USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints

Hockey Returns to Dubuque Tonight with Preseason Game

Published on September 9, 2011 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release


The Fighting Saints return to the ice on Friday night for a preseason battle with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. The series between the Iowa rivals was lengthy and bitter last season, with the Fighting Saints compiling a 2-2-3 record and the RoughRiders finishing at 5-1-1 against Dubuque.

These two teams won their respective conferences in the USHL last season, but will both compete in the Eastern Conference this season, with Dubuque moving over from the West. The Fighting Saints and RoughRiders took home the USHL's two biggest pieces of hardware last season, with Dubuque winning a Clark Cup in their first year in the league (the fourth overall for the city) and Cedar Rapids winning the Anderson Cup for the league's regular season crown. The two teams will play eight times during the regular season in 2011-12.

Dubuque and Cedar Rapids will meet tomorrow night at the Coral Ridge Mall in Iowa City. The Fighting Saints continue their preseason schedule next weekend with a home and home series against Chicago (in Dubuque on Friday and on the road Saturday), before travelling to the Fall Classic in Sioux City Iowa the following week.

The Coaches

Jim Montgomery was named the Dubuque Fighting Saints Head Coach and General Manager in April, 2010. The 41-year-old Montreal native spent the previous four years as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Montgomery began his college coaching career as a volunteer assistant under Jeff Jackson at the University of Notre Dame.

Montgomery played college hockey at the University of Maine, and is the NC 's 4th all-time leading point scorer. Prior to becoming a coach, Montgomery played professional hockey from 1993-2005, spending parts of six seasons in the National Hockey League. Montgomery resides in Dubuque with his wife Emily and sons James Peter and Colin. Montgomery is assisted by Joe Coombs and Bobby Kinsella.

Mark Carlson has been at the helm of the Cedar Rapids Roughriders since the team's inception in 1999. Carlson has steered the Roughriders to eleven consecutive winning seasons and playoff appearances, and his team won the Anderson Cup and he was named USHL Coach of the Year in 2010-11. Prior to his time at Cedar Rapids, Carlson coached at UMass-Lowell and Northeastern University.

Quick Hits

- The Fighting Saints will endeavor to repeat as USHL Clark Cup champions in 2011-12. No team has won back to back Clark Cups since the Omaha Lancers pulled off the feat in 1992-93 and 1993-94. The Green Bay Gamblers had an opportunity to repeat last season, but fell to the Fighting Saints in the Final.

- The Fighting Saints return eight players to the roster in 2011-12. Zemgus Girgensons leads the scoring returners - he had 49 points last season. Other returners are forwards Shane Sooth, Shane Walsh, Tyler Lundey, John Doherty, and TJ Moor, along with defenseman Tyler Amburgey and goaltender Matt Morris.

- Matt Morris had a spectacular rookie season in between the pipes for the Fighting Saints, and his play was especially notable in the playoffs. Morris won Clark Cup Playoff MVP honors, compiling a 9-2 record with a 1.53 g.a.a., and a .943 save percentage.

- The 2010-11 Fighting Saints became only the second "true" expansion team to win the Clark Cup along with the 1996-97 Lincoln Stars. The Fargo Force lost in the Final to the Indiana Ice during their first year: 2008-09. The original Dubuque Fighting Saints won the Clark Cup in their first year, but they had been relocated from Waterloo by Jack Barzee (who is in attendance tonight on behalf of NHL Central Scouting) for that season.

- The RoughRiders return 10 players to the roster this season after leading the league by returning 14 in the year prior. Leading the scoring for Cedar Rapids returners will be Ryan McGrath, who put up 18 goals and 42 points for the Mark Carlson's squad last season.

- The Fighting Saints struggled mightily in the preseason last year, compiling a record of just 1-4-1. That included two games against Cedar Rapids, in which the Fighting Saints went 0-1-1, including in overtime loss in the first game ever played at the Mystique Community Ice Center.

- The Fighting Saints will return only one player on defense from last season's team - Tyler Amburgey. Despite the lack of experience along the blueline, Jim Montgomery and his staff are optimistic about the offensive upside of this year's group.

- The Fighting Saints will open at home against the Green Bay Gamblers on October 1, in a rematch of last season's Clark Cup Final.

Check out the Dubuque Fighting Saints Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from September 9, 2011


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