Quad City Mallards
{{Short description|Defunct minor professional ice hockey team}}
{{for|the original Mallards franchise|Quad City Mallards (1995–2007)}}
{{Pro hockey team
|current =
| bg_color = background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#48903A 5px solid; border-bottom:#E18B42 5px solid;
| text_color = Black
| team = Quad City Mallards
| logo = Quad City Mallards logo.svg
| logosize = 200px
| city = Moline, Illinois
| league = IHL (2009–2010)
CHL (2010–2014)
ECHL (2014–2018)
| founded = 2009 (In the IHL)
| arena = TaxSlayer Center
| colors = Black, green, orange, white
{{color box|#000000}} {{color box|#48903A}} {{color box|#E18B42}} {{color box|#FFFFFF}}
| media =
| affiliates =
| name1 = Quad City Mallards
| dates1 = 2009–2018
| reg_season_titles =
| division_titles =
| championships =
}}
The Quad City Mallards were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa that competed in the International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL.{{cite web|date=October 7, 2014|title=ECHL Accepts Seven Members|url=http://www.echl.com/echl-accepts-seven-new-members-p194005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009113029/http://www.echl.com/echl-accepts-seven-new-members-p194005|archive-date=October 9, 2014|access-date=October 7, 2014|website=ECHL|publisher=}} They were named after the Mallards team that played in the United Hockey League from 1995 to 2007, this Mallards franchise marked their debut in 2009 in the International Hockey League.{{Cite web|title=Central Hockey League Announces Conference Alignment for 2010-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110118011935/http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=4725|url=http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=4725|archive-date=January 18, 2011|access-date=January 18, 2011|website=Central Hockey League}} The Mallards played their home games at TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois.
The Mallards ceased operations at the conclusion of the 2017–18 ECHL season. The Mallards were replaced by the Quad City Storm of the Southern Professional Hockey League the following season.
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 the Mallards name back after two seasons.
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.{{cite news | last = DeVrieze | first = Craig | title = Chicago-based group saves Q-C Mallards | newspaper = Quad-City Times | date = June 11, 2011 | url = http://qctimes.com/sports/article_c1313e26-93d3-11e0-9317-001cc4c002e0.html | access-date = June 11, 2011}}
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.{{cite web|title=Boston Pizza profile: George Melville|url=https://www.bostonpizza.com/assets/mediacentre/documents/pdf/BP_ProfilePDF_GMelville_En.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524113236/http://www.bostonpizza.com/assets/mediacentre/documents/pdf/BP_ProfilePDF_GMelville_En.pdf|archive-date=May 24, 2012|access-date=April 11, 2017|website=Boston Pizza|publisher=}} At the end of the season, Melville's organization obtained the Mallards' franchise in June 2013.{{cite web|date=June 19, 2013|title=Boston Pizza takes over the Mallards|url=http://qctimes.com/sports/hockey/professional/minor/boston-pizza-takes-over-the-mallards/article_592b14b4-adfd-554e-aba4-3caece7be078.html|access-date=June 19, 2013|website=Quad-City Times|publisher=}} 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.{{cite web|date=October 7, 2014|title=CHL Clubs Join ECHL for 2014-15 Season|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007203517/http://centralhockeyleague.com/news/?article_id=11233|url=http://centralhockeyleague.com/news/?article_id=11233|archive-date=October 7, 2014|access-date=October 7, 2014|website=Central Hockey League|publisher=}}
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.{{cite web|date=June 1, 2017|title=Golden Knights And Quad City Mallards Enter Into ECHL Affiliation|url=https://www.nhl.com/goldenknights/news/golden-knights-and-quad-city-mallards-enter-into-echl-affiliation/c-289710910|access-date=June 1, 2017|website=Vegas Golden Knights|publisher=}}
However, the Mallards would only play one season with the Golden Knights' affiliation as the team would cease operations. Owner Jordan Melville stated he was folding the team due to losing the passion for operating the team and losing about US$4 million since he became the sole owner in 2013.{{cite web|last=Metcalf|first=Bobby|date=March 13, 2018|title=Quad-City Mallards to cease operations at end of season|url=http://qctimes.com/sports/hockey/professional/minor/quad-city-mallards-to-cease-operations-at-end-of-season/article_4c4b195e-aa60-5079-abba-8b081904c7ea.html|access-date=March 13, 2018|work=Quad-City Times}} A new ownership group obtained a team in the Southern Professional Hockey League called the Quad City Storm to replace the Mallards at the TaxSlayer Center for the 2018–19 season.{{cite web|date=May 23, 2018|title=New hockey team coming to QC is part of Southern Professional Hockey League|url=http://wqad.com/2018/05/23/new-hockey-team-coming-to-qc-is-part-of-southern-professional-hockey-league/|access-date=May 23, 2018|work=WQAD-TV}}
Season-by-season records
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | |||||||||||||||
| colspan=11|Regular season
!colspan=5|Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Season | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | GF | GA | Standing | Year | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Finals |
| IHL | 2009–10 | 76 | 29 | 35 | 4 | 8 | 70 | 207 | 263 | 6th of 7, IHL | 2010 | colspan=2 bgcolor=#000000 |— | colspan=2| Did not qualify | ||
| rowspan=4| CHL
| 2010–11 | 66 | 34 | 31 | 1 | — | 69 | 186 | 182 | 7th of 9, Turner | 2011 | L, 1–3, COL | — | — | — | |
| 2011–12 | 66 | 37 | 27 | 2 | — | 76 | 230 | 201 | 5th of 7, Turner | 2012 | bgcolor=#000000|— | colspan=3| Did not qualify | |||
| 2012–13 | 66 | 34 | 26 | 6 | — | 74 | 219 | 201 | 6th of 10, CHL | 2013 | bgcolor=#000000|— | L, 1–4, FTW | — | — | |
| 2013–14 | 66 | 33 | 23 | 10 | — | 76 | 219 | 198 | 5th of 10, CHL | 2014 | bgcolor=#000000|— | W, 4–3, RC | L, 2–4, ALN | — | |
| rowspan=4|ECHL | 72 | 37 | 28 | 4 | 3 | 81 | 205 | 186 | 3rd of 6, Central | 2015 | L, 3–4, RC | — | — | — | |
| 2015–16 | 72 | 37 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 80 | 203 | 203 | 3rd of 5, Midwest | 2016 | L, 0–4, MO | — | — | — | |
| 2016–17 | 72 | 40 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 84 | 232 | 220 | 3rd of 7, Central | 2017 | L, 1–4, FW | — | — | — | |
| 2017–18 | 72 | 25 | 42 | 4 | 1 | 55 | 196 | 295 | 7th of 7, Central | 2018 | colspan=4| Did not qualify |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.myqcmallards.net/ Official Quad City Mallards website]
{{ECHLdefunct}}
{{Central Hockey League}}
{{IHL}}
Category:Defunct ice hockey teams in Illinois
Category:Defunct United Hockey League teams
Category:Defunct Central Hockey League teams
Category:Central Hockey League teams
Category:International Hockey League (2007–2010) teams
Category:Ice hockey clubs established in 2009
Category:2009 establishments in Illinois
Category:Philadelphia Flyers minor league affiliates
Category:Minnesota Wild minor league affiliates
Category:Vegas Golden Knights minor league affiliates