The average age inside the Xtream Arena couldn’t have been much older than 10.
Some 2300 kids, droning and buzzing like worker bees, shrieked with every goal, every scuffle, and every “67” reference, which there were a lot of.
Though the puck dropped at 10:30 a.m., as concession stands were closed and their metal folding windows were fastened shut, it felt like a playoff game.
“It’s just amped up like crazy,” Jen Van Otterloo, a third grade teacher at Heritage Christian School in North Liberty, said.
“The Best Field Trip Ever”, the Iowa Heartlanders’ theme for their December 10th game, turned into one of the best hockey games that most of the kids had probably ever watched. The Heartlanders took down the Kansas City Mavericks 5-4 in a dramatic overtime thriller, complete with momentum swings, fights, and brilliant goals.
“Kids for some reason, bring the energy tenfold,” Heartlanders superfan Marc Korver said.
Amongst a sea of mostly black, gray, and gold, Korver stuck out not only for his age (decidedly not in grade school) but also his outfit.
Green and white striped zebra pants. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hockey sweater. A half dozen bead necklaces and chains, some in team colors, some adorned with letters spelling out words like “puck” and “goal”. Yellow and black dreadlocks, and to cap it off, a backwards gray Heartlanders cap with antlers sticking out on either side.
“More well known as the Antler Man” he said after introducing himself, then turned away from us. “116! Let me hear you! Let’s go!”
The 300 plus grade schoolers in the section began screaming in response.
“I think of just the enthusiasm of the crowd and the home team, the community it builds,” Shari Bozorgzad, the head of St. Vincent’s School in Keokuk, said. “They’re so excited.”
A few students were hockey buffs. Others were there watching their first ever game. All of them instinctively knew what to do.
When a Mavericks player went to the penalty box, they banged on the glass incessantly. With every bone crushing check, they cheered with a bloodlust that straddled the line between endearing and troubling.
There were homemade signs scattered throughout the crowd. Some on posterboard, some on scrolls of paper.
One banner said “Hartlanders” in kid handwriting with alternating yellow and black letters. Later during the game, each of the five kids holding it up received a black t-shirt. Another sign said “St. Vincent’s ♡s the Heartlanders”.
When we asked the St. Vincent’s students what their favorite part of the game was, the response was unanimous down the line: the fights. That sentiment was shared by the Heritage Christian kids as well.
Nobody dropped the gloves, but there were shoving matches, trips, slashes, interferences, and headlocks. Every time, the kids ate it up.
“It was a great environment and I think the guys really fed off that,” Chuck Weber, Iowa’s head coach and general manager, said.
But because they were still technically in school, the kids were at the mercy of the school day. When some groups began filing out in the third period to catch their bus home, Kansas City seized the advantage with two goals in 13 seconds to tie the game at 4-4.
“I’m almost worn out with these kids,” Korver told us before the start of the third period.
But as the game went to overtime and his section remained mostly intact, he found a second wind, leading “Lets go Landers” chants as if he was the conductor of an orchestra.
With kids jumping to their feet and screeching, then falling back into their seats after every missed shot, the chaos reached its peak with a snapped stick and a counterattack led by Heartlanders forward Elliot Desnoyers.
In the final minute of overtime, he surged down the right wing, took the puck across his body, and slotted it past Mavericks goaltender Jack LaFontaine to win the game for Iowa.
He then dropped to one knee and glided across the ice towards Korver and the students, who pounded against the plexiglass in celebration.
The Heartlanders entered the day undefeated in morning games throughout their franchise’s five years and counting of operation. They kept it intact with a little help from the next generation of hockey fans.
“These kids are awesome,” Korver said. “They need to come all the time.”
