Corridor Cross Checks: Gavin Hain gives boost to Iowa Heartlanders

CEDAR RAPIDS — He might not be around long, so enjoy him while he’s here.

That’s Gavin Hain, who was assigned last week to the Iowa Heartlanders after spending most of this hockey season in the American Hockey League with the Iowa Wild.

Hain is a 23-year-old forward from Grand Rapids, Minn., and the University of North Dakota who originally was a sixth-round NHL draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2018. He did not sign with the club after his final college season last year and became a free agent.

The Heartlanders signed him to an ECHL contract in September but the Wild liked him enough to sign him to a pair of PTOs (professional tryout contracts) that have kept him in Des Moines. Hain played 21 games in the AHL, scoring a pair of goals and accumulating three points.

He played one game earlier this season between PTOs for the Heartlanders and played a pair of games this past weekend, scoring a goal and having a plus-minus rating of plus-three.

“When I spoke to his agent in the summer, and I watched video of him, I knew right away this guy would be a really good player for us if we could get him,” said Heartlanders Coach Derek Damon. “I can see why he was drafted. He just plays such a hard game, kind of reminds me with the way he plays of Matthew Tkachuk (of the NHL’s Florida Panthers).

“He plays a hard game, is hard on the forecheck, is physical, is strong on stick. He’s a pro. And I think he has the capability to be a really good professional. Will he be with us long term? It’s hard to say.”

Hain played junior hockey briefly for Sioux Falls of the United States Hockey League, then spent a full season with the United States National Team Development Program before playing five seasons for North Dakota. He overcame a knee injury that knocked him out the majority of the 2021-22 season.

Damon is effusive in his praise of him.

“Ultimately one day you hope he gets an opportunity in the NHL,” Damon said. “Because he takes care of himself, he’s a really good kid, he’s a pro’s pro. Just the way he takes care of himself, the way he plays the game. And he’s got some skill, too.”

Iowa won a pair of games last weekend at Kalamazoo, running its win streak to three overall.

It won last Friday night’s game, 2-1, on Yuki Miura’s goal with less than two minutes to go in regulation, with Casey Dornbach’s overtime goal winning the next night’s game, 3-2. Drew DeRidder was named the ECHL Goaltender of the Week, picking up the win both nights and making 59 saves in them.

The Heartlanders are 18-19-4-1 for 42 standings points, seventh and last in the Central Division but just two points back of sixth-place Cincinnati, three behind fifth-place Kalamazoo and six behind Indy for fourth place and the final available playoff spot in the division.

Iowa hosts Kalamazoo at 6:35 Wednesday night at Xtream Arena. Cincinnati comes to town for games Friday night (6:35) and Saturday night (6:05).

The Heartlanders have played 26 road games so far this season and just 17 at home.

“You have to be mindful that it’s just one game at a time. We still have 29 games left,” Damon said. “The next six games are against divisional opponents, then we play Wichita for a one-off. These next six games are crucial.

“It’s nice to be home. The guys have earned it. We’re in the mix, the thick of it.”

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Not the weekend the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders needed, as they dropped a pair of games at Youngstown: 6-1 and 5-3.

Ryan O’Connell had C.R.’s lone goal in the Friday night game. Defensemen scored all three goals Saturday night: Elliott Groenewold with one and Erik Kald with two.

Kald’s second goal tied the game at the 9:33 mark of the third period, but Youngstown’s Grant Young scored 1:01 later and then had an empty netter. Cedar Rapids continued employing three goaltenders, with James Norton playing Friday night and Rudy Guimond and Sam Scopa splitting Saturday’s game.

The RoughRiders are 14-19-4-2 overall for 34 standings points. That places them in seventh place out of eight teams in the United States Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, three points behind Chicago for sixth place and the final available playoff spot in the division.

Riders head coach Mark Carlson remains four wins shy of the all-time coaching victories mark in the USHL. Cedar Rapids plays Friday night at Dubuque and hosts Chicago at 7:05 Saturday night at ImOn Ice Arena.

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