2026 State of the Storm w/ Brian Rothenberger

May 28, 2026

Good morning Storm Nation,

Each year when I sit down to type the State of the Storm I am doing so because I have finally figured out how to start it.  The first sentence or two is often the most difficult, but it usually sets the ball in motion and the words generally come to me quickly after the first few have been figured out.

As might be clear to you by now, I don’t know how to start.  And the reason for that, I think, is because this season for me was unlike any other.  

In full transparency, the word that keeps coming to mind to describe it best is ‘disappointing.’  However, that certainly gives the impression that things were all bad, which is very much not the case.  This season was a disappointment in a literal ‘textbook’ sort of way:

dis·ap·point·ment

/ˌdisəˈpointm(ə)nt/

noun

sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one's hopes or expectations.

Our expectations for the Quad City Storm on and off the ice will always be high.  We are not interested in anything besides becoming a standard, on and off the ice, for SPHL teams, and this season we fell short of that.  

But enough of the negative for now.  I’ll be critical again, just give me a minute.

Off the ice we continue to operate one of the best and hardest working front office and hockey operations teams, not just in the league, but in all of minor pro sports.  

Recently, Chloe Hinojosa, was voted by her peers as the best athletic trainer in the league.

For the second consecutive season we saw an increase in Season Ticket Memberships, Corporate Partnerships and and our marketing and merchandising efforts continue to be among the top in the league.  Late in the season we surpassed 20,000 Facebook followers which is truly remarkable for a page that has existed less than eight calendar years.  

As important as any achievement since our organization’s inception, we are on the verge of announcing a new lease agreement with our partners at Vibrant Arena at The MARK.  Once finalized, the Dawson family will become the first ownership group EVER to sign a second lease agreement with the arena.  This achievement is a testament to both the support of our partners here at Vibrant Arena, the City of Moline and the Illinois Quad City Civic Center Authority board and the commitment of John and Missy Dawson to our team, our fans and the Quad Cities.  I could not be more excited for the future of the Storm, but more on that later. 

Back to the disappointment.  

Last offseason difficult decisions were made from a player-personnel perspective that drastically changed the look of our roster.  There will always be challenges in a rebuild, but the consensus was that the team on the ice this past season might have a little less firepower than some teams around the league, but would be able to make necessary changes to their approach, stylistically and compete.  

The reality was we ended up with a more talented roster than expected, which is credit to the scouting and recruiting done by both of our coaches.  A few players in particular that had exceptional seasons were goaltender Zane Steeves, who finished top 10 in GAA and SV% with the fourth most games started in the league and Devin Sanders who finished 7th in the league in goals scored despite missing 12-games at the end of the season due to injury.   Additionally, for the third straight season, Leif Mattson finished top three in the league in regular season points.

Yet, no playoffs.  Why is that? This season was lost in the margins.  Small things, here and there, that compiled to keep us out of the playoffs.  Here are a couple examples:

Slow start: in a season where the difference between last place and fifth place is only six games, a 3-9-1 start puts you very far behind the eight ball.  Credit to the team for being able to claw back from that start to as high as fifth place in the standing.  But that big of a push, being required so soon, is taxing.

Rivalry regression: last year, the Storm had its best season ever versus the Peoria Rivermen finishing .500 in the regular season series.  This season we managed just three wins against the Rivermen and saw four losses come by just a single goal and/or in overtime.  Geography dictates Peoria will always be a heavily scheduled opponent and it’s crucial we resort back to last year’s .500 or better performance.

Think the rivalry point is weak?  This season the Storm finished .500 or better against 7 of the 9 teams in the league.  Only Peoria and Huntsville bettered us in the regular season and, sadly, that was enough to end our season early (worth noting the Storm earned a 8-6-1 regular season record against the championship Thunderbolts).

Disappointment and concern are two very different things.  Concern is worse.  And there have been seasons, from a hockey perspective, that concerned me.  This one did not. 

I would encourage Storm fans to do what I have done and acknowledge the disappointment, recognize the positives and look ahead to next season with the expectation that those positives compound, the margins are cleaned up and a much more exciting, enjoyable and longer season of Storm hockey is coming in October.  

We are 150 days away, and it will be here before we know it.  

Thank you for your support of our organization, players and this community.  We appreciate you and are already working very hard to deliver the best season of Storm hockey yet.  See you bright and early October 22nd.

Go Storm.

Quad City Storm President

Brian Rothenberger