A Lack Of Heart Next Season

After a busy weekend of sledge hockey, the last thing I thought I'd be writing about today is the suspension of a professional hockey franchise. With all three top North American leagues pushing to get to 32 teams so that each NHL team had its own AHL and ECHL affiliates, one of those pillars crumbled today with the news that the Iowa Heartlanders had informed the ECHL that they were suspending operations for the 2026-27 season after a difficult campaign on the ice and at the box office this year. For a league that has rapidly been expanding to meet that 32-team goal, the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild will be without an ECHL affiliate next season, so is Iowa the first chip to fall?

The news of the team's suspension was posted on the ECHL website today with the release stating that "the League's Board of Governors has approved the request of the Iowa Heartlanders' Membership for a Voluntary Suspension for the 2026-27 Season". The team will review its position in the community with respect to building a stronger fanbase and a deeper sponsorship roster, and they haven't ruled out other investors who can help keep the team in Coralville, Iowa.

Through 28 games this season, the Heartlanders have drawn the fewest fans at 42,457 - an average of just 1516 fans per game. That's nearly 650 less fans per game than Trois-Rivières averages, and they're not even close to the most recent ECHL expansion teams in Bloomington, Tahoe, and Greensboro. The Utah Grizzlies, who are moving their franchise to Trenton, New Jersey after this season, are averaging 4504 fans, so it's pretty clear that the Heartlanders have a ton of work to do to make Xtream Arena a fun place to be.

Of course, having a 19-30-3 record this season while sitting as the 28th team in a 30-team ECHL doesn't point to a lot of fun despite some unique promotional nights. In five seasons, they made the playoffs just once, and that happened for the first time last season after winning 36 games, eventually falling in the opening round to the Fort Wayne Komets. Iowa looked to build on that success, but they've struggled since the puck was dropped this season.

"This was an incredibly difficult decision that followed months of careful evaluation," majority owner Michael Devlin said in a written statement. "Despite significant efforts to stabilize and strengthen the organization, we concluded that stepping back for a season is the most responsible course while we review long-term solutions."

Iowa won't be the first team to have voluntarily suspended their operations as all of the Columbus Chill (1999), Pee Dee Pride (2005), Augusta Lynx (2008), Columbia Inferno (2008), Fresno Falcons (2009), and the Las Vegas Wranglers (2014) suspended their operations, and all of the franchises ended up relinquishing their ECHL memberships within a year of doing so. I'm not saying that the Heartlanders are headed for the same fate as those six teams, but coming back from taking a year off is like starting up as an expansion team again.

It would be interesting to see what the ECHL brass thinks of Coralville, Iowa. For those who don't know the city, its population was 22,318 people in 2020, making it the 23rd most populous city in Iowa. To fill the 5100-seat Xtream Arena, the Heartlanders would need more than 20% of their total population to attend games regularly. If the Heartlanders are going to be successful, attracting more people from Cedar Rapids would be extremely helpful with that city's population sitting near 138,000 people just 30 minutes away.

Being that I don't own any part of the Heartlanders, the easiest way to get people to come to Coralville's Xtream Arena would be to ice a winning team. Ownership would need to spend wisely with the ECHL salary cap, but putting a winning team on the ice would be something that Heartlanders fans have only seen once in their five seasons of existence. Icing a winning team wouldn't solve all their problems, but fans are more willing to travel for winning squads. That should be a priority if or when the Heartlanders plan to return to the ECHL.

As it stands, the ECHL will jump back up to 30 teams next season with the New Mexico Goatheads joining the circuit, and we already know the Utah Grizzlies are heading to the east coast to become the Trenton Ironhawks. 2027-28 will see another team put down stakes in Augusta, Georgia, pushing the number of teams in the ECHL to 31. With the Heartlanders on the sidelines and the NHL holding onto the dream of 32 affiliated pro hockey franchises, there will need to be some tough decisions made about their viability moving forward.

When it comes to the 2026-27 ECHL season, it seems there will be a distinct lack of Heart(landers) in it compared to this season.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!