The Quad City Storm is a professional minor league hockey team to begin play in the 2018–19 season as a member of the SPHL. The team is based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa, with home games at the Vibrant Arena at The MARK in Moline, Illinois. The team replaced the ECHL's Quad City Mallards after the ownership ceased operations of the team in 2018. Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Storm was one of several SPHL teams to not participate in the 2020–21 season. [1]
| Quad City Storm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Moline, Illinois |
| League | SPHL |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Home arena | Vibrant Arena at The MARK |
| Head coach | Shayne Toporowski |
| Website | www |
| Franchise history | |
| 2009–2016 | Louisiana IceGators |
| 2018–present | Quad City Storm |
History
editIn 2018, the Quad City Mallards' owner Jordan Melville stated he was folding the team after losing about US$4 million since he became the sole owner in 2013.[2] On May 24, 2018, local ownership consisting of Ryan Mosley and John Dawson[3] obtained a franchise in the Southern Professional Hockey League to replace the Mallards at the TaxSlayer Center for the 2018–19 season by purchasing the franchise rights of the defunct Louisiana IceGators.[4][5] Former original Mallards' owner Howard Cornfield was brought on as a consultant.[3] The team hired longtime SPHL player Dave Pszenyczny as their inaugural head coach. As the Mallards name was unavailable due to the ECHL retaining the trademark,[6] the new team held a name-the-team contest with new name announced as the Quad City Storm on June 21. In May 2024, Shayne Toporowski was name new head coach of the Quad City Storm replacing Dave Pszenyczny after a long 6 years with the Storm.[7]
Records
edit2018–19
editThe Storm finished their inaugural season in ninth place out of ten teams, missing the 2019 President's Cup playoffs. The team had a final record of 18–33–5, scoring an average of 2.55 goals per game and allowing an average of 3.45 goals against per game.[8]
2019–20
editThe sophomore season for the Storm, the team fared slightly better with a final record of 16–20–8.[9] The team was in seventh place out of the ten teams due to points percentage, but was tied for last in the league in total points, before the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed the 2019–20 season on March 15, 2020.[10]
2021-22
editThe Senior season for the Storm, the team did much better with a final record of 32-15-5. The team was in fifth place out of the ten teams and made into the 2022 playoffs, but lost to the Rivermen in the conference finals.
2022-23
editDuring the SPHL 2022-23 season, the team would miss the playoffs with a record of 23-32-1 with the team in ninth place out of eleven teams.
2023-24
editDuring the 2023-24 season, the Storm made it into the playoffs with a record of 32-23-1 with the team in placed sixth place out of ten teams. But the team lost in the first round of the playoffs against Roanoke.
References
edit- ^ "SPHL announces changes for 2020-2021 season". SPHL. October 6, 2020.
- ^ "Quad-City Mallards to cease operations at end of season". Quad-City Times. March 13, 2018.
- ^ a b "UPDATE: Hockey will stay in the Quad Cities, be locally owned". KWQC. May 23, 2018.
- ^ "New hockey team coming to QC is part of Southern Professional Hockey League". WQAD-TV. May 23, 2018.
- ^ "SPHL adding Quad City for 2018-2019 season". SPHL. May 23, 2018.
- ^ "Storm's a coming: Quad-Cities hockey franchise unveils new name". The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus. June 22, 2018.
- ^ "New Quad-City hockey team will be called the Quad-City Storm". The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus. June 21, 2018.
- ^ Headley, Anna (October 17, 2019). "2019-20 Quad City Storm Season Preview". The Sin Bin. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
- ^ Headley, Anna (April 9, 2020). "Quad City Storm 2019-20 Season-in-Review". The Sin Bin. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
- ^ Headley, Anna (June 3, 2020). "COVID-19 and the Quad City Storm". The Sin Bin. Retrieved July 6, 2020.