Iowa Heartlanders ready for series with Kansas City Mavericks after extended rest
In their only game of the week, the Heartlanders will face the Mavericks in Independence, Missouri, on Saturday.
March 3, 2022
The Iowa Heartlanders had a packed schedule for the past two months, competing in at least three games a week since Dec. 26.
Now, the Heartlanders have an extended break, as they will play just one game in the first week of March.
That game will be against the Kansas City Mavericks on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. inside Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri.
“We gave the guys three days off,” Heartlanders head coach Gerry Fleming said Wednesday. “We have three days to prepare for a tough team in Kansas City. So, guys had a little time to rest some bumps and bruises and get away from the rink and decompress for a little bit, and they came today with a great work ethic.”
The 23-23-6-1 Heartlanders are riding a six-game winning streak heading into the matchup. They last played on Feb. 26 in a 6-2 victory over the Fort Wayne Komets.
“Obviously, we would like to keep that momentum going,” forward Ryan Kuffner said. “Instead of playing games this week, we got to try to work hard in practice and outwork anybody that we’re going to be playing coming up. And getting four or five days to prepare for the next stretch of games, I think it will be important, and we’re going to have to use it to get the most out of it.”
Kuffner was one of two Heartlanders that received a monthly ECHL honor in February.
Kuffner was named the ECHL Player of the Month on Wednesday. The left-handed shooter from Ottawa, Ontario, contributed four goals and 19 assists in the second month of 2022 to help the Heartlanders on their six-game win streak.
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He is the first Heartlander to receive that honor in franchise history.
Three hours before Kuffner’s announcement, Heartlanders forward and captain Kris Bennett earned the ECHL Rookie of the Month honor for his 10 goals and 12 assists in February.
“It’s an awesome honor individually,” Bennett said. “But as a team, we’ve been playing so well, and that’s part of the reason why I got this achievement.”
Bennett is the second league rookie of the month for the Heartlanders in their inaugural season. Forward Jake Smith received the honor following his January performance. The Heartlanders are the first team to have both honors in the same month since the Wichita Thunder achieved the feat in Feb. 2021.
The matchup against the 26-25-2-1 Mavericks is the ninth and final meeting between the clubs in the 2021-22 regular season. The Heartlanders are 4-2-2 against the Mavericks. Kansas City will not have much time to prepare for Iowa, as it plays in Wichita on Friday night.
The Mavericks lead the ECHL with 1,142 penalty minutes — averaging over 21 minutes per game — as of Thursday night. Kansas City forward Mikael Robidoux tops the league in individual penalty minutes at 223.
So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Iowa-Kansas City series has featured a lot of physicality. The Heartlanders are expecting more of the same Saturday.
“But for us, it’s just playing our game and kind of just building off of how we’ve been playing the last month and a half,” Bennett said. “We’re just going to focus on ourselves and play hard and hopefully get the two points.”