Five road games left, Iowa visits Wichita

Wichita, KS – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, start the final weekend of a seven-game road trip at the Wichita Thunder Friday at 7:00 p.m.

Iowa and Wichita play eight times this season; the clubs have met three times so far and Wichita has taken the lead in the third period of each game to take a 3-0-0 season-series edge. 

With 17 games left in the regular season, Iowa is ten points back of the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division. 

Wichita has climbed out of the basement of the Mountain Division with five wins in their last ten, surpassing Rapid City. The club trails Allen by five points in the Mountain for the fourth and final playoff spot.

The top four teams in each division qualify for the Kelly Cup Playoffs, which start in mid-April. 

Friday’s meeting is just the fourth time ever Iowa visits Wichita. 

Iowa plays the Thunder again Saturday at 7:00 p.m. 

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

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

Need to know

- The Heartlanders have won six of their last eight road games (6-2-0-0).

- Iowa’s Drew DeRidder and Peyton Jones have allowed three or fewer goals in five straight appearances. Wichita is the last team to beat an Iowa goaltender more than three times in a game. 

- The Heartlanders have no more road games left against Central Division opponents this season. 

Season Series 

Despite Iowa’s 0-3-0-0 record in the series, all the games have been decided by a Wichita game-winning goal in the final seven minutes of the third period. In the first meeting Oct. 28, Xavier Pouliot broke a 3-3 tie with a strike at 13:31 of the third. The next day, Bradley Marek gave Wichita a lead in the final minute, tallying the game-winning strike with 55 seconds to go. On Feb. 21, Wichita scored twice in the final seven minutes to break another tie, but Iowa nearly rallied with 18 third-period shots and had the potential game-tying goal sitting two feet from the crease in the final ten seconds of the team’s 5-4 loss Feb. 21. 

Ty Enns and Dakota Raabe have each had success against Wichita in the season series with multiple teams. Enns scored his first goal of the season against the Thunder while playing for Kansas City earlier this season. Dakota Raabe has three total points (1g), including two assists against Wichita earlier this season with Utah. 

Wichita’s Jay Dickman (3g, 6 pts.) and Michal Stinil (3g, 5 pts.) top all players in goals in the season series. 

Thunder netminder Trevor Gorsuch is 8-2-0-0 all time against Iowa (32 GA in 10 GP). He has made 30 or more saves in nine of his ten games ever against the Heartlanders.

Next up

The Heartlanders are next at home to take on the Wheeling Nailers March 13-16 for three games at Xtream Arena. Iowa hosts Wheeling on Wed., Mar. 13 at 6:35 p.m. and Fri., Mar. 15 at 6:35 p.m. March 16th is St. Hat Trick’s Day, featuring a Heartlanders Mascot Dash Bobblehead giveaway to the first 500 fans, theme jerseys available for auction and a special appearance by the Kelly Cup, the ECHL’s championship trophy. 

On Fri., Mar. 22 at 6:35 p.m., the Heartlanders oppose the Wichita Thunder in the 100th home game in team history, featuring $5 youth tickets (online only, with purchase of adult ticket). 

Sat., Mar. 23 at 6:05 p.m. is Heartland Heroes Night against Wichita, honoring the frontline workers that selflessly serve eastern Iowa. 

On Sun., Mar. 24 at 2:05 p.m., Iowa wraps up the weekend against Wichita with Faith and Family Day, a team photo giveaway, and the final postgame skate of the season. 

Join the fun at Xtream Arena in the 2023-24 season

Here are some of the best options to make sure you experience the family-friendly entertainment of Heartlanders Hockey at Xtream Arena this season!

Flex Plans: Enjoy the service, savings and game dates that work best for you! Flex plans include “any game” ticket vouchers that are good for any home game during the 2023-24 regular season.  

12-game plans: Grab tickets to your favorite 12 games! 12-game plans include savings on individually-priced tickets!

Group Tickets: Make a big impact with your group and spend an evening with the Heartlanders. Starting at a special rate of $15/Ticket. A group comprises 10 or more people and is perfect for parties, families, co-workers, clients and more.

Season Ticket Memberships now available for 2024-25 season

Deposits now available for new season ticket holders: The Heartlanders are excited to welcome new season ticket members to our family for the 2024-25 season and deposits for tickets are now available. Call 319-855-1775 and visit https://iowaheartlanders.com/tickets/season-memberships to start your easy process to becoming a Rose Club Season Ticket Member.

Renewal Process: The Heartlanders have started the renewal process for full season plans (Rose Club memberships) for the 2024-25 season, and the renewal application is now available online here. Once you log in, simply click “Season Renewal Application” under the “My Tickets” tab on the right, then complete the process. Our sales representatives are available to help with the renewal process by calling 319-855-1775. You can also stop by the Mediacom Season Ticket Table behind section 109 at any future game to secure your seat for the 2024-2025 season. 

The Heartlanders have added new seating options for the 2024-25 season, debuting Attack Zone Lower, Attack Zone Upper, Defense Zone, and Corner sections to allow fans additional price points to fit their budget. 

To retain your seats for the 2024-25 season, a $50 deposit per seat must be made by March 24. On March 25, all seats without deposits will be released and available for purchase by new season ticket holders.