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USHL Des Moines Buccaneers

October Ends with Road Split

October 28, 2013 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Des Moines Buccaneers News Release


Urbandale (IA) Throughout the course of a long season there are a number of unofficial marking points that serve as much official purpose as a fork at a soup restaurant. The end result is all that matters but during the season these benchmark moments act as a point to either validate or invalidate the path a team may be taking. Teams celebrate goals accomplished while dismissing these marking points just as quickly if they come up short.

Every team views the end of each month as one of these checkpoints and the Des Moines Buccaneers walk out of October with plenty of promise and optimism, but with areas to work on at the same time. The Buccaneers concluded the month by splitting a pair of road games over the weekend with a 5-2 win at Team USA on Saturday followed by a 6-1 loss at Indiana on Sunday to finish the month with a 4-5-1 overall record (with two September games included).

Des Moines ends the first month of United States Hockey League action with a below .500% record and sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference, neither of which are what the team wants. At the same time, the Buccaneers have taken plenty of positive steps in recent games showing promise that a prolong period of victories is possible. Des Moines has earned a standings point in four of their last six games (7 out of 12 points) and have done much of this during a difficult stretch of eight of nine games on the road.

"We are pleased to this point with the things we have accomplished as a team" says head coach and general manager Jon Rogger. "There are still things that we need to improve on but we feel that we have a good balance of skill and toughness that will help us be a top contender in our league."

"We are excited to know that we are right in the middle of the standings knowing that we have been without some key pieces in our lineup that will be coming back over the next two weeks."

Scoring, which had been a problematic issue for Des Moines in the season's first few games, has picked up with 16 goals in the last four games, paced by third-year veteran Tanner Karty's four. Ryan Galt, Marcel Godbout and Willem Nong-Lambert (each of whom the Buccaneers are relying on for good offensive seasons) have two goals each in the last four games.

"I think the biggest change in our scoring is that we are getting pucks to the net with traffic" notes Rogger. "We are finding ways to get loose pucks and finish our scoring chances. The fact that each line is chipping in offensively has been a huge boost to our scoring."

Defensively, the Buccaneers have been excellent recently and much of the credit goes to goaltender Ryan Ruck who has won each of his last three starts while allowing no more than three goals against in his last four starts.

Rare win in Ann Arbor

The Buccaneers 5-2 win at the National Team Development Program Under 17 team (Team USA) on Saturday marks the franchise's first victory in Ann Arbor, MI since the last 1990s. Des Moines had gone winless in six previous games in Ann Arbor since Team USA reentered the league in 2009.

Never Behind

Saturday's win was also the first time all season the Buccaneers' never trailed in a game. After taking a 2-0 lead in the second period, the Buccaneers never gave it up en route to the 5-2 win.

Godbout Joining USA Select Team

As anticipated for a couple weeks, the Buccaneers will be without rookie forward Marcel Godbout for the next four games as he joins the USA Select Team at the World Junior A Challenge in Nova Scotia. Godbout joins a team comprised almost entirely of USHL players who will go up against teams from Canada, Russia and the Czech Republic.

He is the first Buccaneer reprehensive to make the team since the 2011-2012 season.

Uchyn Making Season Debut

Second year player Roman Uchyn is expected to make his season debut this upcoming weekend when the Buccaneers head to Green Bay for games on Friday and Saturday. Uchyn was sidelined at the beginning of the season with an upper-body injury that necessitated him being placed in injured reserve which ended this last weekend.

The Elgin, IL native appeared in 35 games with 12 points (4g, 5a) for the Buccaneers after joining the team midway into the season. He began the season with the North American Hockey League's Corpus Christi IceRays.

Coincidentally, Uchyn made his debut with the Buccaneers last December at Green Bay.

Fellow veteran Michael Marnell, who has also been put since the start of the season with an upper-body injury, is scheduled to come off injured reserve this weekend and could be in the line-up as early as Nov. 8-9.

Hitting the Road

The Buccaneers are in the midst of a stretch of eight of nine games on the road, including five straight games on the road. However, being on the road may have been the best thing for the Buccaneers who have gone a respectable 3-2-1 since this stretch began on Oct. 11.

Des Moines' next home game is Saturday November 9th vs. Cedar Rapids.

The Des Moines Buccaneers are preparing for their 34th consecutive season in the United States Hockey League. Since 1980, the Buccaneers have produced hundreds of NCAA Division I players and dozens of professional alumni. Season Ticket Packages and Corporate Partnership information for the 2013-2014 season are available by calling (515) 278-2827.

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United States Hockey League Stories from October 28, 2013


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