Lancers Prepare Pair Of Playoff Hopefuls
Published on March 24, 2010 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
The Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) punched their ticket to the postseason weeks ago but will face a pair of teams this week vying for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division as they welcome the Tri-City Storm to the Omaha Civic Auditorium on Friday followed by the Sioux City Musketeers on Saturday. Omaha (38-12-6, 82 Pts.) is one of six USHL teams already bound for the Clark Cup playoffs and the Lancers enter the week five points up on second-place Fargo for the number one overall seed in the West. In preparation for their 21st consecutive trip to the postseason, the Lancers are currently on one of their best runs of the season having garnered at least one standings point in each of their last 12 games. During its run, Omaha has gone 9-0-3 and has collected 21 of a possible 24 standings points since February 14th. The Lancers weekend begins with a potential opening round playoff preview as Tri-City storms into the Civic Auditorium this Friday evening. Tri-City (26-24-6, 58 Pts.) currently occupies the fourth and final playoff spot in the West but saw its lead over fifth-place Sioux City trimmed to just a single standings point following Tuesday evening's 2-1 setback against the Musketeers. The Storm have now lost four straight games heading into Friday's match-up and have been outscored 15-6 during their recent slide. Tri-City's hold on the fourth and final playoff spot has been tenuous in recent weeks due to the surging play of Saturday evening's opponent - the Sioux City Musketeers. Sioux City (24-23-9, 57 Pts.) has claimed standings points in each of its last nine games overall posting a 6-0-3 record during that stretch while holding its opposition to just 21 total goals during that time.
Friday, March 26th vs. Tri-City Storm, 7:05 PM, Omaha Civic Auditorium
Saturday, March 27th vs. Sioux City Musketeers, 7:05 PM, Omaha Civic Auditorium
**Radio coverage for both games can be found on 1290 AM KKAR or www.1290kkar.com beginning with the Valpak pre-game show at 6:50 PM CST.**
NEWS & NOTES FOR THE WEEKEND
Omaha has faired extremely well this season against its two opponents this coming weekend. The Lancers are 3-0-1 this season against Tri-City having outscored the Storm 19-8 in four previous meetings. Meanwhile, Omaha is 6-0 this season against Sioux City and is looking to complete its third regular season series sweep after taking all four contests with Youngstown and all five get-togethers with Lincoln.
The Lancers will look to contain the USHL's leading scorer this Friday in Tri-City's Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz leads all USHL skaters with 78 points this season, including a league-leading 14 power play goals and 35 power play points. Tri-City's sniper's production has stalled of late tallying just one point over the last five games.
Omaha enters USHL action this weekend as just one of two teams to boast six twenty-goal scorers on its roster. Alongside Fargo, the Lancers and Force are the first two teams to accomplish this feat since the USHL became the nation's only Tier 1 league back in 2002.
The Lancers enter Wednesday's action first in the league in both power play percentage (23.3%) and penalty kill efficiency (85.8%). The last team to finish the season atop both those categories was the Lincoln Stars back in 2002-03. That team subsequently went on to win the 2003 Clark Cup.
With 225 goals scored and just 139 goals-against this season, Omaha owns the USHL's best goals-for to goals-against differential at +86. Omaha's 225 goals scored is tops in the league while its 139 against is second overall.
With 8 shorthanded goals this season, Matt White remains just one shorthanded marker shy of matching the USHL record for most shorthanded goals in a single season. The record of 9 SHG in a season was set by Mark Mowers of the Dubuque Fighting Saints during the 1993-94 campaign.
United States Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2010
- Blackhawks Lose To Stampede 5-3 - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Sekac To Try Out For Czech World Championship Team - Youngstown Phantoms
- Lancers Prepare Pair Of Playoff Hopefuls - Omaha Lancers
- Last Regular Season Home Games March 26 & 27 - Fargo Force
- USHL Update - Week 25 - USHL
- Storm Lead For Playoff Berth Slips To One Point - Tri-City Storm
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