$2 Hot Dogs and $3 Beer Specials Headline Fan Appreciation Night Saturday

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USHL Chicago Steel

$2 Hot Dogs and $3 Beer Specials Headline Fan Appreciation Night Saturday

April 9, 2025 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Chicago Steel News Release


GENEVA, ILLINOIS - This weekend marks the final two games of the 2024-2025 season for the Chicago Steel, a home-and-home set against the Muskegon Lumberjacks ending on home ice with Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday, April 12 at 6:05 pm CT. Fans will have the opportunity to win hundreds of prizes from team partners and can enjoy $2 hot dogs and $3 beer specials.

Upon entry to Saturday's game, all fans will receive a raffle ticket. During the course of the evening, prizes will be given away including 30oz STANLEY Tumblers, a Chick-Fil-A prize pack, Coors Light foldable lawn chairs, a Garage Kings $300 discount certificate, custom whitening trays from Geneva Family Dental, a $30 Extract Juicery gift card, half off haircut coupons and puck keychains from Floyd's Barbershop and more. Fans can also win prizes from Lou Malnati's, Christ Community Church, Waubonsee Community College, and Culver's in Batavia.

At the Steel Wheel, fans can spin to win a game-used stick by 2026 NHL Draft prospect Adam Valentini, a STANLEY tumbler, and a 26-inch Ozinga toy truck.

Fans participating in chuck-a-puck will have the chance to win prizes from Comfort Inn & Suites Geneva, including a one-night stay. Many fans will also receive a reusable bag courtesy of Mathnasium with coupons inside.

This weekend's games put a stamp on Chicago's 25th season in the USHL and tenth season playing at Fox Valley Ice Arena since its relocation to Geneva in 2015. They will finish with the most home wins in the Eastern Conference in the last ten seasons and second-most wins overall in the conference.

Before returning home for the season finale, Chicago will face Muskegon on the road on Friday, April 11 at 6:10 pm CT.

The Steel (20-34-5-1, 46 pts.) picked up a hard-fought 4-3 shootout victory over Youngstown on April 6, handing the Phantoms just their third loss on home ice since Jan. 18. Chicago led twice before allowing Youngstown to tie the game and send it to overtime and eventually a shootout. After scoring a goal earlier in regulation, Tobias Ohman scored in the opening round of the shootout, the only shootout goal for either time to lift the Steel to the win. Chicago goaltender Louka Cloutier was magnificent in the crease, stopping 33 of 36 shots and all three Youngstown shootout attempts.

The Phantoms got the better of the Steel the night prior in a 5- 3 victory that saw them outscore Chicago 4-1 in the final 23 minutes of play. The Steel drew within a goal late in the third period but a Youngstown goal derailed the comeback attempt.

Steel forward Ashton Schultz stayed hot last weekend with assists in each game to improve his assist and point streaks to seven games. His assist streak is the longest current streak in the USHL and is tied for the second-longest of the season. During his streak, he has eight assists and one goal with two multi-point outings. He has tallied a point in eight of the last nine games (2G-8A) and is tied for the team-lead in points (39) and assists (25).

The 2025 NHL Draft prospect leads the Steel in power play points (15) and power play assists (12) and has taken the most shots of any skater on the team (113) while being penalized just four times this season.

Cam Briere saw his goal streak end at six games and his point streak at seven but still found the scoresheet over the weekend. Briere recorded an assist on April 5 that moved his point streak to seven games before being held without a point on April 6. He tallied 11 points during his point streak (8G-3A), while his six-game goal streak ranks tied for first for the longest goal streak in the league this season. He enters the weekend with goals in three consecutive home games (4G), tied for the second-longest home goal streak in the league.

Jackson Crowder advanced his point streak to four games and his goal streak to three games after scoring his 11th goal of the season on April 5. He was held without a point the following night to end his streaks. The strong stretch of play moved Crowder into the top 20 in rookie scoring. He ranks T-17th in rookie scoring with 23 points (11G-12A) which is tied with teammate Will Tomko, who has scored ten goals and 13 assists in his first season with the Steel.

Another rookie climbing the ranks in scoring is Adam Valentini, who scored a point for the seventh consecutive weekend after recording an assist on April 6. The first-year forward ranks fifth among rookies in scoring with 39 points. He ranks fifth in goals (17) and seventh in assists (22) and his 112 shots rank sixth.

The Muskegon Lumberjacks (36-16-4-4, 80 pts.) earned a 3-2 overtime victory against the USA Hockey NTDP U18 team on April 4 before falling 4-3 to Waterloo on April 6. The Lumberjacks had a 2-0 lead before allowing two third-period goals by the NTDP to force overtime. Luka Radivojevic scored for Muskegon with 15 seconds to spare in overtime. Muskegon held a lead against Waterloo before allowing the Black Hawks to take the lead. A shorthanded goal for the Lumberjacks tied the game in the third period, but Waterloo scored 42 seconds later to take the lead and hang on for the win.

Rookie forward Tynan Lawrence found the scoresheet in each game last weekend and posted ten shots on goal on April 8. He has scored a point in eight of the last nine games and has ten points (4G-6A) with two multi-point games in that span. He ranks second among rookies in goals (24) and third in points (51) and assists (27). He is fifth in power play assists (9) and tied for fourth in power play points (14) among rookies.

The Boston University commit is second in plus-minus rating (+20) for rookies and has recorded the second-most shots of all USHL skaters (204). He possesses the longest road goal streak in the league this season, a seven-game stretch from Jan. 17 to Feb. 15 where he scored eight goals.

Ivan Ryabkin recorded two goals on April 6 and has found the scoresheet in six of the last nine games. He has three multi-point games in that span, including a hat trick during a four-point performance on March 21, and has nine goals and two assists totaling 11 points.

Muskegon has benefited heavily from the play of its two netminders, with Stephen Peck keeping the Lumberjacks in the thick of a close conference race with wins in eight of his last nine starts. He has helped Muskegon earn a point in 11 of the last 13 games, and he has not allowed more than three goals since Feb. 8.

Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev has appeared in five consecutive games for Muskegon, with his last outing a 36-save performance on 40 shots on April 6. He has earned a win in four of his last six starts and has allowed three goals or fewer in seven of his last ten games.

The Steel are 50-47-7-0 all-time against Muskegon, 24-22-4-0 on the road and 26-25-3-0 at home. The Steel have defeated Muskegon in three of their four matchups so far this season and have limited them to just three goals in two games at Fox Valley Ice Arena. Chicago split the last weekend series against the Lumberjacks during a pair of games in Muskegon back in October. A three-assist outing from Ben Yurchuk helped the Steel to a 5-4 win on October 25, with Chris Reiniger scoring a goal and an assist and Louka Cloutier stopping 36 of 40 shots. Muskegon won 4-1 on October 26 thanks to a pair of goals from Vaclav Nestrasil. This weekend's matchups are the final games between the two this season.

All Steel tickets are digital, and fans are encouraged to purchase online in advance at ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.

Group tickets and experiences, suites and other premium areas, including the Coors Light Chill Zone and Ice Side Tables, are also on sale now.

For more information, call 855-51-STEEL.

Chicago Steel Upcoming Schedule presented by Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush:

Friday, April 11 at Muskegon Lumberjacks | 6:10 pm CT

Saturday, April 12 vs. Muskegon Lumberjacks | 6:05 pm CT | Fan Appreciation Night | $2 Hot Dogs and $3 Beer Specials | Hundreds of Prizes

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