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(USHL) Weekly Notes

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General | 10/28/2024 11:59:02 AM

Story Links

The Madison Capitols and Fargo Force take hot steaks on the road as part of a jam-packed month-end with games starting Tuesday in Waterloo.    

TOP STORYLINES

  • The USHL concludes its first full, calendar month of the regular season with 17 games over five days from Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Sunday, Nov. 3.
  • Fargo carries a five-game winning streak into a stretch where the Force will play three games in three days – twice in Des Moines and once in Sioux City.
  • Madison, 6-0-1-0 in its last seven games, heads to Youngstown where the Phantoms swept Sioux City last weekend.
  • Lincoln and Dubuque are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. The Stars enter the week atop the Western Conference standings. The Fighting Saints are tied with Madison for best in the Eastern Conference.   
  • NHL Central Scouting published its preliminary players to watch list for the upcoming NHL Draft featuring 96 players with USHL ties. Of that group, 64 players are on active USHL rosters, 26 are on affiliate lists and six are former USHL players in the NCAA. The USHL averaged four players per team, more than any other singular development league in North America. 

NHL DRAFT ELIGIBLE LEADERS

  • Ryker Lee (MAD/Michigan State) leads 2025 NHL Draft eligible skaters with 13 points (4-9-13), Ethan Wyttenbach (SF/Quinnipiac) ranks second with 12 points (4-8-12) and Gavin Cornforth (DBQ/Boston College) ranks third with nine points (4-5-9).
  • Kolin Sisson (CHI/Providence) and Nicolas Sykora (OMA/Quinnipiac) lead 2025 NHL Draft eligible skaters with five goals.
  • Among 2026 NHL Draft eligible rookies, Tynan Lawrence (MUS/Boston University) leads with four goals and five assists. Evan Jardine (YNG/Harvard), Landon Nycz (WAT/Massachusetts) and Jack Hextall (YNG/Michigan State) are tied for second with seven points each.

NHL DRAFT PICK WATCH LIST

  • Ottawa Senators prospect Blake Montgomery (LIN/Wisconsin) has 10 points in 10 games (3-7-10).
  • Philadelphia Flyers prospect Heikki Ruohonen (DBQ/Harvard) has nine points in 11 games (4-5-9).
  • New Jersey Devils prospect Mikhail Yegorov (OMA/Boston University) is 2-3-0-1 with a 2.41 GAA and .902 SV%,
  • San Jose Sharks prospect David Klee has 10 points (5-2-7) in 10 games.
  • Colorado Avalanche prospect Will Zellers (GB/North Dakota) has five points in six games for a .83 point per game average, second-best among league draft picks.

TOP TEAMS

  • Lincoln and Madison are the only teams ranked inside the top three for average goals for and against per game. Lincoln leads the USHL with the fewest goals against per game (2.27) while the Capitols rank third (2.64). The teams are tied for second in goals for per game (3.91).
  • Sioux Falls scores a league-leading 4.60 goals per game on a league-leading 35.60 shots per game.

LEAGUE LEADERS

  • Reid Daavettila (FGO/Michigan Tech), Ryker Lee (MAD/Michigan State) and Landen Gunderson (SC/Western Michigan) enter the week tied for the league lead in scoring with 13 points each.
  • John McNelis (SF/Boston University), Merril Steenari (FGO) and Grant Dillard (OMA) lead the league in goals with seven each.
  • Landen Gunderson (SC/Western Michigan) is the leading playmaker with 11 assists to pace the USHL.  
  • Egor Barabanov (MAD) leads all skaters with a +12 rating, followed by defensemen Alex Rybakov (SF/Providence) and John Stout (SF/Minnesota Duluth).

TOP GOALIES

  • Yan Shostak (LIN/St. Cloud State) leads with 5-1-0-0 record, a 1.28 goals against average (GAA) and .949 save percentage (SV%).
  • Gavin Moffat (GB) ranks second in GAA (1.90) and third in SV% (.933) and is among four goalies tied for the league lead in shutouts (2) despite a 4-5-0-0 record.  
  • Caleb Heil (MAD/North Dakota) is the only goalie to have played at least 180 minutes and not taken a regulation loss. He is 5-0-0-1 with a 2.30 GAA and .907 SV%.

USHL IN THE NEWS

STREAKS

  • Landen Gunderson (SC/Western Michigan) is on a 10-game point streak with a tally on the scoresheet of every game this season (2-11-13).
  • Ryker Lee (MAD/Michigan State) and Ethan Wyttenbach (SF/Quinnipiac) are on seven-game point streaks. Lee has two goals and eight assists. Wyttenbach has four goals and six assists.

SPECIAL TEAMS

  • Top Power Plays: Lincoln Stars (30.3%), Madison Capitols (23.7%) and Des Moines Buccaneers (23.5%)
  • Top Penalty Kills: Dubuque Fighting Saints (94.6%), Chicago Steel (91.9%), Waterloo Black Hawks (89.6%)

NHL PICKS

  • There are 26 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 (5), 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.
  • Macklin Celebrini (CHI/San Jose – 2024) 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 Maple Leafs – 2016) and Rick DiPietro (NTDP/New York Islanders – 2000)
  • Multiple players who played last season in the USHL signed NHL entry-level contracts including: Matvei Gridin (MUS/Calgary Flames), Ilya Protas (DM/Washington Capitals), Julian Lutz (GB/Utah Hockey Club) and Juraj Pekarcik (DUB/St. Louis Blues).

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: 80+
    • Hockey East: 75+
  • The teams with the most committed players include Michigan, Harvard and UMass
    • Michigan: 16
    • Miami: 15
    • Michigan State: 15
  • 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 (DUB/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.

PROMOTIONS

  • The Muskegon Lumberjacks will host their home opener on Friday, October 25 vs. the Chicago Steel. The home-opening weekend coincides with Muskegon’s fourth-annual Flannel Fest, a season-opening festival featuring axe throwing, carnival games and an ACDC tribute band.
  • The Green Bay Gamblers will wear special jerseys and host a post-game concert as part of Heavy Metal & Horror Night on Saturday, Oct. 26.

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. 

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