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USHL Weekly

Published on November 17, 2008 under United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


The USHL at 30 Years

The USHL hadn't had much in the way of expansion when the Green Bay Gamblers joined the league in 1994. In fact, the Gamblers were the league's first new entrant since Omaha came aboard in 1986. The Gamblers limped through a nine-win inaugural season in 1994-95. But a year later, a 44-point improvement saw the team win its first Anderson, Clark and Gold Cups.

Guided by Don Granato and anchored in goal by future NHLer Ty Conklin, the Gamblers won the Anderson Cup by one point over Omaha. They needed a full seven games to eliminate Twin Cities in the first round of the playoffs. They swept Sioux City in the second round and claimed the Clark Cup with a seven-game win over Rochester. At the national tournament, they were a perfect 5-0 and beat Sioux City 6-2 in the championship game to win the Gold Cup and become national champions.

QUOTABLE

"I tell you, the military appreciation thing was great. It sends a message out to everyone that hockey is just a game, and there are people out there sacrific- ing so we can have this opportunity."

Waterloo Head Coach P.K. O'Handley to the Water- loo Courier following his team's 5-2 win over Fargo on Saturday, which was Military Appreciation Night at Young Arena.

USHL INSIDER

Leaping For A Cure: The Omaha Lancers partnered with Leap For A Cure and hosted Brain Cancer Awareness Night Saturday against Indiana. Omaha players wore special gray jerseys (gray symbolizes brain cancer) that were auctioned off after the game, with proceeds going to the Methodist Hospital Estabrook Cancer Center. Leap For A Cure was estab- lished by the family of former Lancers' employee Heather Roberts, who was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year. The Lancers raised $7,890 for the foundation - the funds going toward research of a cure for brain cancer. You can find more on the web at www.leapforacure.org.

In The Nick Of Time: Indiana's Torey Krug scored with just one second left in regulation to tie the Ice's game with Omaha at 2-2 on Saturday. The Ice went on to win the game 3-2 in a shootout.

Packin' 'Em In: Waterloo is looking to have their tenth straight sellout dating back to last season, on Friday when they host Tri-City.

Ryan's Rolling: Since returning to Lincoln from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Ryan Kretzer has five points in five games. Kretzer has averaged nearly a point-per-game for his USHL career.

Doubling Up: Jake Hauswirth scored twice in Omaha's 6-2 win over Chicago on Friday. He now has as many multi-goal games this year (3) as he has single-goal games. Hauswirth is one of three USHL players to hit double digits in goals this year.

Cheli's Chipping In: Since being traded to Chicago, Dean Chelios has a five-game scoring streak. He has picked up two points in four of his five games and has nine points during the streak. He had just one point in six games with Cedar Rapids.

Miller Time: Chicago's Andrew Miller is on a four-game scoring streak and has at least one point in all but one of Chicago's games. Waterloo's Ben Miller picked up his first USHL hat trick, and added an assist, in Wa- terloo's 8-6 win over Des Moines on Friday.

Milestone Coming: Cedar Rapids Head Coach Mark Carlson is just two wins away from reaching the 300-win mark in his USHL coaching career.

PRO ALUMNI NEWS

Dan Ellis (Omaha) was the NHL's Third Star of the Week after going 3-0-0 with a 2.28 goals against average and a .944 save percentage last week.

He set a Nashville franchise record for saves in a game when he made 54 in the Predators' 4-3 overtime win over San Jose on Tuesday.

Ruslan Fedotenko (Sioux City) scored the game-winning goal in overtime as Pittsburgh rallied from a 5-2 deficit to win 7-6 at Detroit on Tuesday.

Jack Hillen (Tri-City) has five points in nine games since the New York Is- landers reassigned him to Bridgeport of the AHL.

Nathan Gerbe (Omaha) is the top-scoring rookie in the AHL with 12-7-19 in 13 games for the Portland Pirates. Gerbe's total ranks him fourth overall in the AHL.

Mike Radja (Waterloo) is tied for eighth in the ECHL in rookie scoring with seven goals and 12 points in eight games.

Sam Gagner (Sioux City) broke his sophomore slump when he scored his first goal of the season in Edmonton's 5-2 loss to Toronto on Thursday. Scott Polaski (Sioux City) leads all CHL defensemen in scoring, with 17 points in 12 games for the Colorado Eagles.

Joe Pavelski (Waterloo) had back-to-back three-point nights for San Jose. He had two goals and an assist in a 6-1 win over Calgary on Thursday. He then had three assists in a 6-5 win over Chicago on Sunday.

Scott Clemmensen (Des Moines) made 25 saves in New Jersey's 6-5 shootout win over Washington on Saturday, his first win of the year.

COLLEGE ALUMNI NEWS

David Solway (Sioux Falls) was named CCHA Player of the Week after scoring both goals for Bowling Green in their 2-1 overtime win over North- ern Michigan on Friday. The next night, he assisted on the game-winner with 2:14 to play in another 2-1 win for Bowling Green.

Matt Hoyle (Indiana) made 23 saves as Harvard upset Clarkson 5-1 on Friday. On Saturday, he made 29 saves and recorded his first college shutout when Harvard knocked off St. Lawrence 1-0. Hoyle was named ECAC Rookie of the Week.

Zane Kalemba (Tri-City) was named ECAC Goaltender of the Week after going 3-0-0 for Princeton. He made 37 saves in a 2-0 win over Quinnipiac on Tuesday. On Friday, he made 16 saves in a 4-1 win over RPI. Saturday, he stopped 28 shots in a 4-1 win over Union.

It was all USHL when Wisconsin met UMD in Duluth on Saturday. Tom Gorowsky (Sioux Falls), Chris Hickey (Tri-City), Josh Turnbull (Water- loo) and Andy Bohmbach (Waterloo) all scored for the Badgers in their 4- 1 win. Josh Meyers (Sioux City) had the lone goal for Minnesota-Duluth. Shane Connolly (Chicago) was the winning goaltender, while Alex Stalock (Cedar Rapids) took the loss for the Bulldogs.

Brock Bradford (Omaha) was named Hockey East Player of the Week. He scored three goals and had an assist in a 5-5 tie against Merrimack on Fri- day. Saturday, he scored two goals and assisted on two more in an 8-6 win over New Hampshire. Scott Darling (Indiana) was named Hockey East Goaltender of the Week, going 2-0-0 with a .967 save percentage on the week for Maine. He made 35 saves in Friday's 3-2 win over Provi- dence, then had a 24-save shutout, his first college shutout, in a 3-0 win Saturday, also over Providence.

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United States Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2008


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