With just two weeks to go until the new season starts for the Quad City Mallards, preparations are still far from complete. Earlier this week, the Central Hockey League dissolved, and its seven teams, including the Quad Cities, joined the ECHL.
Team president Bob McNamara says he's "thrilled and excited" to the join the ECHL, and calls it a historic occasion for hockey.
And right now, he's trying to work out a schedule for the season.
About all McNamara knows now is that the Mallards and the ECHL will play a 72-game season, and the Quad Cities will belong to the Central Division of the Western Conference with the other former CHL teams, Allen, Brampton, Missouri, Rapid City, Tulsa, and Wichita.
Training camp opened today and the first home game will be October 24 - but just about everything else is still up in the air
