Heartlanders complete weekend with Sunday showdown

Wichita, KS – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, take on the Wichita Thunder in the final game of the weekend Sunday at 4:05 p.m. Iowa is playing the second game of an eight-game season series against the Thunder.

Get tickets for Heartlanders Home games: Iowaheartlanders.com/tickets

Game Day Guide: 
3:50 PM: FloHockey broadcast and audio broadcast starts.
4:05 PM: Puck Drop 
Watch on FloHockey https://flosports.link/3tVsLmd
Listen on Mixlr mixlr.com/goheartlanders

3 Things To Know
- The Heartlanders and Thunder are cross-division opponents: Wichita plays in the Mountain Division and Iowa plays in the Central Division. After Sunday, the teams don’t play until the end of February at Xtream Arena.
- Iowa’s Jesse Jacques scored for the third straight game Saturday
- Wichita has won back-to-back games after starting 0-3-0-0

Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Wichita Thunder (San Jose Sharks/San Jose Barracuda)

Jacques’ magical start continues 
Jesse Jacques became the first player in Heartlanders history to score in the first three games of an Iowa season Saturday, scoring Iowa’s first goal at even strength in a 4-3 loss. 

Driving up the left wing, Jacques shoveled the puck in to tie the game at one. 

The 25-year-old is in his rookie season, but played the last 11 games of Iowa’s season in 2022-23. Combined with the end of last year, the right-handed shot has scored seven goals and 12 points in 14 games with the Landers. 

At the college level, Jacques scored 14 career goals for the University of Minnesota-Duluth. 

Jacques, Kris Bennett and Matthew Boucher are the only players in team history to score goals in consecutive games to open an Iowa season. 

Cajkovic bombs in two 
Showcasing his dangerous shot Saturday, Max Cajkovic scored the first two goals of his season at Wichita. 

Both his goals came off passes from teammates. His first was a bullet on a 4-on-3 man advantage assisted by Odeen Tufto in the second period. His second goal tied the game at three, assisted by Nick Campoli. 

For his career, the third-year professional has 20 goals and 41 points in 69 career ECHL games. Saturday was Cajkovic’s second career multi-goal game. 

All-time history vs. Thunder 
The Heartlanders and Thunder are playing their third-ever game at INTRUST Bank Arena Sunday, and the second of this season. All-time, Iowa is 0-1-1-0 at Wichita and 2-2-2-1 ever vs. the Thunder. 

Last season, the clubs four times and Iowa earned at least a point in three of them (1-1-2-0). The team that’s scored the game’s first goal has won four of the first seven meetings, meaning there have been three come-from-behind wins. 

Season Series Outlook
This season will be the most Iowa and Wichita ever face off (8 games), with most of the matchups coming in the season’s second half. Between Feb. 21 – Mar. 24, the Heartlanders play 14 total games and seven of them are against Wichita. 

The final three games of the series are at Xtream Arena Mar. 22-24. Iowa also hosts Wichita on Feb. 21. 

Even though the two teams are in separate divisions, Wichita is “only” 500 miles away from Coralville, which is similar to Iowa’s division opponents Cincinnati (476 miles) and Toledo (452 miles). Wheeling is Iowa’s furthest division opponent (662 miles away). 

Next up
The Heartlanders visit Cincinnati next Friday, Nov. 3 at 6:35 p.m. The Heartlanders are back at Xtream Arena for a six-game home stand Nov. 8, Nov. 9, Nov. 11 and Nov. 15, Nov. 17 and Nov. 18. 

The next home stands has some great promotional nights including Nov. 17’s Military Appreciation Night vs. Utah with a GreenState Credit Union giveaway. Additionally, Iowa is home for Field Trip Day on Nov. 15, featuring a 10:35 AM puck drop where local schools will be at the game for a fun and educational experience. Find the full promotional calendar at https://iowaheartlanders.com/#schedule

  
Rose Club Memberships & Tickets Now Available For 2023-24 Season
Rose Club Season Ticket Memberships, Partial Plans, Mini-Plans, Flex Tickets and Single-Game Tickets are now available for the 2023-24 season, the Heartlanders’ third in the ECHL. Call 319-569-GOAL or visit iowaheartlanders.com/tickets for more information.