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USHL Tri-City Storm

Tri-City Storm Western Conference Finals Preview: Forwards

April 27, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release


Kearney, Neb. - The one-seed Tri-City Storm and the three-seed Waterloo Black Hawks face off in the 2016 Clark Cup Western Conference Finals. The series begins Friday, April 29, at 7:05 p.m. at the Viaero Center. The first 2,000 fans in attendance receive free rally towels. Game 2 is this Saturday, April 30, at 7:05 p.m.

Kids tickets are $5 and college tickets are $6 for both games. http://bit.ly/Storm_Tickets

The Storm is home for Game 5, if necessary, on Tuesday, May 10 at 7:05 p.m.

The Storm has arranged a four-part preview to highlight different aspects of the series. Our first part examined each club's playoff history.

In this section, we look at the forward matchups that could define the series.

This series is the third playoff meeting between Tri-City and Waterloo (2004, 2012) and the Black Hawks have won the first two series. In 2004, the Storm qualified for its only Clark Cup Final and the Black Hawks won its only junior-era Clark Cup.

Tri-City Storm Forwards

The line of Dan Labosky, Alex Limoges and Wade Allison was a huge reason for the Storm's sweep against Sioux Falls; at least one was on ice for six of Tri-City's 12 opening-round goals.

Labosky is tied for third in the playoffs with six points and is averaging the most points-per-game (2.00). The 20-year-old winger from Edina, Minnesota set the Storm's single-game postseason assists record (3a) in Game 2.

Meanwhile, Limoges is on a Storm season-best nine-game point streak (4g, 8a), finishing the Conference Semifinals with two goals and four points. Like Labosky and Limoges, Allison recorded at least a point in each game against Sioux Falls (2g, 2a).

During the regular season, Carson Meyer led Tri-City scorers with 32 goals, the fifth-best Storm single-season mark. In the first round, the right winger had two goals and four points. Center Nico Sturm equaled Meyer's production, which included an important insurance goal in Game 2. With the Storm ahead a goal, Sturm scored early in the third on a rush to secure a 4-2 win.

Tri-City received points from 16 of 19 skaters in the sweep. Eight players scored goals, five defenseman had at least one point and four Storm players recorded multiple goals and assists.

Captain Tory Dello scored his first postseason goal in Game 2. Max Humitz, the Storm's most-experienced player (202 combined regular season and postseason games) scored in Game 3 to tie the Storm at one with Sioux Falls.

Waterloo Black Hawks

Trades have helped bolster the Black Hawks' lineup throughout the season. One of its top lines, Sam McCormick, Ryan Lohin and Zach Yon, is comprised entirely of players acquired in mid-season deals. Waterloo acquired Lohin and McCormick from the Madison Capitols and both finished the season tied for eighth in the league with 57 points. Fargo dealt Yon to Waterloo on February 1 and the second-year forward had 11 goals and 16 points in 23 games with the Hawks.

The third-highest scoring club during the regular season (3.30 goals/game), Waterloo relies heavily on arguably its top line; Nick Swaney, Ronnie Hein and Liam Pecararo. Swaney finished third on the squad with 50 points and had 30 goals, two off of McCormick's team lead. The Minnesota-Duluth commit depends on Hein (35a) and Pecararo (30a) to distribute.

Pecararo returned from the University of Maine in October and played his first game of the regular season on Oct. 30 against the Storm. During the season, the Northeastern commit scored 14 goals and 44 points in 45 games.

The Storm will also key on Yuri Terao (18g, 22a), who became the first Japanese-born player to play in the USHL regular season on September 25, 2015 at Bloomington. In the Conference Semifinals, Terao had one goal and two points.

A major stat to watch is which team scores first; during the regular season, Waterloo was the second-best team in the league when tallying the opening goal (23-4-2-0, .828). The Storm was above average as well, scoring the first goal in 34 of 60 games, good for a 21-4-5-4 record. Waterloo also averaged 33.1 shots/game, best in the league. Tri-City finished 4th attempting 31.9 shots/game.

Preview Schedule

Tuesday, April 26, 2016 - Playoff history

Wednesday, April 27, 2016 - Forwards

Thursday, April 28, 2016 - Defenseman

Friday, April 29, 2016 - Goaltenders

Western Conference Finals Schedule:

#3 Waterloo Black Hawks vs. #1 Tri-City Storm

GAME 1: Friday, April 29, 7:05 p.m. (Viaero Center) - Rally towels (first 2,000) $5 kids tickets, $6 college tickets

GAME 2: Saturday, April 30, 7:05 p.m. (Viaero Center) - $5 kids tickets, $6 college tickets

GAME 3: Friday, May 6, 7:05 p.m. (Young Arena)

GAME 4: Saturday, May 7, 7:05 p.m. (Young Arena)

GAME 5: Tuesday, May 10, 7:05 p.m. (Viaero Center) - if necessary

Check out the Tri-City Storm Statistics



United States Hockey League Stories from April 27, 2016


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