Corridor Cross Checks: Massie twins playing pro hockey together with Iowa Heartlanders

CORALVILLE — They don’t live together.

Noah and Dylan Massie have separate apartments in Coralville, separate roommates. They don’t mind that, honestly.

“It’s OK because we need a break,” Dylan said.

The 26-year-old identical twin brothers are teammates right now with the Iowa Heartlanders. Make that teammates again.

Their hockey paths have been different but also the same at times. They played in high school together in St-Lazare, Quebec, went their separate ways for a while, then reunited for four seasons at Lakehead University in Canada.

The brothers then signed professional contracts with the Quad City Storm of the Southern Professional Hockey League late last season, where they each played eight games. They began this season together in QC, with Dylan eventually heading to Peoria of the SPHL and Noah to Trois-Rivieres of the ECHL.

The Heartlanders acquired Noah a couple of months ago, then picked up Dylan a couple of weeks ago. Together again.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Dylan Massie said. “I just got called up, like, two months ago, so just talking here, we need a forward, and he’d been waiting around, too, for a call up. I don’t know, it just kind of worked out. It happened that way in Quad Cities, too, in the SPHL last year. We both had finished the year in college and both got a chance to try out and made it there. It’s just kind of funny how it worked out the same way here.”

“It’s always fun to play with him,” Noah Massie said. “We’re just like running with the opportunity that we’ve been given here and trying to make it last.”

One of the unique things about these guys is they play different positions. Noah is a defenseman, Dylan a forward.

Their parents never played hockey, the brothers picking up the game thanks to older brother Jake. He played a season of junior in the United States Hockey League for Omaha, then three seasons of NCAA college hockey at Vermont before turning pro.

Jake Massie won a pair of Calder Cup AHL championships with the Hershey Bears and is in his first season in the Russian KHL with Nur-Sultan Barys in Kazakhstan.

“I’m a D-man because of my older brother,” Noah said. “I just copied him.”

“Both of these guys have been perfect for us,” said Heartlanders Coach/GM Chuck Weber. “They play the game the right way. You can tell they come from a hockey family. They’ve got an older brother who plays overseas ... They have been great additions for us.”

The Heartlanders host Bloomington at 7:05 Wednesday night at Xtream Arena. They are on a 4-0-1 streak, beating Wichita (6-3) and Cincinnati (2-0) last week and losing to Cincy in overtime (3-2).

Iowa has a 17-28-3-2 overall record for 39 standings points, seventh and last in the ECHL’s Central Division. The Heartlanders are 14 points out of fourth place and the final available playoff spot in the division.

“My line all year has been you see what this group is capable of, that’s why they are so frustrating,” Weber said. “There have been many nights where if we just play how we did (last week), we’d probably have another 15 to 20 points. We tried to complicate the game early in the year, tried to do too much offensively. We’re starting to settle into our identity and accept our identity. This group was like a bucking bronco at times, as far as (me) trying to break them that way.”

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

The RoughRiders played a pair of overtime games this past weekend, losing Friday night to Chicago (3-2) and winning Saturday night against Dubuque (5-4). Both games were at home at ImOn Ice Arena.

Connor Davis had the winning goal against Dubuque at the 3:27 mark. He has 17 this season.

The RoughRiders outshot Dubuque by a 41-26 margin. They outshot Chicago by an equally substantial 40-26 edge.

Nick Romeo scored his 21st goal this season against the Steel.

Cedar Rapids is on a 3-0-1 streak and has a 23-16-3-5 overall record for 55 points. That places it in sixth place and in possession of the final playoff spot in the United States Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, one point back of fifth-place Madison and seven behind fourth-place Muskegon.

The RoughRiders head to Michigan this weekend for three games against the United States National Team Development Program.

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