The Best Start To A Season Since 2003 Has Quad Cities Excited

Nov 07, 2021

Were you a Quad City Hockey fan the last time a team in this town started 6-1-1?  That was the ’03-’04 season.  The mascot was a Mallard, Jeff Williams led the team in scoring and Hugo Proulx, Frederick Jobin and Jason Cannon each notched more than 130 penalty minutes. 

While the league, team colors and name have changed, the first eight tilts this season have been every bit as fun.

If you haven’t been to a Storm game this season you are missing out.  Just ask anyone who has been.  We all missed hockey.  But it’s back, and it’s better than it has been in a long time.

Especially for the Storm.  Friday night the team travelled to Peoria and beat the Rivermen 2-1.  The win was Quad City’s first in Peoria in the franchise’s history and also a record fifth in a row.  Newcomers Marcus Ortiz and Matt Stoia tallied the scores in the game and rookie netminder Bailey Brkin continued to dazzle with a 31 save effort in his fourth win of the season.  Brkin now ranks in the top three in the league in both save percentage (.955) and goals against average (1.26).

Saturday night the streak extended to six with an 8-1 beating of the Vermillion County Bobcats in Danville.   Connor Fries recorded a hat trick, Joe Sova tallied a pair of goals, Marcus Ortiz scored again, extending his point streak to four games, and Peter Di Salvo stopped 18 of 19 shots for the dub. These statistics are fun to type.

And the fun is going to continue this weekend when the Storm return to the friendly confines of the TaxSlayer Center.  Friday night is Autism Awareness night and the first home game of the year against Peoria.  The audio and visual effect levels in-game are going to be adjusted to a comfortable level for all fans in attendance and the Autism Society of the Quad Cities will be hosting an area in the arena for individuals and families of children with autism.  After the game there will be a special postgame concert featuring Electric Shock, the Midwest’s premiere AC/DC cover band.  Entry to the concert is free with purchase of a ticket to the game. 

On the ice the Storm will look to make it seven in a row and two straight against Peoria for the first time ever.  Why stop breaking records now?

Saturday November 13th is one of the most special games of the season; Salute to Military Night presented by TBK Bank.  Chicago Pro Sports National Anthem singer Jim Cornelison will get things started with his incredible rendition of the national anthem.  New armed forces enlistees will be sworn in at intermission and the Storm will be wearing special salute to military night jerseys that will be auctioned live postgame to raise money for the Quad Cities Veteran Outreach Center. 

The opponent Saturday night is another midwestern foe in the Evansville Thunderbolts who currently sit one point behind the Storm in the SPHL standings.  Quad City is 1-1-1 versus Evansville this season.

If you’re still reading and you’ve been to a Storm game this season I’d like to ask a favor of you.  In the comments of the Facebook/Twitter post this article was shared on tell us what has been the highlight of the season for you so far.  It can be hockey related, like seeing Shane Bennett’s hat trick two weekends ago.  Or not hockey related, like seeing your kids trick or treating on the ice with the players last weekend or maybe getting your picture with Radar.  I look forward to seeing your responses.

If you need tickets to Friday’s game you can get them HERE and if you need tickets for Salute to Military Night on Saturday you can get them HERE.

Hockey is back and we’ve got a lot of fun in the forecast.  Go Storm.

-Brian R.-