Smooth-skating rookie Constantinou bolsters Hearts’ blueline

Coralville, Iowa – Defenseman Billy Constantinou has signed an ECHL contract with the Iowa Heartlanders, the team announced Monday.He previously skated three seasons in the OHL with Niagara, Kingston, and Soo from 2017-20. In 2019-20, he scored nine goals and a career-high 53 points in 60 games. Constantinou (pronounced: CON-stan-TEE-noh) has seen consistent playing time in his last three seasons, skating at least 45 games each year.Heartlanders Roster Update Forwards (2): Jack Billings, Ben SokayDefensemen (3): Jake Linhart, Shane Kuzmeski, Billy ConstantinouConstantinou: “I’ve only heard great things about Coralville, Iowa City, the team and the rink. For my style, I like to think of myself as an offensive defenseman. I try to show my creativity and I’ve been working on rounding out my game. Over the last year I’ve been trying to stay mentally tough and training on and off the ice well to prepare to come down to Iowa.”Head Coach Gerry Fleming: “Billy is the type of player that’s going to add to our back end. We know he is talented and can play an up-tempo game that we think is going to translate to our level. Our next step working with him is to help him continue to develop and round out his game so he can become an excellent all-around player. We look forward to getting him to training camp in October and starting that process.”    Constantinou Highlights:- Scored four goals and 15 points in the first 22 games of the 2018-19 season with Niagara- His total points have nearly doubled each season in major junior.- Scored 19 combined goals his last two seasons in the OHL. The Heartlanders officially open the 2021-22 ECHL season on Oct. 22 against Kansas City at Xtream Arena. Tickets are available at ShopHeartlanders.com/collections/tickets.  The Heartlanders’ AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, will host the Rockford IceHogs for an AHL preseason game Oct. 8 at 7:00 p.m. at Xtream Arena in the first professional hockey game in the new building, presented by the Iowa City Area Sports Commission. Tickets are available for the Fri., Oct. 8 game by calling the Heartlanders box office at 319-569-4625 or by visiting https://bit.ly/XtreamArenaPreseason.