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(USHL) Weekly Notes

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Dan Hickling

Men’s Ice Hockey | 10/15/2024 8:00:52 AM

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TOP STORYLINES

  • The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Sioux City Musketeers will host Pink in the Rink on Saturday, Oct. 19. Both teams will wear and auction specialty jerseys. The Roughriders will donate proceeds to the Nassif Community Cancer Center while the Musketeers will donate to the Unity Point Health St. Luke’s Oncology unit.
  • The Chicago Steel will host the slowest two minutes in sports with its fifth annual Turtle Races on Saturday, Oct. 19, then will host Celebrating Women in Sports with a ceremonial puck drop from captain of the U.S. women’s national team and Minnesota Frost (PWHL), Kendall Coyne Schofield
  • Former national champion and longtime NCAA coach Danton Cole was named USHL Assistant Director of Player Safety. Cole’s responsibilities will include implementing USHL player safety initiatives and policies, monitoring game actions for safety concerns, reviewing penalties as defined under the USHL player safety policy, serving as a liaison between general managers, head coaches and players and collaborating with the NHL on player safety initiatives. 

TOP ROOKIES

  • Among 2025 NHL Draft eligible skaters, Ryker Lee (MAD/Michigan State), Gavin Cornforth (DBQ/Boston College) and Ethan Wyttenbach (SF/Quinnipiac) lead with seven points each. Ben Kevan (DM/Arizona State) ranks fourth with six points.
  • Among 2026 NHL Draft eligible rookies, Landon Nycz (WAT/UMass) and Jack Hextall (YNG/Michigan State) lead with six points. Torkel Jennersjö (DBQ), Nikita Klepov (SC), and Tynan Lawrence (MUS/Boston University) have four points each.
  • Jennersjö leads USHL rookies with four goals.
  • Carl Axelsson (SF) leads 2025 NHL Draft eligible goalies with a 2.98 GAA and .910 SV%.
  • Harrison Boettiger (NTDP) leads 2026 NHL Draft eligible goalies with a .944 SV% and 1.82 GAA.

NHL DRAFT PICK WATCH LIST

  • Blake Montgomery (LIN/Wisconsin/Ottawa) has seven points in six games (2-5-7).
  • Heikki Ruohonen (DBQ/Harvard/Philadelphia) has seven points in seven games (3-4-7).
  • Vasily Zelenov (GB/Buffalo) has six points in seven games (1-5-6).
  • Javon Moore (SF/Minnesota/Ottawa) has four points in six games (2-2-4).
  • Austin Baker (SF/Michigan State/Detroit) has four points in six games (1-3-4).
  • William Samuelsson (GB/Dallas) has four points in seven games (1-3-4).
  • Louka Cloutier (CHI/Omaha/Colorado) is 2-2-0-0 with a 2.96 GAA and .912 SV%.

TOP TEAMS

  • The Lincoln Stars (12 points) lead the Western Conference and carry a five-game winning streak into a weekend series at Youngstown. The Dubuque Fighting Saints (10 points) lead the Eastern Conference with games vs. Omaha and at Des Moines this weekend.
  • Sioux City, Lincoln and Waterloo are the only teams in the top five for goals for and goals against per game. 

TOP SKATERS

  • Daniel Shlaine (LIN/Minnesota-Duluth) and Jack Pechar (LIN/Northeastern) lead the league in scoring with nine points each.
  • Tate Pritchard (SC/Minnesota State) leads the league with six goals in six games.
  • Landen Gunderson (SC/Western Michigan) and Sam Laurila (FGO/North Dakota) lead the USHL in assists with six each.
  • Aleksandr Rybakov (SF) leads all defensemen with a +8 rating. 

TOP GOALIES

  • Among goalies who have played more than two games, Yak Shostak (LIN/St. Cloud State) leads the USHL with four wins, a 1.41 GAA and a .948 SV%.
  • Gavin Moffat (GB) leads the USHL with two shutouts. He is one of only two goalies with six games played this season, posting a 3-0-0 record with a 2.02 GAA and .935 SV%.
  • Giacomo Martino (SC), Gennadi Chaly (SF/Michigan) and Kambryn Hendrickson (OMA/UConn) named USHL Players of the Week.

STREAKS

  • Tate Pritchard (SC/Minnesota State) has scored in every game this season with six goals and two assists through six games.
  • Jack Pechar is on a seven-game point streak (4-5-9).
  • Landen Gunderson (SC/Western Michigan) and Tate Pritchard are on six-game point streaks.
  • Heikki Ruohonen (DBQ/Philadelphia) and Nolan Roed (TC/St. Cloud State) are on five-game point streaks 

SPECIAL TEAMS

  • The Waterloo Black Hawks (27.3%), Lincoln Stars (26.1%) and Madison Capitols (5.9%) lead the USHL in power play efficacy.
  • The Dubuque Fighting Saints (96.0%), Chicago Steel (91.3%) and Fargo Force (90.5%) are tops in the league on the penalty kill.

WHERE THEY’RE FROM

  • Nationalities: U.S. (77.2%), Canada (9.1%), Sweden (2.9%), Russia (2.7%), Czechia (2.0%), Slovakia (2.0%) & seven other nationalities (> 1.0%).
  • Data sourced by EliteProspects

NHL PICKS

  • There are 25 NHL picks on USHL rosters with 11 of 16 USHL teams claiming at least one selection
  • Six teams in the league have multiple NHL draft picks rostered: the Dubuque Fighting Saints (5), Green Bay Gamblers (4), Sioux Falls Stampede (4), Muskegon Lumberjacks (3), Lincoln Stars (2) and Youngstown Phantoms (2).
  • 15 different NHL teams have a USHL pick in the league this season.

PATH TO PRO

  • 195+ Alumni on 32 NHL Opening Night Rosters
  • 910+ Alumni on NCAA 2024-25 DI Rosters
  • 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 extended the run to 20 years with at least one selection.
  • San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini (CHI/San Jose) is one of four other first-overall picks with USHL lineage: Owen Power (CHI/Buffalo – 2021) Jack Hughes (NTDP/New Jersey – 2019), Auston Matthews (NTDP/Toronto – 2016) and Rick DiPietro (NTDP/New York – 2000)
  • Multiple players who played last season in the USHL signed NHL entry-level contracts, including: Matvei Gridin (MUS/Calgary), Ilya Protas (DM/Washington), Julian Lutz (GB/Utah) and Juraj Pekarcik (DBQ/St. Louis).

USHL IN THE NCAA

  • More than 365 players in the USHL are committed to play NCAA Division I college hockey, accounting for 80% of all players in the league.
  • The conferences with the most committed players include:
    • NCHC: 85+
    • Big Ten: 75+
    • Hockey East: 75+
  • The teams with the most committed players include Michigan, Harvard and UMass
    • Michigan: 17
    • Miami: 15
    • Harvard: 14
    • UMass: 14
  • 270+ USHL alumni played in the NHL during the 2023-24 season and 12 USHL were named NCAA First-Team All-Americans.
  • Macklin Celebrini (CHI/Boston University) won the Hobey Baker Award, Greg Brown (DBQ/Boston College) won the Spencer Penrose Award as national coach of the year and Kyle McClellan (OMA/Wisconsin) won the Mike Richter Award as the NCAA Goalie of the Year.

DUPACO COWBELL CUP

  • Bragging rights are up for grabs again as the Dupaco Cowbell Cup between the Dubuque Fighting Saints, Des Moines Buccaneers, Cedar Rapids Roughriders and Waterloo Black Hawks returns for its 14th season.
  • Each head-to-head game between the four teams will count toward the USHL standings and the Cowbell Cup standings. The Cowbell Cup will be awarded to the team with the most Cowbell Cup points at the end of the regular season. For all Cowbell Cup games, teams will earn two points for each win and one point for each overtime or shootout loss.
  • Dubuque has won the last five Cowbell Cups and leads with eight total titles. 

ANNIVERSARY SEASONS

  • 40th Anniversary Season: Madison Capitols*
  • 30th Anniversary Season: Green Bay Gamblers
  • 25th Anniversary Season: Chicago Steel, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, Tri-City Storm
  • 15th Anniversary Season: Dubuque Fighting Saints

*Madison left the USHL in 1995 before rejoining in 2014.

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.

For up-to-date stats and streaks, review the USHL Daily Report.

The USHL sends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Johnny & Matthew Gaudreau, Chad Demers and former owner of the Tri-City Storm, Kirk Brooks.