Lancers Weekly
September 23, 2013 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
RALSTON, NE - A home clash with the defending USHL Western Conference playoff champion Fargo Force on Friday at Ralston Arena and a Saturday road showdown vs. the Des Moines Buccaneers bookend week one in the Omaha Lancers 28th season in the USHL. One year removed from their first non-playoff season in the last 24 years, the Lancers look to re-establish their historic perch atop the USHL's Western Conference with a new Head Coach and General Manager, Brian Kaufman, and a roster laden with 11 returning players, including goaltender Cole Bruns and 2012-13 leading Lancers scorer Jake Randolph (13G, 31A - 44 PTS), and several talented first-year skaters.
After an encouraging, 2-0-2 preseason slate, capped off by an exciting, 5-4 overtime home loss to the Tri-City Storm on Friday, September 20th, the Lancers will look to improve upon a fifth-place, 34-29-1 finish in the USHL's Western Conference in 2012-13. Omaha's exhibition slate began on September 11th at Tyson Events center in Sioux City, Iowa, when the Lancers dropped a tight-checking 5-4 overtime decision to the Sioux Falls Stampede in the first game of the 2013 USHL Fall classic West preseason tournament. The next day, an encouraging 5-3 victory over their archrival Lincoln Stars in Sioux City kept the positive vibes flowing for the Lancers. Perhaps the most encouraging clash of the 2013 preseason came the following Saturday, when Omaha battled back from down a pair of goals in Des Moines to top the Western Conference rival Buccaneers 4-2.
Bright spots in the 2013 exhibition season for Omaha included a penalty-killing unit that successfully negated 14 of the 15 shorthanded situations it faced (93.3%) and produced a league-leading two shorthanded goals, from Tyler Vesel and Gage Hough respectively, point-per game stretches for co-leading preseason scorers Hough (3G, 1A - 4 PTS) and Ryan Tait (2G, 2A - 4 PTS), a pair of game-winning goals in consecutive contests for rookie defenseman Connor Light and strong goaltending from rookie netminder Hayden Hawkey (2 games played, 1-0-0 record, 3.89 goals-against average, .900 save percentage).
OPPONENT NOTES: FARGO FORCE (0-0-0), T-1st in Western Conference, W0
- Fargo is coming off one of the best seasons in the Force's franchise history, going 38-19-7 in the regular season, good for a second-place finish in the Western Conference and the third-best record league-wide last year.
- The Force eventually succumbed to the eventual Clark Cup champion Dubuque Fighting Saints in three games in the 2013 Clark Cup Finals.
- The Force return nine players from last year's team, including both goaltenders that saw time for the Force a year ago.
DES MOINES BUCCANEERS (0-0-0), T-1st in Western Conference, W0
- Des Moines missed the playoffs in 2012-13, earning a 7th-place finish in the Western Conference at 25-35-4, good for the fourth-worst record in the USHL last season.
- In 2013-14, the Buccaneers return 14 skaters from their 2012-13 squad.
- Lancers topped Buccaneers 4-2 in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion in Omaha's third game of the 2013 preseason, a 4-2 win on Saturday, September 14th at Buccaneer Arena in Des Moines.
United States Hockey League Stories from September 23, 2013
- Stampede's Knutson Named USHL Co-Forward of the Week - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Lancers Name Captains for 2013-14 Season - Omaha Lancers
- Lancers Weekly - Omaha Lancers
- Hitchcock, Knutson, Bliss, and Rutledge Earn USHL Honors - USHL
- Ice Home Friday at Pan Am Pavilion - Indiana Ice
- Affiliate Ryan Larkin Commits to Miami (Ohio) University - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Stampede Acquire Clark Cup Champion Goaltender Arthur Brey - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Central Scouting Grades Black Hawks, Affiliates - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Janik Moeser Cracks NHL Central Scouting's "Players to Watch" List - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Veterans Step up Despite Season-Opening Loss - Des Moines Buccaneers
- Waterloo Black Hawks Name Players of the Week - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Forward Christian Cakebread Commits to University of North Dakota - Fargo Force
- CN Community Ticket Program Opens Doors for Local Non-Profits - Dubuque Fighting Saints
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