USHL weekly update

Thought I'd start posting these. This is from the United States Hockey League and is a recap, more or less, of what happened last week in the league.

Storm Warning…After sitting in fifth place in the tight West Division standings a week ago, three straight wins by the Tri-City Storm have vaulted the club into second place, trailing Omaha by just one point.  Storm top scorer Jaden Schwartz led the way with three multi-point games (2g, 5a) during week.  Brett Mohler scored his first goal of the season and contributed five points (3g, 2a) in the two-game sweep of Youngstown.  Maxwell Tardy had a point in all three wins while Radoslav Illo has six goals over his past six games.  Steven Bolton got his first start on Saturday and made 32 saves in the 3-1 victory after goaltending partner Carsen Chubak won two straight making a combined 46 saves.

All-Around Lancers…The Omaha Lancers have taken over the top spot in the West Division after posting three straight victories.  Defense has been one of the keys for the Lancers as the team has allowed more than one goal in only two of their eight games this season and tops the USHL allowing just 1.86 goals per game.  Goal scoring hasn't been a problem as they scored 16 goals over their three wins.  The all-around effort has the Lancers leading the USHL in goal differential at plus-16 (29-13).  Forward Seth Ambroz has scored five goals in his past five games and Dakota Eveland is riding a four-game point streak (2g, 4a).  Defenseman Dennis Brown had a big week recording seven points (2g, 5a), including a four-point game (2g, 2a) in the 7-4 win vs. Waterloo on Friday.

Lamp Lighters…The Chicago Steel continued their scoring prowess by recording 12 goals in three games during the week.  The team leads the USHL averaging 4.88 goals per game and has the League's top goal scorer in Mark Anthoine who netted three of his eight goals in two weekend victories, including the shorthanded game-winner in Saturday's 4-3 comeback win vs. Sioux Falls.  Sahir Gill tallied four points (2g, 2a), including the game-winning goal, in Friday's 7-5 win vs. Lincoln and is currently tied for the USHL scoring lead.  Andrei Kuchin is second in the USHL with 10 assists as he has tallied at least one assist in seven of eight games this season.

Working Overtime…Three games for the Green Bay Gamblers have gone to overtime this season.  Anders Lee redirected Brian O'Rourke's shot into the net on Friday with just 49 seconds remaining in the third period to send the Gamblers to their third OT game of the year.  Green Bay defenseman Max Hartner scored his first goal of the season on Saturday as the Gamblers earned a 3-0 shutout in the second of back-to-back games against Indiana.  It was the second career USHL goal for Hartner who scored his first goal last season at Green Bay while a member of the Sioux City Musketeers.  Goaltender Steve Summerhays stopped all 24 shots during the shutout victory vs. Indiana.

First and Foremost…Scoring first has led to much success for the RoughRiders this season as the team is a perfect 6-0-0 when recording the first goal of the game.  The play of defenseman Bryce Aneloski has been another major factor as he is tied for the USHL scoring lead after posting 10 points (4g, 6a) during his current three-game scoring streak, which included a hat trick and six-point game (3g, 3a) in Saturday's 7-2 win vs. Team USA.  Forward Zach Lehrke netted three goals during the week and now has five goals in eight games, which matches his goal total in 45 games last season. 

Breakout for Black Hawks… After being held scoreless through his first five games this season, J.T. Brown broke out with a five-point night (2g, 3a) as his Black Hawks won 7-3 vs. Fargo on Saturday.  He also broke the puck with his first goal, which was scored just 39 seconds into the contest.  Brown's shot hit the inside back iron of the goal and split the puck in two pieces.  Saturday's win snapped a four-game winless skid with much of the credit going to a 3-of-6 performance on the power play.  After going 5-of-15 over the past two games on the man advantage, Waterloo jumped from 12

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to fourth in League power play rankings (22.58%).

Notes…While four USHL teams are unbeaten on the road this season, no team in the League is undefeated on home ice.  Seven teams have more wins on the road than at home this season…The Indiana Ice lead the USHL in overall penalty killing allowing just one power play goal, which came in the second period of their second game of the season.  Since that goal, the Ice have not allowed a power play goal in the last 278:21 minutes of play…Fargo boasts the League's top power play unit converting at a 26.53% clip.  The Force have scored at least one power play goal in six of their seven games this season...Forward Rocco Grimaldi scored a goal in consecutive games for Team USA.

Alumni News…Former Tri-City Storm forward Scott Parse (2002-03) made his NHL debut over the weekend with the Los Angeles Kings.  In his first game on Saturday, he recorded an assist in the 5-3 win vs. Phoenix Coyotes, and then added another assist the following evening in the 6-2 win vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Parse spent the weekend playing on the same line as former Cedar Rapids RoughRiders forward Teddy Purcell (2004-06)…Former Sioux Falls Stampede forward Corey Tropp (2005-07) leads NCAA Division I hockey in scoring with 12 points (6g, 6a) in six games for the Michigan State Spartans. Tropp posted a goal and an assist Saturday night to help lead the Spartans to a 3-2 overtime victory over top ranked Miami University.  Blake Kessel (Waterloo Black Hawks, 2006-08) from the University of New Hampshire and Jack Connolly (Sioux Falls Stampede, 2007-08) from the University of Minnesota-Duluth are tied for second in the NCAA with ten points each.   

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the USHL celebrates its 31www.USHL.com.

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season of junior hockey in 2009-10.  With over 150 players already committed to NCAA Division I schools and 13 NHL Entry Draft picks currently on League rosters, the USHL is the nation's foremost producer of junior hockey talent.  For more information, visit us on the web at