The Iowa Heartlanders heads into the second weekend of the 2022-23 season with two goaltenders who weren’t with the franchise on opening weekend.

Bailey Brkin and Conor O’Brien are the two Heartlanders’ active netminders as the club competes at the Kalamazoo Wings on Friday, the Cincinnati Cyclones on Saturday, and the Wheeling Nailers on Sunday.

“A team accepts whoever comes to town,” Heartlanders associate coach Joe Exter said. “It’s part of what goes on in this business, and we got two goaltenders that are here. They’re going to help us compete, and the best part about it is our team structurally around them is going to give them a chance to see pucks, for them to make saves, which is going to help us win some games.”

The two new goalies joined the club after three netminders have been moved since the beginning of the season. Hunter Jones was recalled to the AHL’s Iowa Wild on Tuesday, C.J. Motte was placed on injured reserve earlier in the week, and Corbin Kaczperski found himself on injured reserve before Friday’s season-opener.

Brkin is the more experienced of the two new additions, as he started his professional career early last season. The Sherwood Park, Alberta, product competed in 17 contests with Southern Professional Hockey League’s Quad City Storm and notched a .922 save percentage.

The 6-foot-3, left-handed catcher, was also loaned to several clubs last year. He played 11 games in the ECHL with the Fort Wayne Komets, Rapid City Rush, Orlando Solar Bears, and Wichita Thunder. While he was in Fort Wayne, he faced Iowa on Dec. 31 and saved all 13 shots he faced.

He returned to the Storm to start the 2022-23 campaign. In his first two contests of the season, he posted a .960 save percentage and was named a Warrior/SPHL Co-Player of the Week on Tuesday.

“I think there’s definitely good goalies in the SPHL,” Brkin said. “But I think the biggest difference will come from the players. The players are just … that much better, and you have that little bit less time on the ice to make that save that you can make.”

O’Brien, on the other hand, has one game of professional experience. It came in April while he was with the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder. Against the Reading Royals, he saved 34 of 35 shots.

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Before his lone ECHL appearance, O’Brien was a star at NCAA Division III Endicott College in Massachusetts. His .949 saves percentage was first in the division last season. The Pinellas Park, Florida, product was a two-time All-American at Endicott and a co-winner of the 2022 Joe Concannon Award — given to the best NCAA Division II/III American-born player in New England.

“What we’ve seen from him is a guy that’s hungry for the opportunity,” Exter said. “Called him, asked if he wanted to come out. He’s excited. Got on a plane. Didn’t ask questions. Just wants to get on the ice and work.”

Heartlanders focusing on simplicity and detail

Iowa stands at 0-2 after dropping consecutive games to the Idaho Steelheads to open the season. As the Heartlanders head into their first ECHL Central Divisional contests of the year, they know they’re better than their previous results.

“I think we just got to go back to the basics,” Heartlanders defenseman Ryan Wheeler said. “Keep it simple. We’re a really good hockey team, and we got a lot of really good players.”

Exter noted skill wasn’t an issue last week, but he wants his team to be harder to compete against. He wants to see more commitment and detail on each shift.

The associate coach mentioned he saw commitment and detail during the second and third periods last week, when the Heartlanders outscored the Steelheads, 4-3. 

In the first periods, however, the Steelheads put nine goals on the board compared to the Heartlanders’ two.

Exter enjoying time in ECHL

Though he started his coaching career in 2005, Exter didn’t coach professionally until the 2022-23 season. The Heartlanders job is his first time returning to the professional ranks since playing for the Nailers from 2003-05.

He said after his first two games, the ECHL has lived up to his expectations.

“There’s many differences,” Exter said of coaching in the ECHL rather than the NCAA. “But at the end of the day, a job is on the ice, hold the players accountable, support the players and make sure they play with the right detail, right attitude, and together to make individuals better players. That’s similar anywhere.”