Coralville, Iowa- After two seasons and 104 games with the Iowa Heartlanders, Jake Durflinger’s camp announced the decision to sign with the EIHL’s Manchester Storm on August 21st.
Durflinger joins Grant Hebert (Allen Americans) and Noah Carroll (Savannah Ghost Pirates) as other ECHLers from the 2023-24 season to join the Storm for the 2024-25 campaign.
Jake is a charismatic, fan-favorite forward who is not afraid to take a fight. After wearing an “A” with Iowa last season, He will join a Mancunian side that is looking to build off their second-best season in club history, where they finished 4th with 61 points in 54 games.
Prior to going pro, the Walnut Creek, California native spent time in the NAHL, USHL, and NCAA. He would spend the 2013-14 season in the NAHL with the Corpus Christi Ice Rays, putting up 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points in 60 games. Durflinger would then spend three seasons in the NAHL with the Sioux City Musketeers and Bloomington Thunder, where he put up 32 goals and 48 assists for 80 points, along with 378 penalty minutes in 165 games. The 26-year-old forward would play five years at the NCAA level with Denver University, where he put up 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points in 165 games.
For Iowa, “Durf” tallied 47 points in his 104 games, including 27 in 2023-24, a record for his professional career. Durflinger led the Heartlanders in PIMS last season (113). He will likely be a dynamic assist maker from the Right Wing in Manchester, as his ability to make plays from the wing has grown in the past season.
Heartlanders fans everywhere will be wishing Jake and his stunning mustache the best of luck in Manchester.
