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(USHL) Weekly Notes – Oct 23rd

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General | 10/23/2024 8:31:14 AM

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The Lincoln Stars sit atop the USHL standings on a seven-game winning streak ahead of a 16-game slate for the league from Oct. 25-27.

WATCH: THE U-SHOW: WEEK 5

TOP STORYLINES

  • Led by USHL point leaders Jack Pechar (Northeastern) and Daniel Shlaine (Minnesota Duluth), the Lincoln Stars lead the USHL with an 8-1-0-0 record and a seven-game winning streak. The Stars faceoff against the Tri-City Storm for a home-and-home series this weekend.
  • After dropping their first four games of the season, the Omaha Lancers are on a four-game winning streak and carry a positive goal differential into a three-game weekend. Grant Dillard has scored in each of the Lancers’ last four games and joins Tate Pritchard (SC/Minnesota State) as the league’s top goal scorer (6).
  • After scoring a franchise-record number of goals in a 10-2 win vs. Chicago last Friday, the Madison Capitols will host Cedar Rapids on Friday before heading to Green Bay for the first time this season on Saturday. The Capitols lost to the Gamblers 5-2 on Oct. 12. 
  • NHL Central Scouting published its preliminary players to watch list for the 2025 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. 

DRAFT ELIGIBLE LEADERS

  • Ethan Wyttenbach (MAD/Quinnipiac) and Ryker Lee (MAD/Michigan State) lead 2025 NHL Draft eligible skaters with 10 points (4-6-10). Gavin Cornforth (DBQ/Boston College) ranks third with nine points (4-5-9), followed by Ben Kevan (DM/Arizona State) with eight (3-5-8).
  • Kolin Sisson (CHI/Providence) leads 2025 NHL Draft eligible skaters with five goals
  • Among 2026 NHL Draft eligible rookies, Tynan Lawrence (MUS/Boston University) leads with eight points (4-4-8), followed by Landon Nycz (WAT/Massachusetts) and Jack Hextall (YNG/Michigan State) with six points each.

NHL DRAFT PICK WATCH LIST

  • New Jersey Devils prospect Mikhail Yegorov (OMA/Boston University) is 2-2-0-1 with a 1.95 GAA and .928 SV%,
  • Ottawa Senators prospect Blake Montgomery (LIN/Wisconsin) has nine points in eight games (3-6-9).
  • Philadelphia Flyers prospect Heikki Ruohonen (DUB/Harvard) has eight points in nine games (4-4-8).
  • Buffalo Sabres prospect Vasily Zelenov (GB) has seven points in nine games (1-6-7).
  • Ottawa Senators prospect Javon Moore (SF/Minnesota) has six points in eight games (2-4-6).
  • Colorado Avalanche propsect Will Zellers (GB/North Dakota) and Ruohonen lead the NHL draft picks in goal scoring with four goals each.

TOP TEAMS

  • The Lincoln Stars (16 points) lead the Western Conference.
  • The Madison Capitols and the Dubuque Fighting Saints are tied atop the lead the Eastern Conference (12 points).
  • Lincoln and Sioux City are the only teams ranked inside the top five for average goals for and against per game. Lincoln leads USHL with the fewest goals against per game (1.89) and ranks third in goals for (4.00). Sioux City ranks second in goals against per game (2.38) and fourth in goals for (3.88). 

LEAGUE LEADERS

  • Daniel Shlaine (LIN/Minnesota-Duluth) and Jack Pechar (LIN/Northeastern) lead the league in scoring with 11 points (5-6-11). Five players are tied with 10 points each.
  • Tate Pritchard (SC/Minnesota State) and Grant Dillard (OMA) lead the league with six goals each.
  • Landen Gunderson (SC/Western Michigan) leads the league with eight assists.
  • Josh Niedermayer (DBQ) leads USHL defensemen in scoring with eight points (1-7-8).
  • Egor Barabanov (MAD) leads all defensemen with a +11 rating. 

TOP GOALIES

  • Among goalies with five or more games played, Yan Shostak (LIN/St. Cloud State) leads with a 1.28 goals against average (GAA) and .949 save percentage (SV%). Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev (MUS/Michigan Tech) ranks second in GAA (1.65) and fourth in SV% (.936).
  • Gavin Moffat (GB), Gadzhiev, and Shostak each have two shutouts this season.
  • Samuel Urban (GB/Arizona State) and Shostak lead the league with five wins. Urban is undefeated with a 5-0-0-0 record.

USHL IN THE NEWS

STREAKS

  • Jack Pechar (LIN/Northeastern) is on a league-leading nine-game point streak, having registered a point in every game this season (5-6-11).
  • Landen Gunderson (SC/Western Michigan) is on an eight-game point streak, having registered a point in every game this season (2-8-10).
  • Masun Fleece (FGO/Penn State) is on a six-game point streak (2-4-6).
  • Diego Johnson (MAD/Michigan State) and Grant Dillard (OMA) are on four-game goal streaks with five and six goals in that stretch, respectively.

SPECIAL TEAMS

  • Top Power Plays: Lincoln Stars (26.7%), Waterloo Black Hawks (25.6%) and Des Moines Buccaneers (22.6%)
  • Top Penalty Kills: Dubuque Fighting Saints (93.1%), Chicago Steel (90.9%), Waterloo Black Hawks (90.0%)

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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