ECHL: Heartlanders Announce Family-Friendly Schedule Modifications

Coralville, Iowa- Following the ECHL’s announcement of the 2023-24 ECHL schedule and the University of Iowa’s Athletic Department’s schedule announcements, the Iowa Heartlanders have made a few schedule modifications. This family-friendly movement has brought about earlier start times for home games, as well as time changes to feature games scheduled for holidays.

With this, the Heartlanders have moved the times of their 7:05 pm-scheduled games. Saturday games will now have 6:05 pm puck drops, and most remaining weekday home games are being brought up to 6:35 pm. Sunday games will remain with their 2:05 pm beginnings.

This effort, as well as Head Coach and General Manager Derek Damon’s community outreach programs, are new ways to bring existing hockey enjoyers into the Heartlanders fanbase. These initiatives begin with the creation of hockey summer camps for youth as well as “learn to play” clinics for people of all ages. Damon’s offering of these to all people is an example of how the Iowa Heartlanders seek to develop an inclusive hockey environment in the state of Iowa. Two major focus points include developing Iowa’s kids into lifelong Heartlanders fans and building a fanbase that will be loyal for generations to come.

Two other schedule modifications have been made. The Heartlanders’ three-game series against the Kalamazoo Wings will have the middle game moved from Friday, November 10^th, up to Thursday, November 9^th due to scheduling conflicts with their Xtream Arena co-tenant, University of Iowa Volleyball, which is hosting events on November 10^th and 12^th. The other modification is the moving of Monday, January 15^th’s start time from 10:35 am to 2:05 pm. This MLK Day matchup with the Cincinnati Cyclones is also the first promotional event the Heartlanders have announced, named Community Day. The content of this special event is yet to be announced. Fans can also expect a Veteran’s Day event for their November 11^th home game.

With Heartlanders games averaging a length of 2 hours and 20 minutes in the 2022-23 season and much of the surrounding Iowa River Landing closing its doors at 10 pm, fans are almost guaranteed to be able to enjoy the amenities of the walkable commercial area both before and after games. This is part of the community engagement efforts that were promised by new owner Michael Devlin.

These changes may be a beneficial response to HockeyDB’s data that shows the young franchise has the lowest average attendance in the ECHL over the two years of existence. This move may offer a chance for new ownership to bolster ticket sales, community engagement, and fan atmosphere. While changes in this form won’t always be unanimously approved, Devlin’s new ownership appears to feel that this new program is among a set of bold responses to adjust after a season that came up short of expectations.

While there is still much time to come and even more to figure out, it comes as a delight to hockey fans everywhere that the calendar has turned to August. Hockey season is now only two months away, and October 20^th vs. Rapid City can’t come soon enough.