Heartlanders announce puck drop times for games this season

Full schedule coming in next few weeks

Coralville, Iowa – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, announced new start times for the 2024-25 regular season. All weekday home games (Monday-Friday) begin at 7:00 p.m., except for the club’s annual Field Trip Day at 10:35 a.m. Saturday home games start at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday home games feature 3:00 p.m. puck drops. 

The full 2024-25 calendar will be released by the ECHL in the coming weeks. Iowa will play 36 home games at Xtream Arena in the 2024-25 season.

Last season’s Saturday 6:00 p.m. puck drops saw an increase in average attendance, which included the first sell-out crowd in team history vs. Kansas City on Fan Appreciation Night on Apr. 13, a 7-4 Iowa win. Additionally, two of Iowa’s five largest-ever crowds came on Saturday last season.

The Heartlanders had 6:35 p.m. puck drop times on Wednesdays and Fridays last season, but data showed a lower combined attendance on those two dates compared to the 2022-23 season when Iowa had 7:00 p.m. weekday start times.

“The data supported what we heard anecdotally from our fans; 6:35 p.m. weekday puck drops were restrictive for some and made it more difficult to arrive on time,” President Matt Getz said. “Additionally, we hosted a couple of $5 youth ticket nights on Wednesdays and Fridays and concluded that promotion did not drive youth attendance on those nights. We feel that moving puck drop to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays will alleviate those concerns and make it easier for families to attend. Finally, we are happy that our change to move games to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday was successful and resulted in some of the best crowds ever for the team.”

The last time change is for Sunday home games, which will be at 3:00 p.m. Previously, the Heartlanders dropped the puck at 2:00 p.m. on Sundays.

“It might not sound like much, but moving Sunday puck drop back an hour is critical to the rest, recovery and performance of our players,” Heartlanders Head Coach & General Manager Derek Damon said. “We had the earliest Sunday start times in the league the last few seasons, and we found we actually won more games on the road on Sunday when our players had more time to recover.”

Join the fun at Xtream Arena in the 2024-25 season

Full-season ticket plans are currently on-sale, and deposits can be placed for partial season-plans and group outings. Call 319-855-1775 or visit https://iowaheartlanders.com/tickets/ticket-plans to place a deposit on season tickets and learn more about becoming a season ticket member.

The 2024-25 ECHL schedule will be released this offseason. Stay tuned to Iowa Heartlanders social media (@goheartlanders) and the team’s website for the schedule release. Sign up here to be notified by text message when our Home Opener is announced for the 2024-25 season.