Quad City Mallards

Quad City Mallards
2017–18 ECHL season
City Moline, Illinois
League ECHL
Conference Western
Division Central
Founded 2009 (In the IHL)
Home arena iWireless Center
Colors Black, green, orange, white
                   
Owner(s) Jordan Melville
(T&M Management Services)
General manager Bob McNamara
Head coach Phil Axtell
Captain Darren McMillan
Affiliates Vegas Golden Knights (NHL)
Chicago Wolves
(AHL)
Franchise history
2009–present Quad City Mallards

The Quad City Mallards are a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa. The Mallards are currently a member of the ECHL[1][2] after previously playing in the International Hockey League and Central Hockey League. Named after the Mallards team that played in the United Hockey League from 1995 to 2007, the current Mallards debuted in 2009 in the International Hockey League.[3] The Mallards play their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois.

History

The original Mallards franchise played in the Quad Cities from the 1995–96 season through the 2006–07 season. Their first two seasons were played in the Colonial Hockey League, which was renamed the United Hockey League (UHL) in 1997. The Mallards were an overwhelming success in their first few years, with attendance figures that regularly topped 6,000 per game. Attendance peaked in the 1997–98 season at over 8,500 fans per game, and while it declined, average attendance remained over 6,000 fans per game through the 2001–02 season. It continued to drop until it reached a low of 3,120 fans per game in the Mallards' final UHL season in 2006–07.

In 2009, a new ownership group, headed by Eric Karls, brought hockey back after two seasons and named the new team in honor of the former team.

On May 11, 2011, the Mallards originally ceased operations due to a lack of funding, but almost a month later, Club 9 Sports, a consortium between Chicago-based investment bank Prometheus Capital Partners, LLC, management and consulting firm Tobacco Road Capitalists and sports management and marketing firm ScheerSports, Inc. (headed by former National Basketball Association general manager Carl Scheer) bought the team from former owner Eric Karls and announced the team would return for the 2011–12 Central Hockey League season.[4]

The franchise, as well as the entire CHL, ran into financial difficulties during the 2012–13 season. The entire league was then operated by the T&M Group of Companies, the company that owns Boston Pizza. The Mallards' ownership group, T&M Management Services, was headed by Jordan Melville, son of Boston Pizza founder George Melville.[5] At the end of the season, Melville's organization obtained the Mallards' franchise in June 2013.[6] On August 27, 2013, a new affiliation agreement was announced between the National Hockey League Minnesota Wild, its American Hockey League affiliate Iowa Wild, and the Mallards.

On October 7, 2014, soon before the 2014–15 Central Hockey League season was set to begin, it was announced that the Central Hockey League ceased operations and the Mallards, along with the Allen Americans, Brampton Beast, Missouri Mavericks, Rapid City Rush, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder, were all approved the expansion membership application into the ECHL for the 2014–15 season.[1][2]

In 2017, the Mallards signed a multi-year affiliation with the NHL expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, and their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, for the 2017–18 season ending their four-year affiliation with the Wild.[7]

Players

Current roster

Updated July 27, 2017.[8][9]
# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
United States Brooks, KennyKenny Brooks RW R 25 2017 Las Vegas, Nevada Mallards
12 United States Francis, ChrisChris Francis C R 28 2016 Las Vegas, Nevada Mallards
6 United States Leibinger, ChrisChris Leibinger D L 23 2017 Saginaw, Michigan Mallards
19 Canada MacDonald, JoshJosh MacDonald W L 23 2017 London, Ontario Mallards
Canada Pontarelli, MichaelMichael Pontarelli RW R 23 2017 Laval, Quebec Mallards
11 United States Warning, SamSam Warning W L 24 2015 Chesterfield, Missouri Mallards

References

  1. 1 2 "CHL Clubs Join ECHL for 2014-15 Season". Central Hockey League. October 7, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "ECHL Accepts Seven Members". ECHL. October 7, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  3. ↑ "It's 'Quack to the Future' as Professional Hockey Returns to the Quad Cities" Archived January 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine., from Central Hockey League press release
  4. ↑ DeVrieze, Craig (June 11, 2011). "Chicago-based group saves Q-C Mallards". Quad-City Times. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Boston Pizza profile: George Melville" (PDF). Boston Pizza. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Boston Pizza takes over the Mallards". Quad City Times. June 19, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Golden Knights And Quad City Mallards Enter Into ECHL Affiliation". Vegas Golden Knights. June 1, 2017.
  8. ↑ "The Official Web Site - Quad City Mallards: Roster". Quad City Mallards. 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  9. ↑ "Elite Prospects - Quad City Mallards". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
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