockey and the communities.”

“We consider them to be a very viable organization doing two things,” said Heartlanders President Brian McKenna. “They are providing great entertainment up there in Cedar Rapids, and they are providing a great environment to develop players for college and pro programs down the road. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for what Coach Carlson is doing there and the job they’ve done over the years.”

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders: Producing future pros, contributing to community

The RoughRiders have been around since 1999, when Northern Wisconsin timber mogul William “Butch” Johnson relocated his United States Hockey League franchise from Mason City. Johnson’s agreement to move to Cedar Rapids was contingent upon the city constructing its first indoor ice rink.

The Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, now known as ImOn Ice, opened in early 2000. Sellout crowds of more than 4,000 were the norm, though attendance has dwindled over the years as the newness of hockey wore off and ownership of the franchise changed hands multiple times.

Carlson has been the constant, the only head coach/GM the RoughRiders ever have had, leading the team to the 2004-05 Clark Cup championship. He has turned down coaching offers from Division I college programs, a major junior team in Canada, an ECHL franchise and a position with the United States National Team Development Program to remain here, finding his niche working with the 16- to 20-year-old age group.

The USHL dates to 1947 and has 16 teams in the Midwest, including in Waterloo, Dubuque, Des Moines and Sioux City. It is the top Tier 1 junior circuit in North America, one that grooms players for college and professional hockey.

The RoughRiders have produced 29 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, including Ross Colton, who scored the winning goal in a game that clinched last season’s Stanley Cup for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“This town loves hockey,” Carlson said. “And I think there’s a real appreciation there, honestly, that it’s not just hockey. This year’s been a little different with the coronavirus, but this organization does a lot in the community. We’re here to give back to the community, help the community be a better community. Contribute. So it’s more than just on ice.”

Iowa Heartlanders: Bringing pro hockey to Eastern Iowa

The RoughRiders are owned by Colorado businessman Tony Sdao, whose sons played in the league and who prefers to let Carlson be the face of the franchise. Sdao explored creating and bringing a second USHL team to Coralville’s 5,100-seat Xtream Arena, which officially opened in September 2020, ultimately deciding against it.

Coralville city leaders then courted Canadian businessman Dean MacDonald, who agreed to start an ECHL expansion franchise beginning in the 2021-22 season. MacDonald’s Deacon Sports and Entertainment company also owns the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers.

Formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League but shortened to its acronym, the ECHL has 27 franchises coast to coast in the United States and Canada. It is a mid-level professional league whose history goes back to 1988.

Whereas USHL players receive no stipend, only free equipment and housing with billet families in order to keep their NCAA eligibility, ECHL players earn modest salaries and have their housing paid by franchises. The league boasts 713 graduates to the NHL since its inception.

Former RoughRiders defenseman Riese Zmolek has played for the Heartlanders this season and currently is with Des Moines’ Iowa Wild of the higher minor league-level American Hockey League. Each ECHL franchise has an NHL affiliation, though few players in the league actually are on NHL contracts.

Affiliated with the Minnesota Wild, the Heartlanders have one in defenseman Fedor Gordeev. Forward Ryan Kuffner played 10 games in 2018-19 with the Detroit Red Wings.

So there are the nuts and bolts about the two franchises and the level of hockey they provide.

Building a fan base

From a purely on-ice perspective going into Friday, the Heartlanders had a 9-14-3-1 record, their 22 standings points last in their division, not unexpected for a first-year club. Most every other ECHL team has a base of returning players with pro experience.

The RoughRiders also are basically starting from scratch considering they took a sabbatical from the USHL last season due to August 2020’s derecho making their arena uninhabitable. They had a 12-12-1-0 record, their 24 standings points placing them fifth in their eight-team division.

From an off-ice perspective, the clubs have almost identical attendance. The RoughRiders are averaging 1,848 fans over their first 12 home games (fourth in the USHL) to 1,827 fans over 16 home games for the Heartlanders (25th in the ECHL).

The clubs have had like home dates seven times so far this season. The Heartlanders have outdrawn the RoughRiders on four of those dates.

“I think we’ve had a tremendous response after being gone for a year,” Carlson said. “We’ve had a lot of great crowds this year, a lot of really good environments, we feel like. We always say, right, that we feel it’s one of the best buildings in hockey ... We want to thank our fans for their support and for making it a tough place to play for the opponent.”

McKenna likewise appreciates the voracity of his club’s fan base, though he acknowledges he wishes that fan base was larger. The Heartlanders drew 4,017 fans for their inaugural regular-season game in late October, but since have averaged just 1,681.

A former longtime commissioner of the ECHL who has 35 years of pro sports experience, McKenna was hired by MacDonald to lead the fledgling franchise.

“Slower than I had anticipated,” McKenna said. “As a staff, we’re still learning the market. It’s unique from a traditional media point of view. We’re in Iowa City here, but most of the radio, TV, newspaper comes from somewhere else. In other words, it’s Cedar Rapids, it’s Waterloo, it’s the Quad Cities, it’s Dubuque, wherever. We’re just kind of a part of that.

“So there has been a learning curve there for myself and others, as far as how we approach that. Digital marketing, social media, that kind of thing is so important, and we’re still learning and figuring our way through that as well.”

McKenna said his hope is crowds will increase now that University of Iowa football is over, though there still is Hawkeyes basketball and wrestling to contend with, not to mention a COVID-19 pandemic that appears again to be mushrooming.

That’s a cloud hanging over both franchises in the new year. The Heartlanders have had players and head coach Gerry Fleming miss games after testing positive for the virus, and the RoughRiders had two road games this past weekend postponed because of an outbreak on the team.

“We’re trying to introduce a new team, a new brand, a new level of hockey to the area,” McKenna said. “The folks that come out and watch it seem to appreciate it, but there wasn’t an overwhelming group of hockey fans in the market prior to us arriving. So it’s taken a while to sell them on just the entertainment aspect of it. Enjoying the facility, enjoying the surrounding developments.

“Hopefully if they enjoy the games, they’ll come back.”

Carlson attended the news conference introducing Fleming, has attended a Heartlanders game and spoken with McKenna. He expressed his dismay that anyone would think the presence of two hockey franchises so close in proximity would be a negative.

McKenna agreed.

“We see it as being complementary,” he said. “We want them to succeed, we want them to attract fans, have their fan base. We also want the same here. Occasionally you are going to see fans go back and forth, and that’s healthy, too. But when we look at the ZIP codes of the fans that are buying tickets here, our fan base … we get a few folks from Cedar Rapids, but it’s not overwhelming. Most are from a 15- to 20-mile radius from here in Iowa City and Coralville, and that’s what we want to grow.

“They have a great product and level of hockey. We want to work with them, as well as the other junior teams around here and the Iowa Wild, just in terms of growing the sport, especially at the grassroots level. I think if we can all pitch in and do that, it’s a chance for everybody to be successful.”

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com