Derek Damon

Iowa Heartlanders Publish 2024-25 Promotional Calendar

As September comes and goes, hockey season is just around the corner. Rookie camps are starting and preseason NHL games are next. As teams fill their rosters out and the temperature drops, teams are thinking of fun, interesting, new, and/or classic ways to fill the stands. With that being said, the Iowa Heartlanders have announced […]

ECHL: Iowa Heartlanders Mid-Summer Recap

We are now 130 days into the half-year-long ECHL offseason, meaning there are just 58 days until the puck drops on a new season in the Heartland. During this time, Iowans have seen former captain Riese Zmolek become the first ex-Heartlander to lift the Kelly Cup. Off the Ice, The Heartlanders have rolled out many […]

ECHL: Iowa Heartlanders Sign Second Defensive Duo of the Week

Coralville, Iowa- On August 15th, the Iowa Heartlanders announced the signings of two defensemen: Connor Federkow, a 21-year-old CHL veteran, and Hakon Nilsen, a Florida-born Norway International. This now increases the number of defensemen the Heartlanders have signed this week to four. Federkow, originally from St. Catharines, Ontario, a city just outside Niagara Falls, has […]

ECHL: Iowa Heartlanders Welcome Defensemen Erne, Hadobas

Coralville, Iowa- The Iowa Heartlanders announced the arrival of two new defensemen on August 12th, Lincoln Erne, a 25-year-old from Blaine, Minnesota, and Zeteny Hadobas, a 21-year-old Hungarian international. Erne played four years at Canisius University before making the step to the ECHL for the 2023-24 season, where he played 23 games for the Newfoundland […]

ECHL: Iowa Heartlanders Re-Sign Raabe, Add AuCoin

Coralville, Iowa- The Iowa Heartlanders made two announcements on July 30th to bolster their attack for the 2024-25 season. Forward Dakota Raabe will return to the Landers for the upcoming season, and Parker AuCoin will join the Heartlanders, which you can read more about here. Raabe, 27, is set to enter his fourth year in […]

ECHL: Iowa Heartlanders Welcome WHL Standout, Re-Sign Defensive Staple

The Iowa Heartlanders got their Tuesday started quickly when they announced the signing of WHL Forward Jack O’Brien and the re-signing of hard-working defender Chris Lipe. Lipe is familiar with the Lander way, playing 74 games with the team since being signed in March 2023. As a pure defender, Lipe’s contributions of just nine points […]

ECHL: Iowa Heartlanders Re-Sign Defender, Welcome Latvian International

Coralville, Iowa- On Friday, July 19, the Iowa Heartlanders made significant boosts to their defensive strength in the re-signing of defensive staple Louka Henault and welcoming Latvia’s Bogdans Hodass to the squad. Head Coach and General Manager Derek Damon has made some interesting and exciting decisions in his first ten signings, and these defensively-minded decisions […]

ECHL: “Scariest Man in Hockey” set to return to the Heartlanders

Coralville, Iowa- On July 11, the Forward Nico Blachman and the Iowa Heartlanders agreed to a contract renewal. The 26-year-old Enforcer from Florida is representing his eighth ECHL team with the Iowa Heartlanders, previously a member of Florida, South Carolina, Allen, Savannah, and Norfolk from 2020-2023 and Kalamazoo and Adirondack before joining Iowa in 2023-24. […]

ECHL: Heartlanders Give Qualifying Offers to Goaltending Duo, Six More

Coralville, Iowa- On July 7, ECHL teams had to make their eight qualifying offers. This allows teams to re-sign choice players and further protect the rights of players on ECHL contracts from the previous season. Iowa has tendered the following offers: Goaltender (2): Drew DeRidder, Peyton Jones Defensemen (3): Ben Brinkman, Louka Henault, Hunter Lellig […]

Jonny Sorenson Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks Iowa Heartlanders

ECHL: Two Forwards Re-Sign with Iowa

Coralville, Iowa- On July 3, the Iowa Heartlanders announced that they are bringing back forwards Will Calverley and Jonny Sorenson. Calverley, 25, and Sorenson, 24, were both brought in for the 2023-24 season, with Calverley being an offseason acquisition from the Florida Everblades after his Kelly Cup win and Sorenson being signed from the University […]