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2015 USHL Clark Cup Playoffs Preview

April 14, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


Three of the teams competing in the playoffs have never won the Clark Cup - Youngstown Phantoms, Muskegon Lumberjacks, and Tri-City Storm.

The Omaha Lancers have won the Clark Cup seven times, more than any other team in USHL history, followed by the Dubuque Fighting Saints (5), Sioux City Musketeers (3), and one each for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Sioux Falls Stampede. Of the playoff qualifiers, Dubuque is the most recent Clark Cup champion, winning it in 2013.

The Youngstown Phantoms won the Anderson Cup as regular season champion. Over the 35 previous USHL seasons, the Anderson Cup winner has gone on to win the Clark Cup on 19 occasions, including four of the previous seven seasons.

Youngstown and Sioux City each holds the top seed in their respective conferences for the playoffs. A number one seed has won the Cup in five of the last seven seasons.

Each of the four series in the Conference Semifinals is following a 1-2-1-1 format.

A total of 13 NHL Draft picks are competing in the playoffs with each of the eight playoff teams having at least one on their roster:

Cedar Rapids - Joe Wegwerth (Florida Panthers, 2014)

Dubuque - William Lagesson (Edmonton Oilers, 2014)

Muskegon - Matheson Iacopelli (Chicago Blackhawks, 2014), Matej Paulovic (Dallas Stars, 2013)

Omaha - Anthony Angello (Pittsburgh Penguins, 2014), Shane Gersich (Washington Capitals, 2014), Ryan Donato (Boston Bruins, 2014), Steven Spinner (Washington Capitals, 2014)

Sioux City - Sam Kurker (St. Louis Blues, 2012), Collin Olson (Carolina Hurricanes, 2012)

Sioux Falls - Dakota Joshua (Toronto Maple Leafs, 2014)

Tri-City - Alec Dillon (Los Angeles Kings, 2014)

Youngstown - Maxim Letunov - St. Louis Blues (2014) (rights traded to Arizona)

Series Matchups

EASTERN CONFERENCE

#1 Youngstown Phantoms (40-14-6, 86 points) vs. #4 Muskegon Lumberjacks (35-21-4, 74 points)

- Both set team records for victories during the regular season.

- It is the first time they have met in the playoffs.

- Youngstown won four of the six regular season meetings with Muskegon.

- Both wins by the Lumberjacks in the season series came in Youngstown while the Phantoms won all three meetings in Muskegon.

- Youngstown outscored Muskegon 20-9 in regulation over their six meetings.

- Youngstown boasts three of the top scorers in the USHL during the regular season - Kyle Connor ranked first (34g, 46a), Maxim Letunov ranked tied for fourth (25g, 39a), and Josh Melnick ranked eighth (14g, 48a) while also leading the League in assists.

- Griffen Molino of Muskegon tied for fourth in USHL scoring with 64 points (18g, 46a).

- Connor led all players in scoring during the season series with 11 points (6g, 5a).

- Muskegon goaltender Eric Schierhorn led the USHL in save percentage (.927) in the regular season while Chris Birdsall of Youngstown tied for fourth (.914).

- Muskegon ranked third on the power play (24.4%) during the regular season while Youngstown was fourth (22.3%).

- Phantoms forward Tyler Sheehy appeared in the Clark Cup Final series last year with the Waterloo Black Hawks.

Season series stats

Youngstown regular season stats

Muskegon regular season stats

Schedule:

Game 1: Wednesday, April 15th, 7:15 PM - Youngstown @ Muskegon

Game 2: Friday, April 17th, 7:05 PM - Muskegon @ Youngstown

Game 3: Saturday, April 18th, 7:05 PM - Muskegon @ Youngstown

Game 4: Monday, April 20th, 7:15 PM - Youngstown @ Muskegon**

Game 5: Wednesday, April 22nd, 7:05 PM - Muskegon @ Youngstown**

#2 Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (39-21-0, 78 points) vs. #3 Dubuque Fighting Saints (36-19-5, 77 points)

- It is the fifth consecutive year that Dubuque has qualified for the playoffs while Cedar Rapids is in the playoffs for the 13th time over their 16 USHL seasons.

- This series marks a rematch of last year's Conference Semifinals which Dubuque won 3-1.

- Dubuque won six of the eight meetings during the regular season and outscored Cedar Rapids 23-15 over those games, including 13-4 in the second period.

- Seamus Malone led all players during the season series with five goals, including two game-winners.

- Dubuque goaltender Jacob Nehama posted a 5-1-0 record with a 1.48 GAA and .947 SV% over seven appearances against Cedar Rapids this season.

- Despite winning once in five appearances against Dubuque, Cedar Rapids goaltender Ryan Larkin posted a 1.98 GAA and .936 SV%.

- Nehama ranked second among USHL goaltenders in GAA (2.31) while Larkin ranked fourth (2.43).

- Cedar Rapids gave up the second-fewest goals (162) in the USHL this season (2.70 per game) while Dubuque gave up 167 to rank fourth (2.78 per game).

- Three RoughRiders were among the top 20 in USHL scoring this season - Erik Foley (27g, 27a) at 15th, Andrew Oglevie (21g, 32a) tied for 16th, and Jiri Fronk (29g, 21a) tied for 20th.

- Dubuque (82.7%) and Cedar Rapids (82.6%) had almost identical penalty killing marks, ranking fifth and sixth respectively during the regular season.

- Cedar Rapids was the least penalized team in the regular season (687 penalty minutes).

- Three members of the Saints won the Clark Cup with the team in 2013 - Seamus Malone, Dylan Gambrell, and Keegan Ford.

Season series stats

Cedar Rapids regular season stats

Dubuque regular season stats

Schedule:

Game 1: Tuesday, April 14th, 7:05 PM - Cedar Rapids @ Dubuque

Game 2: Friday, April 17th, 7:05 PM - Dubuque @ Cedar Rapids

Game 3: Saturday, April 18th, 7:05 PM - Dubuque @ Cedar Rapids

Game 4: Monday, April 20th, 7:05 PM - Cedar Rapids @ Dubuque**

Game 5: Wednesday, April 22nd, 7:05 PM - Dubuque @ Cedar Rapids**

WESTERN CONFERENCE

#1 Sioux City Musketeers (40-14-6, 86 points) vs. #4 Sioux Falls Stampede (35-21-4, 74 points)

- The teams last met in the playoffs in 2011 with Sioux Falls earning a 2-1 win in a best-of-three series. They had only met one other time in the postseason when Sioux City swept Sioux Falls 3-0 in 2002 in a best-of-five series in the opening round.

- The Musketeers won six of the eight meetings between the clubs during the regular season, including all four on home ice. They outscored the Stampede 32-20 in regulation.

- Joe Snively led all players during the season series with 14 points (5g, 9a).

- Sioux City had three of the top seven scorers in the USHL during the regular season - Adam Johnson (31g, 40a) at second, Joe Snively (27g, 37a) tied for fourth, and Robert Carpenter (35g, 28a) at seventh.

- Cooper Marody tied for 11th in USHL scoring with 58 points (22g, 36a), including putting up 48 points (20g, 28a) in 38 games after being acquired by the Stampede via a trade.

- At just 16 years old, Stampede forward Kieffer Bellows ranked third in the USHL with 33 goals, just two behind Carpenter who tied for the lead at 35.

- Sioux City had the top power play unit in the USHL (25.2%) while Sioux Falls had the third-best penalty killing unit (84.3%).

- The Musketeers scored the second-most goals in the League (225) while the Stampede led the USHL by giving up the fewest shots per game (26.95).

- Stampede goaltender Art Brey was a member of the Dubuque Fighting Saints when they won the Clark Cup in 2013. He posted a 9-1 record with a 1.65 GAA and .935 SV% that year in the playoffs.

- Musketeers forward Sam Kurker was a member of the Indiana Ice team that won the Clark Cup last season.

Season series stats

Sioux City regular season stats

Sioux Falls regular season stats

Schedule:

Game 1: Tuesday, April 14th, 7:05 PM - Sioux City @ Sioux Falls

Game 2: Thursday, April 16th, 7:05 PM - Sioux Falls @ Sioux City

Game 3: Friday, April 17th, 7:05 PM - Sioux Falls @ Sioux City

Game 4: Sunday, April 19th, 6:05 PM - Sioux City @ Sioux Falls**

Game 5: Tuesday, April 21st, 7:05 PM - Sioux Falls @ Sioux City**

#2 Tri-City Storm (37-17-6, 80 points) vs. #3 Omaha Lancers (34-17-9, 77 points)

- Tri-City is making their first playoff appearance since 2012 while Omaha earned a playoff berth for the 25th time in the last 26 seasons.

- The teams last met in the playoffs in 2010 as Omaha earned a 3-0 sweep in the Western Conference Semifinals. They met one other time in the postseason as Tri-City earned a 3-2 series win during the Conference Semifinals in 2005.

- Each team won four of the eight regular season meetings, including winning once each in their opponent's home arena.

- Omaha won the first three meetings while Tri-City won the last three.

- Chris Wilkie led all players in the season series with five goals. He tied for the overall USHL lead with 35 goals this season, equaling a team record.

- Omaha goaltender Kris Oldham appeared five times this season against the Storm and posted a 4-1-0 record with a 2.70 GAA.

- Storm goaltenders Alec Dillon (2.27) and Jared Rutledge (2.48) ranked first and tied for sixth respectively among USHL goaltenders in GAA.

- Tri-City gave up the fewest goals in the USHL this season (158) while Omaha gave up the sixth-fewest (176).

- Tri-City had the second-best power play conversion (25.1%) during the regular season while Omaha had the best penalty killing unit in the League (86.8%).

- Omaha was the second-highest penalized team in the USHL (1,258 penalty minutes), averaging nearly 21 penalty minutes per game.

- Tri-City had the second-most wins on home ice (22) in the USHL this season.

- Storm defenseman Vince Pedrie was a member of the Indiana Ice team that won the Clark Cup last season.

Season series stats

Tri-City regular season stats

Omaha regular season stats

Schedule:

Game 1: Tuesday, April 14th, 7:05 PM - Tri-City @ Omaha

Game 2: Thursday, April 16th, 7:05 PM - Omaha @ Tri-City

Game 3: Saturday, April 18th, 7:05 PM - Omaha @ Tri-City

Game 4: Sunday, April 19th, 5:05 PM - Tri-City @ Omaha**

Game 5: Tuesday, April 21st, 7:05 PM - Omaha @ Tri-City**

**if necessary

(all times reflect local start time)

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