Record-breaking crowd in finale has Iowa Heartlanders hopeful headed into 2024-25 season

CORALVILLE — He dejectedly sat on a chair at his Xtream Arena office desk, his team just having been stomped by Toledo.

Iowa Heartlanders head coach/general manager Derek Damon talked about the mistakes his team had made, how it didn’t come out ready for this late-season ECHL game.

Then he suddenly turned resolute.

He’s in this for the long haul, he said. He’s determined to make the third-year club a playoff qualifier.

A Kelly Cup championship contender. There’s work to be done, and it’s going to get done.

“We need to put a team on the ice that’s going to compete in our division, and our division is a very tough division,” Damon said recently. “Toledo, the Wheelings, the Fort Waynes, the Indys. Even Cincinnati, they’re having a tough year, but they’re a tough team.

“At the end of the day, we’ve made strides in areas. Rome wasn’t built overnight, as I like to say. It takes time to do it the right way. But you have to have the culture, and it’s getting the right guys in here. We’ve taken steps in that right direction.”

The Heartlanders concluded their season over the weekend on a high note. They beat Kansas City, 7-4, before a franchise-record crowd of 4,878.

A good way to go into the offseason. Some momentum.

They still finished last in the Central Division, last in the Western Conference with a 27-37-6-2 record. Their 62 standings points were second fewest in the ECHL, ahead of only Atlanta (50).

But this was a better club than last season, more competitive by every account.

The Heartlanders went 22-36-13-1 last season for 58 standings points. Their inaugural season saw them go 29-33-9-1 for 68 points largely behind the stellar play of forwards Kris Bennett and Ryan Kuffner, the latter a former NHL player.

This was not the step they wanted to take, but it was a step. No doubt.

“It’s frustrating because I’m competitive, and I want to win,” said Damon, an assistant coach under Gerry Fleming for the 2021-22 season before becoming head coach last season. “But I understand where we’ve come as an organization. The first year, we had two guys who were unbelievable players that carried us. Last year, we had a lot of SPHL (Southern Professional Hockey League) guys, and it took us time. This year, we put a team on the ice, had unfortunate injuries, guys going to Europe.

“But going forward, it’s going to be a much different team (next season) on the ice.”

Forward Louis Boudon was Iowa’s leading scorer (46 points in 54 games) and goal scorer (18). He spent most of the season here despite being on an AHL contract with the Iowa Wild.

Forward Casey Dornbach (42 points) was the second-highest scorer, another guy on an AHL deal. Third-year forward and fan favorite Yuki Miura played all 72 regular-season games and recorded 12 goals and 32 points.

The Heartlanders were hurt by midseason departures of forwards Davis Koch and Odeen Tufto to teams in Germany and Switzerland, respectively.

“We want guys that are going to wear you down, guys that are going to come to work,” Damon said. “It’s a long season. You need guys who are willing to put in the work every day. We’re making progress toward that.”

Off the ice, things seem to have been stabilized with new owner Michael Devlin. Iowa ranked at the bottom of the ECHL in attendance (and attendance helps attract players) but at least still has a franchise.

Original owner Dean MacDonald had one of his franchises (Newfoundland) fold late in the regular season and agreed to sell his other one (Trois-Rivieres) to continue its existence.

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