President RTN Devin van Holsteijn, led the meeting and welcomed everyone and a special welcome to those attending by Zoom. RTN Mark Pries led everyone in a moment of silence for Renee Good who was married to Rebecca Good, an Iowa City High graduate.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President Devin reminded members that Bernie Cremer’s services begin today with a 4 p.m. visitation and the service at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. Please attend if possible.
RTN Assoc. District Governor Ann Parker reminded members to attend affiliate meetings when possible.
Visiting Guests:Margaret Reese introduced our speaker, Chuck Werner joined by David Fine. Shannon Ramsay introduced Fernand Bila with the Institute for International Business and Linda Farkas introduced Ed Farkas (big hockey fan).
Visiting Rotarians: Linda Strutzenberg with Ankeny and Michael Kaestle, Rockenhausen, Germany.
PROGRAM: Introduced by RTN Margaret Reese, Chuck Weber as the Iowa Heartlanders’ Head Coach and General Manager. A two-time Kelly Cup champion and former ECHL Coach of the Year, he was named Head Coach and General Manager in June 2025, becoming the third Head Coach in Heartlanders history.
Coach Weber began by giving an overview of the Heartlanders. One of his favorite quotes is, “What’s bigger? Your windshield or rearview mirror?” He is leading the team with that philosophy, to look forward and build on their success. Michael Devlin of Des Moines owns both the Iowa Heartlanders and Des Moines Buccaneers, and is committed to building strong hockey teams in Eastern Iowa.
The Heartlanders are trying to work their way up in the EDHL network. The Heartlanders (ECHL) are the "Double-A" step, with players moving up to the Iowa Wild (AHL) before potentially reaching the NHL's Minnesota Wild, forming a key player development pipeline for the organization. They have had five players leave to play national. They “dress” eighteen players for every game.
A well known player coming out of their network is Sammy Hlavaj, who is going to be the starting goalie for the Olympics. The entire Minnesota Wild Team will have a total of 11 players.
Responding to a few questions, Coach Weber explained that the Cedar Rapid’s Rough Riders play Jr. Hockey and are not paid professionals, most often they are teenagers. Members of his team are paid professionals with salaries averaging $30,000. They all have agents, and he spends a lot of time recruiting.
The team practices on the ice at Coralridge Mall. About two thirds of the room had seen a live hockey game. Coach Weber likes to describe games as “elegant violence”. These guys can skate at 28 mph, so things are moving fast and there are many crashes.
Players are very involved in the community, from reading with kids to giving back to charitable organizations. For example, “Ukie” is a player that is well know who has been here five years. They have team members from Sweden, Finland, Canada and all over the U.S.
Coach feels this team is very close to reaching their next level. He likes to kiss his mom, his wife and kids and trophies (see photo of him on their website). He has coached all over the United States and world, working for ten different NHL teams. He encouraged us all to attend games and support the team. Thanks to the team for their great support of the Rotary Library being developed at the Neighborhood Center.
The meeting ended with The Four Way Test.
Program: Rtn. Margaret Reese; Attendance: Rtn. Nancy Droll
Please forward any newsworthy items and/or photos to Janice Baldes to include in the weekly slide decks emailed to members prior to each meeting and shown just before Rotary meetings at the Club. You can send information to: Rtn. Janice Baldes janicebaldes@gmail.com
For questions related to Club administration, please contact us at secretary@iowacitynoonrotary.org.