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USHL Des Moines Buccaneers

Buccaneers Announce 2023-24 Season Schedule

June 7, 2023 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Des Moines Buccaneers News Release


The Des Moines Buccaneers announce the schedule for the 2023-24 Season beginning with the home opener at Buccaneer Arena on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.

Des Moines will play its 2023-24 home games at Buccaneer Arena, ready to welcome fans back for the 44th season of Buccaneers hockey at the Madhouse on Hickman.

The Buccaneers host Sioux Falls for the home opener on September 30th, followed by four home games in the month of October against Green Bay (Oct. 13), Tri-City (Oct. 14), Cedar Rapids (Oct. 21) and Lincoln (Oct. 28).

The first road weekend of the season will see the Buccaneers hit the road to take on Eastern Conference opponents, visiting the USA NTDP U18 squad in Plymouth, Mich. on Oct. 6 before heading to take on the 2023 Clark Cup champion Youngstown Phantoms on Oct. 7. Des Moines will also visit Cedar Rapids (Oct. 20) and Dubuque (Oct. 27) to round out the nine-game October schedule.

The Buccaneers will also play nine games in the month of November, completing a four-game homestand against Eastern Conference teams, Muskegon (Nov. 3), Cedar Rapids (Nov. 5) and Madison (Nov. 11). Des Moines hits the road for three games the following weekend, at Omaha (Nov. 16), at Lincoln (Nov. 17) and back in the Hawkeye state at Waterloo (Nov. 18).

Thanksgiving week will conclude the November schedule with a trip to Sioux Falls on Wednesday, Nov. 22, a Black Friday game in Des Moines against Dubuque (Nov. 24) and a trip to visit the Fighting Saints on Saturday, Nov. 25.

Des Moines will play six games in December before the holiday break and wrap up the 2023 calendar year with three more games before turning the page to 2024.

The Buccaneers host Dubuque (Dec. 1) and Waterloo (Dec. 2) before playing both teams on the road the following weekend, and are back home to play Sioux City for the first time on Dec. 15, with the final game before the holidays against Waterloo on Dec. 16.

After the break, Des Moines plays on Thursday, Dec. 28 at Cedar Rapids, before returning home for a Friday night game against Dubuque on Dec. 29. The Buccaneers will visit Sioux Falls for a New Year's Eve game at 4:05 p.m. at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

The Buccaneers ring in 2024 on the road, visiting Fargo on January 5 & 6, before returning home to face Eastern Conference foes Youngstown and Chicago on January 12-13. Des Moines hosts Dubuque on January 19 before kicking off a stretch of road games at Waterloo on January 20. The Bucs take on the East once again Jan. 26-27 at Muskegon and Chicago.

Des Moines plays three games on the road to start the month of February, closing out a six-game road stretch, at Tri-City on Feb. 2-3 and at Lincoln on Feb. 9. The Bucs are back at Buccaneer Arena on Feb. 10 against the Stars to open a seven-game homestand that goes all the way to March.

From February 16-18, the Buccaneers host all three Dupaco Cowbell Cup opponents, beginning with Waterloo on Friday, Dubuque on Saturday and wrapping up with Cedar Rapids on Sunday. The Bucs host Cedar Rapids (Feb. 23) and Sioux Falls (Feb. 24) the final weekend of February.

Des Moines wraps seven games at Buccaneer Arena during a three-game weekend, beginning at home against Sioux City on Friday, March 1. The Bucs travel to visit the Musketeers on Saturday, March 2 and then come right back home to take on the USA NTDP U17 team on Sunday, March 3 at 3:00 p.m.

The Buccaneers hit the road for the next four games, with a weekend at Waterloo and Dubuque on March 8-9, then in Wisconsin at Green Bay and Madison on March 15-16.

Des Moines hosts Tri-City and Omaha on March 22-23, before visiting the Lancers on Sunday, March 24. The Bucs visit Sioux City on March 29, and are back home against Omaha on March 30, capping a 12-game slate in the month of March.

The home regular season finale at Buccaneer Arena will be April 5-6 as Des Moines hosts Fargo. The Bucs close out the regular season on the road at Cedar Rapids on April 12 and Waterloo on April 13.

The Des Moines Buccaneers 2023-24 season officially begins with the USHL Fall Classic held annually at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Twp., Pennsylvania in the practice home and training facility of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Opponents, dates and times for the two games at the Fall Classic will be announced in July.

Des Moines qualified for the USHL Clark Cup Playoffs for the 28th time in franchise history and fell in a first round series at Lincoln to close out the 2022-23 campaign.

The Buccaneers continue to move forward with the project for a new arena at the Merle Hay Mall but have no other updates on that facility at this time.

Des Moines Buccaneers returning players and those selected by in Phase I and Phase II of the USHL Draft will compete to make the 2023-24 Buccaneers roster at the team's main camp held June 17-20 at the MidAmerican Energy RecPlex in West Des Moines, Iowa. Main camp is open for fans to attend and a schedule will be announced soon. Results of the Buccaneers Phase I Draft and Phase II Draft are available by clicking the links.

Season tickets are on sale now for the 2023-24 season! There are a variety of ticket packages for every budget. Contact Ben Bjorkgren at ben@bucshockey.com to renew or purchase your season tickets now at tickets.bucshockey.com.

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