All 16 USHL teams will drop the puck twice for the 2024-25 season during the DICK’S Sporting Goods Fall Classic next week at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pa.
Remembering Johnny & Matthew Gaudreau
The USHL sends its deepest condolences to the family, friends and many fans of Johnny & Matthew Gaudreau. In celebration and rememberance of their lives, the league will hold a pregame moment of silence before each team’s game at the Fall Classic.
DICK’S Sporting Goods Fall Classic
- This marks the USHL’s ninth consecutive season hosting the Fall Classic at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pa. The annual season kickoff will draw scouts from every NHL team.
- Between the NHL, NCAA and various junior leagues, there are projected to be 400+ scouts attending over the course of five days
- Tier 1 youth tournaments (14U, 15U, 16U and 17U) will coincide with the USHL regular season openers
USHL in the NHL
- With ten first-round selections and 49 total picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, the USHL has developed the most draft choices of any junior hockey league since 2012.
- The USHL has produced more selections than the OHL, WHL and QMJHL for eight straight years.
- The USHL’s ten first-round selections in 2024 tied a league record previously set in 2016. It marked the 16th consecutive year the USHL has had multiple first-round picks and stretched the run to 20 years with at least one selection.
- Selected first overall by the San Jose Sharks, Macklin Celebrini (Chicago) joined four other players with USHL lineage: Owen Power (Chicago – Buffalo Sabres – 2021), Jack Hughes (NTDP – New Jersey Devils – 2019), Auston Matthews (NTDP – Toronto Maple Leafs – 2016) and Rick DiPietro ( NTDP – New York Islanders – 2000)
- More than 315 players with USHL ties participated in NHL development camps during the offseason. Every NHL team that hosted a camp had at least four USHL-produced players. The Detroit Red Wings rostered a league-leading 21 players with USHL ties.
- Multiple players who played last season in the USHL signed NHL entry-level contracts: Matvei Gridin (Muskegon – Calgary Flames), Ilya Protas (Des Moines – Washington Capitals), Julian Lutz (Green Bay – Utah Hockey Club) and Juraj Pekarcik (Dubuque – St. Louis Blues).
USHL in the NCAA
- 270 USHL alumni played in the NHL during the 2023-24 season.
- 12 former USHL players were named NCAA First-Team All-Americans in 2023-24.
- Macklin Celebrini (Chicago) won the Hobey Baker Award, Greg Brown (Dubuque) won the Spencer Penrose Award as national coach of the year and Kyle McClellan (Omaha) won the Mike Richter Award as the NCAA Goalie of the Year.
USHL & USA Hockey
- Fargo Force minority owner Matt Cullen was among a group of inductees to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Cullen is a three-time Stanley Cup Champion and one of two U.S.-born players to have played in more than 1,500 NHL games. He joins Brianna Decker, Kevin Stevens, Major Frederic McLaughlin and the 2022 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team in the class of 2024.
- The inaugural Canadian Hockey League (CHL)/USA Prospects Challenge will take place this November. The two-game series will feature first-year draft-eligible players for the 2025 2025 NHL Draft from the CHL (Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League, Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League) and USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. The host of the CHL/USA Prospects Challenge will rotate between the CHL’s three league markets each year. This is the first of a three-year agreement between the CHL and USA Hockey.
New Coaches
- Five teams will start the 2024-25 season with a new bench boss. Joining the ranks of head coach include Lennie Childs (Omaha), Evan Dixon (Dubuque), Ryan Cruthers (Sioux Falls Stampede), Mark Abalan (Tri-City Storm) and Pat McCadden.
- Pat McCadden is the first Green Bay Gambler alum to become head coach for the team. He played more than 100 games for the Gamblers between 2008-10, previously serving as assistant coach and associate head coach for the past two seasons
USHL Alumni in Pittsburgh Penguins Organization: Filip Larsson (Tri City), Luke Devlin (Muskegon, Des Moines, NTDP), Chase Yoder (NTDP), Jack St. Ivany (Sioux Falls), Tristan Broz (Fargo), John Gruden (NTDP), Marc Johnstone (Chicago), Nate Clurman (Tri-City, Des Moines, Sioux City), Ryan Shea (Youngstown Phantoms), Chase Pietila (Lincoln, Youngstown), Emil Järventie (Muskegon), Cruz Lucius (NTDP), Mac Swanson (Fargo), Zam Plante (Fargo, Chicago), Matt Grzelcyk (USHL), Blake Lizotte (Fargo), Rutger McGroarty (NTDP), Matt Nieto (NTDP), Bryan Rust (NTDP)
USHL Players from Pennsylvania: James Mackey (Cedar Rapids – Villanova, Pa.) & William Tomko (Chicago – McMurray, Pa.)*
*Based on preseason rosters*
There are 246 days between the start of the USHL regular season and the last possible day the Clark Cup could be played (May 21, 2025). Check out more key dates for the 2024-25 season.
