PrairieThunder welcomes Quad Cities
June 30, 2009 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Bloomington PrairieThunder News Release
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Bloomington PrairieThunder is looking forward to renewing its rivalry with Quad Cities both on and off the ice, now that the Mallards have officially been introduced as a member of the International Hockey League.
IHL officials announced Tuesday that the Mallards will begin play this season, raising the league membership to seven for the 2009-10 campaign.
"This is another red-letter day for the IHL," said PrairieThunder president Tim Leighton. "While we were excited about the announcement of Dayton joining the league a few weeks ago, this may be a tad more exciting for PrairieThunder fans because of the Quad Cities proximity to us.
"We want to be among the first IHL organizations to welcome the Mallards and their ownership group into the league. If today's news conference is any indication, the new owners are a first-rate organization. We expect big things from the new team. But we also want them to know that we haven't forgotten past results."
Bloomington and Quad Cities competed against each other three years ago as members of the United Hockey League, a predecessor to today's International Hockey League. Quad Cities owns a 7-3-1 record against the PrairieThunder
"It's great to have another team from Illinois in the league and one that is within two hours traveling distance of us," added PrairieThunder assistant general manager Bryan Bloodworth.
"It creates, or in this case, re-creates a natural rivalry for us on the ice and among the fans off the ice. The year the two teams played in the UHL we saw a lot of fans from the Quad Cities making the trip here and our fans making the trip there."
International Hockey League 2 Stories from June 30, 2009
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