Stampede Announce 2009-2010 Schedule
July 9, 2009 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Sioux Falls Stampede News Release
Sioux Falls, SD- The Sioux Falls Stampede announced their schedule for the upcoming 2009-10 season today. The Stampede will once again play a 60-game schedule with 30 home and 30 away games.
For the 11th consecutive season, the Stampede will begin the regular season at home. The Herd open the season on Friday, October 2nd against the Des Moines Buccaneers at the Sioux Falls Arena at 7:05 PM. The Buccaneers return to the West Division this year with Team USA and the Youngstown Phantoms joining the East Division as expansion clubs.
The home schedule is dominated by weekends. Last year, only 18 of the Herd's 30 home games took place on the weekend. This season, 23 of the 30 home games will take place over 10 Friday's, 9 Saturday's and 4 Sunday's. In addition, the Stampede will play seven weekday home games; 4 on Thursday's and 3 on Wednesday's.
The Stampede will be hoping to capitalize on their home-ice advantage early on this season, playing 13 of their first 16 games at the Sioux Falls Arena and all on weekends. For the first time ever, the Stampede will play on Thanksgiving night (November 26th) against I-29 rival Sioux City. Some other highlights of the schedule include:
For the first time in franchise history the Stampede will play on New Year's Night (Jan. 1) against Team USA. It will also mark Team USA's first trip to Sioux Falls. The
NTDP is based in Ann Arbor, MI and have traditionally developed some of the top junior players for world competition. This is the second time Team USA will play a full
USHL schedule; the last was during the Stampede's first season in 1999-2000. For the first time ever, they will be eligible for post-season play and a Clark Cup
championship.
Family Nights will return to the Sioux Falls Arena on Sunday night's. More details to follow on this year's Family Night packages.
There will be only three (3) Wednesday home games this season as opposed to 10 last season.
The defending Clark Cup Champion Indiana Ice make their first trip to Sioux Falls on Saturday, November 7th.
Head coach Kevin Hartzell returns for his fifth season with the Stampede. He is the longest tenured coach in franchise history and also the winningest coach in franchise history. Hartzell has led the Stampede to two Clark Cup Finals appearances in his four years, including one Clark Cup championship (2006-07) and one Anderson Cup championship (2005-06). In his 10 years in the league, Hartzell has a career record of 335-164-27 and ranks second in wins amongst USHL active coaches and second in winning percentage (.663) amongst active coaches.
Individual ticket information and game promotions for the upcoming season will be made available at a later date.
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United States Hockey League Stories from July 9, 2009
- Tri-City Storm, USHL Announce 2009-2010 Schedule - Tri-City Storm
- RoughRiders Announce 2009-10 Schedule - Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
- Des Moines Buccaneers News Release - 2009 - 2010 Schedule - Des Moines Buccaneers
- Musketeers announce Luke Strand as General Manager and Head Coach - Sioux City Musketeers
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