Omaha Lancers News & Notes - Week 14
Published on December 30, 2011 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
Omaha, Neb. - The Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) return from the USHL's annual holiday break this Saturday as the team closes out the calendar year of 2011 with a New Year's Eve showdown at the Tri-City Storm.
Omaha (15-9-2, 32 pts.) is coming off a successful run prior to the break which saw the Lancers win six of seven games to kick off the month of December. Most recently, Omaha split a pair of tilts just prior to the USHL's annual holiday break. After the team's season-high five-game winning streak was snapped with a 7-1 setback at the Fargo Force on December 16th, Omaha pounced right back into the win column 24 hours later thanks to a 5-2 victory at home over the Sioux Falls Stampede. All tolled, the Lancers are 6-1 over the last seven contests and have outscored their opposition 34-18 during that stretch.
Omaha returns to action tomorrow as the team closes out the calendar year of 2011 with a New Year's Eve showdown at the Tri-City Storm. Tri-City (9-17-0, 18 pts.) returned from the holiday break this past Wednesday when the Storm saw their three-game winning streak come to an end after a 5-2 loss to the Des Moines Buccaneers. Following the setback, Tri-City has now dropped five of its last eight games overall. The Storm, however, are 3-2 under newly appointed Head Coach/GM Josh Hauge, who was given a two-and-a-half year contract by Storm owner Kirk Brooks yesterday. Hauge replaced Drew Schoneck who was relieved of his head coaching and GM duties on December 7th. Tri-City will host the Sioux City Musketeers tonight before welcoming the Lancers tomorrow evening.
Omaha Notes:
Omaha Lancers - 15-9-2, 32 pts. (2nd Western Conference)
- Omaha is 6-1 under Interim Head Coach Mike Aikens and Interim Associate Coach Michael Zucker. Aikens and Zucker assumed the reigns when Bliss Littler was relieved as Head Coach/GM on November 30th.
- F Jimmy Murray continues to lead all Lancers in scoring and is tied for third among all USHL skaters in scoring with 30 points (six goals, 24 assists). Committed to St. Cloud State University, Murray leads all USHLers with 24 assists and enters the weekend having tallied 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) over his last seven games. The veteran from Darien, Illinois leads all Lancers with nine multi-point games this season.
- F Casey Bailey leads all Lancers and is tied for ninth among all USHL skaters with 13 goals this season. Bailey enters the weekend second among all Lancers and tied for 20th in the league with 21 points (13 goals, eight assists).
- F Greg Gozzo has vaulted into third place among all Lancers scorers with 20 points (11 goals, nine assists) after recording 11 points (eight goals, three assists) in his last seven games. Committed to Harvard University, Gozzo enters the weekend in the midst of a four-game scoring streak having tallied seven points (four goals, three assists) during his recent surge.
- D Kevin Schulze leads all Omaha blueliners and is tied for fourth among all USHL defensemen in scoring with 14 points this season. Committed to the University of Wisconsin, Schulze is currently pacing all USHL blueliners with 14 assists this season. The former Muskegon Lumberjack has tallied eight points (eight assists) in 18 games since coming to Omaha in early November.
- Omaha's power play has been scorching hot of late having produced seven man-advantage markers over the last four games. During that time, the Lancers power play has gone 7-for-23 (30.4%) and now ranks eighth in the league at 15.8% (18-for-114).
Opponents Notes:
Saturday, Dec. 31 @ Tri-City Storm - 9-17-0, 18 pts. (8th Western Conference)
- Saturday's meeting is the third of eight regular season meetings between the Omaha Lancers and Tri-City Storm. Omaha is 2-0-0 against Tri-City this season after a 3-2 victory in Kearney, Nebraska on November 4th followed by a 3-1 win at the Omaha Civic Auditorium on December 6th.
- The Storm are 5-7 at home this season and have won three of their last five games played at the Viaero Event Center. Tri-City has been outscored 38-34 in 12 home games this season.
- F Nick Lappin leads all Storm skaters and is currently tied for 12th among all USHL skaters with 25 points this season. Committed to Brown University, Lappin leads all Tri-City skaters and is tied for seventh in the league with 14 goals scored this year.
- F Kenny Brooks ranks second among all Tri-City skaters with 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) this season. Committed to Penn State University, Brooks has registered at least one point in seven of his last 10 games played having produced nine points (five goals, four assists) during that time.
- Tri-City's power play enters the weekend ranked 12th among all USHL teams at 14.7% while the Storm's penalty kill ranks ninth in the league at 82.6%.
United States Hockey League Stories from December 30, 2011
- Lappin Scores Late Game-winner, Storm Win 4-3 - Tri-City Storm
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- Saints Blank Stampede 4-0 in Dubuque - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- U.S. National Under-17 Team Tripped up by Russia, 3-2, in 2012 World Under-17 Challenge - U.S. National Team
- Fighting Saints to Host Stampede Tonight - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- Rehkamp Called up to St. Cloud - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Omaha Lancers News & Notes - Week 14 - Omaha Lancers
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