News

MALLARDS UNVEIL 2017-18 SCHEDULE

By: Mallards Communications Staff
Photo: Sean Flynn Photography/Quad City Mallards

The Quad City Mallards today unveiled the team’s 72-game schedule for the 2017-18 season, which the Mallards will open on Friday night, October 13 on home ice against the Brabham Cup ECHL regular season champion Toledo Walleye and which will see the Mallards play 29 of their 36 home games on fan-friendly weekend dates.

The full schedule can be found here.

The season opener is the first of 16 Friday night home games for the Mallards, who will also play nine Saturday night games on home ice and four Sunday afternoon tilts at the iWireless Center. Mallards Friday and Saturday evening home games will face off at 7:05 p.m. while Sunday home contests will start at 4:05 p.m. The Mallards’ seven Wednesday night home games will again next season begin at 6:35 p.m.

“The chance to offer even more weekend home games to the fans of the Quad Cities already has us very excited about the 2017-18 season. We have also increased the number of Friday home games we’ll play next season which is a great boost since Friday is traditionally a strong night for Mallards hockey,” said Mallards president and general manager Bob McNamara. “In addition, playing a healthy portion of our home schedule within our division gives us a chance to build on what are already some great rivalries.”

Mallards fans will have ample opportunity to quench their thirst for hockey after a long offseason when the Mallards play their first three games and six of their first seven on home ice. In the wake of the October 13 opener, the Mallards will be right back in action at home one night later against the Tulsa Oilers, who will then make a rapid return to the iWireless Center on Wednesday, October 18. After playing their first away game of the season on Saturday, October 21 in Toledo, the Mallards will welcome the Idaho Steelheads to Moline for the first time ever for games on Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28. The Mallards will cap off their season-opening cascade of home dates when the Indy Fuel make their first visit of the campaign on Friday, November 3.

The Mallards will play the majority of their games- 46- within the Central Division. The Mallards will play more games against the Fuel- 11- than against any other team. The Mallards will renew their longstanding rivalry with the Fort Wayne Komets- by whom they were knocked off last month in a hard-fought Kelly Cup playoff series- nine times. As for the rest of their division rivals, the Mallards will collide with the Kalamazoo Wings eight times, square off with the Walleye on seven occasions, tussle with the Oilers six times and play five games against the Wichita Thunder.

The Mallards will face Western Conference opponents 59 times and will play 13 games against Eastern Conference foes. A nine-game season series against the Cincinnati Cyclones will account for the bulk of the Mallards’ inter-conference action. In addition, the Mallards will twice clash with the expansion Worcester Railers, will play the Adirondack Thunder for the first time ever on Wednesday, November 8 on home ice and will make a single trip north of the border to meet the Brampton Beast on Wednesday, January 24. The inclusion on the schedule of a quartet of Mountain Division opponents- the Kansas City (formerly Missouri) Mavericks (six games), Rapid City Rush (three), Utah Grizzlies (two) and Steelheads (two)- means the Mallards will face 14 of the ECHL’s 27 teams.

The Mallards will be at their busiest while playing 14 games in March. They will play six times in October, 12 times in November, 13 times in December, 11 times in January, 13 times in February and three times in April.

The Mallards will hit the road for nine straight games between November 25 and December 16. The Mallards last played nine consecutive away games between November 27 and December 23, 2005. The Mallards will enjoy their longest home stand of the season when they play five successive games at the iWireless Center between January 31 and February 10.
 
The Mallards will play three games in three nights on nine occasions: November 17 through November 19; November 24 through November 26; December 14 through December 16; December 29 through December 31; January 19 through January 21; February 16 through February 18; February 22 through February 24; March 2 through March 4 and March 23 through March 25.

There will be little holiday rest next season for the Mallards, who, on Veterans’ Day, will hit the ice in Indianapolis. The Mallards will host Wichita the night after Thanksgiving- Friday, November 24. That tilt is just the beginning of a healthy dose of holiday season hockey for the Mallards. The Mallards will face Cincinnati on Friday, December 22 in the Flock’s final home game before the ECHL’s Christmas break. The Mallards will return to the ice just before the new year with home games on Friday, December 29 again against Cincinnati and Saturday, December 30 against Fort Wayne and will close out 2017 by visiting Kalamazoo on New Year’s Eve. Expect an exchange of bruising body checks and slap shots rather than the more traditional flowers and candy when the Mallards and Wings meet on Wednesday, February 14 in Kalamazoo.

The Mallards will close their twenty-first regular season by playing three potentially crucial home games in four nights: Wednesday, April 4 against Rapid City; Friday, April 6 against Kalamazoo; and Saturday, April 7 against Cincinnati.

The Mallards’ 2017-18 promotional schedule will be revealed later in the offseason.

Mallards 2017-18 season tickets are now available. Season ticket holders enjoy significant savings of the walk-up ticket price and receive a host of exclusive benefits. For more season ticket information, fans can contact the Mallards at 309-277-1364 or info@myqcmallards.net. 



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