Storm Face Elimination in Game Two of USHL Western Conference First Round Series Tuesday Night at Waterloo

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USHL Tri-City Storm

Storm Face Elimination in Game Two of USHL Western Conference First Round Series Tuesday Night at Waterloo

April 15, 2025 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release


WATERLOO, Iowa - The No. 6 Tri-City Storm must win to keep their season alive in game two of a USHL Western Conference First Round series against the No. 3 Waterloo Black Hawks on Tuesday night at Young Arena.

Game one (box score): The Black Hawks collected a 2-1 win in Monday's series opener. Tri-City's Carmelo Crandell produced the game's first goal late in the opening period, but Waterloo's Bradley Walker (second period) and Brendan McMorrow (third period) capitalized thereafter, helping the Black Hawks to victory. Waterloo outshot Tri-City 36-24 in the contest.

Crandell and Walker each scored their first career USHL playoff goals. McMorrow put up his fourth career postseason tally.

Storm netminder Michal Pradel stopped 34 of the 36 Black Hawk attempts. Waterloo goaltender Carter Casey fended off 23 of the 24 Tri-City opportunities. Monday was each goaltender's first career USHL postseason appearance.

A complete series schedule is below. All games will be broadcast on FloHockey and Storm Radio.

Game One: Monday, April 14 at Waterloo (Waterloo 2, Tri-City 1 - Final)

Game Two: Tuesday, April 15 at Waterloo (6:35 pm CT)

Game Three (if necessary): Wednesday, April 16 at Waterloo (6:35 pm CT)

The winning team advances to play No. 2 Sioux Falls in a best-of-five USHL Western Conference Semifinal series. Exact second round playoff dates are to be determined.

Home playoff tickets: Tickets for potential second round Tri-City home playoff games will go on sale at 10:00 am CT on Friday, April 18. Playoff tickets will be available at stormhockey.com, by calling 308-338-8144, or stopping by the Viaero Center box office in-person.

A description of the 2025 USHL Clark Cup playoff format can be accessed HERE.

Tri-City (regular season: 29-29-4, 62 pts., 6th place Western Conf.) is making its seventh consecutive postseason appearance and 17th in the last 25 seasons. The Storm finished the regular season at or above the .500 mark for the eighth straight year.

Waterloo (regular season: 34-18-10, 78 pts., 3rd place Western Conf.) has qualified for its fourth consecutive postseason. The Black Hawks are the Western Conference's No. 3 seed for the second straight year. Waterloo is an all-time 56-37-1 at home in playoff games.

The Black Hawks collected five standings points to Tri-City's four across the regular season series. Each contest was won by the visiting team.

Sunday, October 13 (Viaero Center, Kearney) Waterloo 6, Tri-City 2

Friday, November 15 (Young Arena, Waterloo) Tri-City 5, Waterloo 4 (SO)

Saturday, November 16 (Young Arena, Waterloo) Tri-City 5, Waterloo 3

Friday, March 7 (Viaero Center, Kearney) Waterloo 5, Tri-City 1

The clubs' last postseason clash occurred during the 2016 Western Conference Final. Tri-City took the series 3-2 after defeating Waterloo (5-3) in a decisive game five at Viaero Center. The Storm advanced to sweep Dubuque in the best-of-five championship series to win their first Clark Cup in franchise history.

Tri-City regular season offensive leaders:

Nolan Roed (27-33-60 in 61 games) - registered three points across his final five regular season appearances and topped all USHL players with seven shorthanded goals.

Artemi Nizameyev (27-28-55 in 53 games) - led the team with six game-winning goals during the regular season.

Crandell (14-28-42 in 58 games) - finished third on the Storm roster with 132 regular season shot attempts.

*Cooper Simpson (7-1-8 in 9 games) - ended the regular season on a five-game goal streak and eight-game point streak. Both were longest active in the USHL. Simpson's point streak was the lengthiest by a Storm player in 2024-2025. The North Dakota commit joined Tri-City in late March following his senior season at Shakopee High School (MN). Simpson did not produce a point on Monday.

Waterloo regular season offensive leaders:

Kaeden Hawkins (21-24-45 in 58 games) - closed the regular season with five points in his final three games after producing a goal and an assist Saturday against Omaha.

Dylan Compton (5-40-45 in 62 games) - finished the regular season fifth among all USHL skaters in assists (40).

McMorrow (24-18-42 in 58 games) - paced the team and tied for second among all USHL players with 14 regular season power play goals.

Check out the Tri-City Storm Statistics

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