NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



United States Hockey League

USHL Update - Week 23

March 6, 2013 - United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


AROUND THE LEAGUE

Packing Them In: The Indiana Ice drew 11,246 spectators on Saturday against the Muskegon Lumberjacks for their annual "Pack the House for Charity" night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The game offered no shortage of excitement as the Ice came away with a 2-1 overtime win. Rookie defenseman Joshua Jacobs scored the overtime winner, his first USHL career goal. With the win, Indiana improved their record to 5-4-0 in the annual charity event and have drawn more than 11,000 fans each year since it began in 2004. Portions of ticket proceeds are distributed to charities in the Indianapolis community, including Peyton Manning Children's Hospital.

Heating Up: The Youngstown Phantoms have won five straight games and eight of their last nine. They currently sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 56 points and are just five points behind the Green Bay Gamblers for third place. Forward Sam Anas has six points (3g, 3a) over his last five games and is second on the team in scoring with 42 points (26g, 16a). He scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner in overtime, and added an assist in Saturday's 5-4 overtime win against the Tri-City Storm. Also contributing to the Phantoms' success is forward Austin Cangelosi who picked up his second career hat trick in Wednesday's 4-0 win over the Chicago Steel. He leads the Phantoms in scoring with 45 points (14g, 31a) and has points in three of his last four games. Saturday's win over Tri-City was the third USHL career victory for rookie goaltender Jake Moore who stopped 18 shots. Over five appearances for Youngstown this season, Moore has compiled a 3-0-0 record.

Improving on Their Improvement: It's no secret that the Sioux Falls Stampede have had the League's largest turnaround from a year ago. At this time last season they were 14-30-6, but through 52 games this season, the Herd are in first place in the Western conference with a 35-13-2 record (72 points). They have won three straight games, including a pair of road contests last weekend. After defeating Green Bay 2-1 on Friday, they captured a 5-4 shootout win over Dubuque on Saturday to knock off the USHL's top team at home (21-2-1). Sioux Falls trailed 3-0 after the first period on Saturday before scoring four of the next five goals to force overtime. Todd Skirving netted a goal in regulation and scored the winning tally in the fifth round of the shootout which was the 100th game of his USHL career. He has scored a goal in five straight games and in six of his last seven contests. Tony Calderone scored two goals on Saturday, giving him a team-leading 25 goals in 50 games this season.

High Five: With a goal in Thursday's 6-4 win over the Tri-City Storm, Waterloo Black Hawks forward J.T. Stenglein became the fifth Black Hawk to score 50 points this season (22g, 28a). He is now ninth in the USHL in scoring and has 24 points (10g, 14a) in 14 games with Waterloo since being acquired in a trade. Forward Taylor Cammarata leads the USHL in scoring with 75 points (31g, 44a), ranking second in both goals and assists. He is on a three-game point streak, recording four goals and three assists over that span. Right behind him is forward Justin Kloos who ranks second in the league with 67 points (21g, 46a) and is the League leader in assists. Zach Stepan currently sits fifth in the USHL with 60 points (42g, 24a) and has registered five points (2g, 3a) over his last four games. Rounding out the "50-Point Club" is forward Vince Hinostroza whose 54 points (23g, 31a) ranks seventh in the League despite him not playing since early February.

Adding to the Win Column: The Sioux City Musketeers won a pair games last week and are winners of six of their last eight. Leading the way is forward Jake Guentzel who has recorded points in eight straight games, amassing 16 points (5g, 11a) over that span. He leads the team with 46 points (17g, 29a) in 47 games and has multi-point efforts in seven of his last 11 games. Also adding a nice scoring touch is forward Jared Thomas who has points in five of his last six games, totaling seven points (3g, 6a) over that stretch. He is fourth on the team in scoring with 26 points (12g, 14a). Jake Montgomery and Christian Lampasso each netted two goals in Saturday's 6-2 win against Omaha, the third straight win against the Lancers for Sioux City.

Men of Steel: The Chicago Steel picked up five of a possible six points in the standings while playing three games in three days over the weekend. It wrapped up a six-game road stretch in which the Steel posted a 3-2-1 record. Alex Sakellaropoulos stopped all 22 shots he faced in Saturday's 3-0 win against Team USA, his second of the season and his 25th USHL career win. Charlie O'Connor found the scoresheet in all three games (1g, 3a). His next game is the 100th of his USHL career. Alex Roos had a point in all three games (2g, 2a), including the game-winner in Sunday's 4-3 victory over Team USA which was scored on a penalty shot. His next goal will be the 30th of his USHL career.

Quick Strikes: Omaha Lancers defenseman Tucker Poolman scored two goals in a span of 45 seconds during Friday's 5-1 victory over Des Moines. His first goal proved to be the game-winner and it was the first goal he has scored at even strength this season. Of his 12 total goals this season, he is tied for the USHL lead with 11 power play tallies. Michael McCarron and Jack Eichel scored goals just 30 seconds apart for Team USA in Sunday's 3-1 victory over Green Bay. The goals were scored less than two minutes after the opening faceoff. It was the first USHL goal of the season for McCarron and the first USHL career game-winning goal for Eichel.

Brick...HOUSE: Muskegon Lumberjacks goaltender Kevin Lindskoug had a USHL season high 52-save performance in Friday's 3-1 win over Team USA. The first-year USHL netminder leads the League in save percentage (.928) and shutouts (8). The eight shutouts are the most in the USHL Tier 1 era (2002-present) and are three behind the all-time record of 11 set by Dan Ellis of the Omaha Lancers during the 1999-2000 season. Lindskoug ranks second in both goals-against-average (2.32) and minutes played (2275:50) and is fourth with 21 wins.

Notes: Tri-City Storm forward Jared Linnell scored three goals over two weekend games and extended his point streak to four contests (3g, 3a)...Des Moines Buccaneers forward Axel Wemmenborn has taken over the team point lead after a three-point weekend (1g, 2a). He now has 29 points on the season (8g, 21A) in 48 games...Lincoln Stars forward Dominik Shine recorded a hat trick in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Sioux City Musketeers. It was the third of his USHL career but came nearly three years after his last hat trick (March 12, 2010)...Indiana Ice forward Patrick Newell scored his first USHL goal in Friday's 6-4 loss to the Tri-City Storm...Cedar Rapids RoughRiders forward Dylan Gareau had a pair of goals in Saturday's 6-2 win over Waterloo...Defenseman Michael Downing netted the game-winner for the Dubuque Fighting Saints in Sunday's 6-3 victory over Des Moines. Three of his seven USHL career goals have been game-winners...Tyler Rehm netted the game-winning for the Fargo Force in Friday's 4-2 victory over Lincoln...Playing in just his second USHL game, defenseman Tommy Vannelli scored a goal for Team USA in Sunday's 3-1 win against Green Bay...The Muskegon Lumberjacks are in the midst of a season long seven-game road trip and are 1-1-2 thus far on the trip. Following their road stretch, they will pay seven straight games on home ice...Michael Vecchione scored his 20th goal of the season in Saturday's overtime loss to Youngstown. It was also his 30th USHL career goal. His next game will be the 100th of his USHL career.

Check out the United States Hockey League Statistics

• Discuss this story on the United States Hockey League message board...

United States Hockey League Stories from March 6, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central