Heartlanders third straight road week starts at Kalamazoo

Heartlanders and Kalamazoo face off for 5^th time this season

 

Kalamazoo, MI – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, start another stretch of three games in three days at the Kalamazoo Wings Friday at 6:00 p.m.

The Heartlanders are playing their eighth straight road game, which sets the record for most consecutive road games in team history. This road weekend is part of a franchise-record ten-game road trip. The road trip started Nov. 22 against Kalamazoo, a 3-1 Iowa win.

This weekend, Iowa plays back-to-back games at Kalamazoo Friday and Saturday, then finishes the weekend with a road showdown at Fort Wayne Sunday. 

The Heartlanders are second in the Central Division with a 9-7-2-1 record (21 points). Kalamazoo is seventh in the Central Division with 16 points (8-11-0-0 record), but sits just three points behind Wheeling for fourth.

Iowa is next at home for six straight games starting Friday, Dec. 15 against Toledo at 6:35 p.m. On Sat., Dec. 16 at 6:05 p.m., Iowa hosts Toledo for Teddy Bear Toss Night, pres. by DASH Auctions. The Heartlanders will wear specialty holiday jerseys available for auction on the DASH Auctions app. Fans are encouraged to bring Teddy Bears to throw on the ice after Iowa’s first goal, which will be donated to local charitable organizations helping those in need this holiday season. 

On Sun., Dec. 17 at 2:05 p.m., the Heartlanders take on Toledo for Elementary School Day, pres. by MidWestOne Bank. The day also features a postgame skate pres. by The Family Dental Center.

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

Game Day Guide: 
5:45 PM: FloHockey broadcast and audio broadcast starts.
6:00 PM: Puck Drop 
Watch on FloHockey https://flosports.link/3tVsLmd

Listen on Mixlr mixlr.com/goheartlanders

Need to know
- The Heartlanders are coming off a 5-4 shootout win against Toledo last Sunday at the Huntington Center. It was Iowa’s second shootout of the season, sixth shootout game ever (3-3 record in shootouts), and Iowa’s first shootout win since Feb. 16, 2022 vs. Tulsa.

- The Heartlanders are playing their eighth of 16 straight games against the Central Division.

- Iowa is 4-0-0-0 vs. the Wings, the first time ever Iowa has won the first four games of a season series against a team.

Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Kalamazoo Wings (Vancouver Canucks/Abbotsford Canucks)

Koch racking up the MGGs

Davis Koch scored twice Sunday against Fort Wayne and leads the Heartlanders with four multi-goal games this season. Eight of his 12 goals have come in multi-goal performances. Entering this week, Koch ranked second in the ECHL in goals and leads Iowa with 18 points.

Koch is tied for the second-most multi-goal efforts in a season in team history. Kris Bennett leads Iowa in multi-goal games in a season, with eight in 2021-22. The only other players to have four in a campaign are Tommy Parrottino (2022-23) and Jake Smith (2021-22).

The Heartlanders have scored the first goal of the game eight times and Koch has been the opening goal scorer in five games. Kris Bennett (6 in 2021-22) holds the single-season record for most first goals in a campaign. 

Shot control

The Heartlanders moved into the league’s top-ten in shots/game (32.74/game) and a large reason has been the team’s ability to attack in the first period. Iowa has taken at least ten shots in the opening period in 11 straight games. Over that same span, opponents have been limited to fewer than ten shots in the first frame seven times.

Last Saturday, Iowa became the first team to outshoot Toledo (45-24). Last Friday at Cincinnati, Iowa became the second team to match or outshoot Cincinnati in a game this campaign.

Road trip mileage update

The Heartlanders are in the final weekend of the team’s franchise record ten-game road trip. So far, the club is about 2900 miles through an expected 3400-mile journey. After taking on Kalamazoo in the second game of a back-to-back Saturday, the Heartlanders journey take a quick 120-mile sprint south on I-69 for a Sunday showdown at Fort Wayne to complete the road trip.

Next up
The Heartlanders rematch Kalamazoo Sat., Dec. 9 at 6:00 p.m. and finish the road trip Sun., Dec. 10 at 4:00 p.m. at Fort Wayne.

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.