USHL Weekly
Published on December 1, 2008 under United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release
The USHL at 30 Years
Perhaps no name is more synonymous with junior hockey in the United States than that of the Omaha Lancers. The most suc- cessful franchise in the junior hockey history of the USHL, the Lancers have enjoyed unparalleled regular season and playoff success. Those successes, however, didn't convert into national championships. Until 2001 that is.
In 2001 the Lancers were making their tenth trip to the Gold Cup National Tournament. Nine times prior, the championship express was abruptly derailed. But the tenth time turned out to be the charm.
An offense led by Riley Riddell, Aaron Slattengren and Dan Welch coupled with championship-calibre goaltending from Ray Fraser, gave the Lancers a championship game win over the Texas Tornado and their long-awaited first Gold Cup.
USHL INSIDER
Thanksgiving Sweep: Waterloo took both halves of the home-and- home Thanksgiving series with Cedar Rapids, winning 5-4 in Waterloo on Thursday and 2-1 in Cedar Rapids on Friday. A year ago, Cedar Rapids swept the series.
Twice The Fun: Fargo took a pair of games from Sioux Falls last week. Josh Birkholz and Nate Condon each scored twice in a 4-3 win at Sioux Falls on Wednesday. On Saturday, it was Keegan Flaherty's turn to score a pair of goals, as the host Force beat the Stampede 5-1.
First Period Savior: Clay Witt made 20 saves in the opening period of Wednesday's game against Fargo, setting a league-high for first period saves in the USHL this season.
Gimme Five: Sioux City scored five times in a 5-1 win over Fargo on Thursday. The offensive outburst snapped a streak of five straight games where The Musketeers scored just one goal.
Hats Off: John Moore scored three times, once each while at even strength, on the power play, and shorthanded, in the Steel's 5-1 win over Des Moines on Friday.
Offensive Explosion: Cedar Rapids, coming off a pair of losses to Wa- terloo, bounced back in a big way, scoring a USHL season-high nine goals in a 9-2 win over Des Moines on Saturday. Kyle Flanagan led the charge with a goal and five assists for six points, a USHL-high this season. He was also +6 in the game, a USHL-high this season.
Multi-Point Madman: Des Moines' Josh Balch is averaging over a point- per-game for the season, with 15 points in 14 games. However, he only has points in six games. He has five multi-point games, including two four-point games.
Shining Stars: Kirt Hill and Ryan Kretzer, who each joined Lincoln after the start of the season, are piling up the offense. Hill has points in 14 of 17 games he's played in, and Kretzer has points in five of nine games. Another late addition, goaltender Anthony Borelli, is 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against average and a .964 save percentage.
PRO ALUMNI NEWS
David Hale (Sioux City) finally scored his first NHL goal, the first Phoenix goal of the game in the Coyotes 3-2 win over Columbus on Wednesday. Hale's first goal came in his 231st career game, the longest anyone has ever gone before scoring his first NHL goal.
Aaron MacKenzie (Thunder Bay) was recalled by the Colorado Avalanche. MacKenzie, a former WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and a captain in the AHL, is on his first recall to the NHL, but has yet to play a game.
Jeff Taffe (Rochester) started the season in the NHL with Pittsburgh. He was sent to the AHL after one game and is now tied for tenth in the AHL in scoring. He is second on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in scoring with 12 goals and 23 points in 21 games.
Peter Mannino (Tri-City) made his NHL debut with the New York Islanders and was thrown to the wolves in his first game. Mannino came into the Is- landers' game Friday at Boston with the team down 5-1. He allowed three goals in 13:02 in the net in his debut.
Landon Wilson (Dubuque) continues to be a great story as he makes his return to the NHL. Wilson scored his first goal of the season, and first in the NHL since 2004, in the Stars' 4-3 loss to Philadelphia on Monday.
Dan Reidel (Lincoln) is averaging a point-per-game for Dayton Bombers of the ECHL.
Toby Petersen (Fargo-Moorhead) scored his first goal of the season for Dallas in a 4-3 win over Edmonton on Sunday.
Thomas Vanek (Sioux Falls) leads the NHL in goals with 18.
COLLEGE ALUMNI NEWS
Locke Jillson (Indiana) scored his first collegiate goal in Cornell's 6-3 loss at North Dakota on Friday.
Barry Almeida (Omaha) was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week. Almeida had two points in two Boston College wins over the weekend. He had an assist in the Eagles' 5-1 win over Harvard, then scored the game- winner in their 2-1 overtime win over Dartmouth on Sunday.
Bobby Reiners (Des Moines) scored his first college hockey goal in Con- necticut's 4-1 win over Brown on Saturday.
The CCHA once again honored several USHL alumni this week. Calle Rid- derwall (Tri-City) was named Player of the Week after scoring two goals and two assists in Notre Dame's 4-1 win over Western Michigan on Friday. He added another assist in Saturday's shootout win over the Broncos.
Corey Toy (Omaha) had two assists, blocked six shots and was +4 in Ohio State's sweep of Nebraska-Omaha and was named Defenseman of the Week. Billy Maday (Waterloo) was named Rookie of the Week, scoring a goal and an assist in Notre Dame's 4-1 win over Western Michigan on Fri- day. Mayday then scored the tying goal in Saturday's 4-3 shootout win, also over the Broncos.
Matt Dalton (Des Moines) made 23 saves in helping Bemidji State beat Michigan Tech 3-0 on Friday. The next night he made 26 saves as the Beavers topped the Huskies 2-1, gaining the non-conference sweep.
Ben Grotting (Lincoln) had a goal and two assists while Matt Thurber (Omaha) and John Mitchell (Green Bay) had a goal and an assist each in Wisconsin's 3-1 win over Michigan State Friday.
United States Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2008
- Indiana Has Won Nine Straight Games on Home Ice - Indiana Ice
- USHL Weekly - USHL
- Ice Announce the Passing of President Michael Schupay - Indiana Ice
- Stampede Host West Division Rivals, Sioux City and Omaha this week - Sioux Falls Stampede
- USHL names players of the week - USHL
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