Iowa Heartlanders Welcomed in Waynetown

An average weekend of travel turned into a bus trip to remember when the quaint town of Waynetown, IN, welcomed the Heartlanders after a broken bus left them temporarily stranded.

If you follow the Iowa Heartlanders on Twitter or listened to the Friday (Feb. 10) broadcast, you would’ve had the chance to hear the tale of the Heartlanders’ adventures in Indiana that took place long before puck drop.

On Thursday (Feb. 9), the Heartlanders journeyed to Indiana to prepare to face the Indy Fuel the following evening. Sixty-three miles away from their final destination, the team bus began to experience problems leaving them temporarily stranded just off of an I-74 exit. While they waited for repairs, a few players decided to walk into the nearest town, Waynetown – a town with a population of 961 (US Census Bureau) – when they crossed the path of local police officer Bob Heisel. Hearing about their circumstance, Heisel called the entire Heartlanders team a ride – from the local fire station. If you were in Waynetown and saw a bunch of hungry hockey players loading into a firetruck, now you know why. 

The Waynetown Fire Department was nice enough to take the team to a local pizzeria, Pizza King, where they were greeted with friendly faces. After a few hours of small-town hospitality, the team was ready to head back to the repaired bus, but not before thanking the kind locals by inviting them to their game the following night. One of those locals was Luke Kirkpatrick, a local youth hockey player who met the Heartlanders at Pizza King and was given the opportunity to join the Heartlanders in the locker room to read the starting lineup.

Heartlanders forward Yuki Miura took to Twitter to thank the town for their kindness.

If their adventures heading into town weren’t eventful enough, the Heartlanders would walk away with an exciting 4-2 win against the Indy Fuel and fond memories of the Waynetown community.

You can catch the Iowa Heartlanders back in action on Friday (Feb. 17) when they host the Wheeling Nailers for the first game of their Cancer Awareness Series. The specialty theme pink jerseys worn during the series will be up for auction starting Wednesday (Feb. 15) to support local non-profits.