The Mallards currently play in the Central Division with the Allen Americans, Brampton Beast, Missouri Mavericks, Rapid City Rush, Tulsa Oilers and the Wichita Thunder.
The Beast will join the Eastern Conference as part of the North Division and the Rush will play in the West Division while the remaining four teams will remain as members of the Central Division.
“Realignment gives us the chance to reengage and build on already existing rivalries, including a historic rivalry with Fort Wayne that dates back a decade and a half, and write new chapters with natural geographic rivals in Cincinnati and Indianapolis,” Mallards president Bob McNamara said.
The Mallards and Komets have battled each other in four different leagues, starting in 1999 with the UHL. cheap jerseys The teams were also members of the International Hockey League and Central Hockey League before the Komets joined the ECHL in 2012. The Mallards joined them as members this past offseason.
All time, the Mallards are 45 47 11 against Fort Wayne, including a 7 5 win over the Komets in their first ever meeting as ECHL members back in December.
The Mallards are 9 8 0 against Evansville, including a 3 0 win on New Year’s Eve. The Mallards are 0 2 0 against Cincinnati after dropping their first two games with the Cyclones at the beginning of the season. Quad City has not faced Indy, in its first year as a franchise.
The league also announced the playoff format for next season. The division winners will earn the top three playoff seeds in each conference while the teams with the next five highest point totals in each conference will also qualify for the playoffs. Each round of the Kelly Cup playoffs will be best of 7 series.
Shirt off your back: The Toronto Maple Leafs have consistently struggled this season, with a 22 25 4 record in the NHL. This has led to fans throwing their jerseys onto the ice, an offense that has led to police charges and possible lifetime bans from the Air Canada Centre, where the Maple Leafs play.
Fans wishing to part with their jerseys may want to head to the Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ont. Thursday night when the Brampton Beast host a “Toss Your Jersey” night for their game against the Allen Americans. After Brampton scores its first goal of the game, fans have been encouraged to throw their jerseys onto the ice.
All jerseys will be collected by the arena staff and donated to the Moss Park Hockey League, a local hockey league for children aged 4 to 14.
With the Beast in last place in the ECHL Central and the Americans the top team in the division, that first goal may be hard to come by. But, that will give fans all the more reason to let their jerseys fly.
Sweet sweaters: The Mallards held the first of two Genesis Jersey Auctions Saturday night, raising $19,275 for the Genesis Flu Free Q C program.
Paxton Leroux’s jersey received the evening’s highest bid of $1,500. Over the last 20 years, the Mallards jersey auctions have raised more than $800,000 to benefit Genesis Health System charities. The second auction will be following Quad City’s game against Wichita on March 14.
Mallards in the AHL: Benjamin Dieude Fauvel has yet to return from a knee injury suffered with the Iowa Wild. In 15 games with the Wild, the Mallards defenseman has one assist and a plus/minus rating of minus 3.
Wild weekly: The Minnesota Wild went 3 0 0 and remain in seventh place in the NHL Central Division with 52 points heading into their game Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Iowa Wild went 0 3 0 last week and remain in fifth place in the AHL West Division with 32 points.
Friday night is $1 Dog/$1 Beer night presented by 97X and MetroLINK while Saturday will feature a youth jersey giveaway presented by Scott County Family Y and Two Rivers YMCA. The first 1,000 fans 12 and under will receive a free Mallards youth replica jersey.
