USHL United States Hockey League

USHL Weekly

Published on April 7, 2008 under United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

John Kemp

Indiana

Kemp had a huge week to climb to the top of the league scoring chart. He had three assists in a 4-3 win over Ohio Wednesday, a goal and an assist in a 6-4 win over Cedar Rapids on Friday and a goal and three assists in a 7-0 win over Ohio on Saturday.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

John Carlson

Indiana

Carlson had points in each game as Indiana clinched the East Division. He had an assist in 4-3 win over Ohio on Wednesday, a goal (game-winner) in a 6-4 win over Cedar Rapids on Friday and a goal and two assists in a 7-0 win over Ohio Saturday. He was +2.

Stauber s Goalcrease GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Eric Hartzell

Sioux Falls

Hartzell went 2-0-0 last week as the Stampede finished the season winning 11 of 13. He made 36 saves in a 4-3 OT win over Lincoln on Wednesday. He then made 33 saves in a 3-0 shutout of Tri-City on Saturday. His GAA was 1.46 and his SV% was .958.

USHL I NSI DER

Scor ing Champions: Jack Connolly of Sioux Falls and John Kemp of Indiana have finished tied for the league scoring title. Connolly had been on top for most of the past month, while Kemp, in the top-ten all season, streaked to the finish line with nine points in his final three games.

Goalie Champion: David Reekie of Lincoln finished atop the league goaltending chart with a 2.01 goals against average. He also was tops in save percentage (.935) and shutouts (6). Omaha s Drew Palmisano led the league in wins with 32, the only goaltender to win at least 30 games.

These D Can Score: Three games in the USHL were decided in overtime last week, and in all three the game-winning goal was scored by a defenseman. On Wednesday, Sam Zabkowicz scored the winner in Sioux Falls 4-3 win over Lincoln. That same night Matt Crandell got the winner in Sioux City s 5-4 win over Des Moines. Then on Saturday, Drew MacKenzie notched the winner as Waterloo downed Cedar Rapids 3-2.

Forw ards Can Score, Too: Jason Gregoire scored four goals last week, giving him 37 on the year and the league goal scoring title. He was one of just four (Indiana s Paul Carey, Sioux Falls Jake Hansen and Chicago s Andy Miele were the others) USHL players to break the 30-goal barrier this season. Compare that to 20-years ago when there was one 50-goal scorer, seven 40-goal scorers and 10 who scored at least 30 goals.

St rong As Steel: Simon Olsson finished the season strong, picking up points in his final ten regular season games.

Haw ks Packing Em I n: The Waterloo Black Hawks have been packing the house this season. For the sixth straight year, they have increased their attendance, a record for any team at any level of hockey. They also set team records for total attendance for the year (90,368), average attendance (3,012) and sellouts (17).

The Dor r Was Opened: Once he came back from injury, Des Moines Mike Dorr was one of the league s most consistent scorers. In just 34 games, Dorr scored ten goals and 32 points and finished the season with points in nine of his last ten games. Dorr missed most of the season s first half with a shoulder injury.

ALUMNI NEWS

Just in Abdelkader (Cedar Rapids) signed with the Detroit Red Wings and made his NHL debut with them Thursday against Columbus. He played 11:20 in the game and took a penalty.

Jack Hillen (Tri-City) made his NHL debut with the New York Islanders on Thursday against the New York Rangers, playing 15:39. Hillen picked up his first NHL point, an assist the next night.

Six former USHL players are taking part in the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge that will be held this Friday during the off day of the NCAA Frozen Four. They are Kevin Regan (Waterloo), Peter Mannino (Tri- City), Andrew Thomas (Waterloo), Er ic Ehn (Green Bay), Nino Musitelli (Danville) and Jimmy Kilpat r ick (Green Bay).

Teddy Purcell (Cedar Rapids) has jumped into third place in overall scoring in the AHL. Purcell has scored 25-58-83 and is one point out of second overall. Purcell has all but sewn up the rookie scoring crown, as he has a 21-point lead on the next closest rookie.

Andrew Alber ts (Waterloo) returned to the Boston Bruins lineup for the final two games of the regular season after missing 47 games with postconcussion symptoms.

Br ian Rafalski (Madison) finished eighth in scoring among NHL defensemen with 55 points on the year. He also tied for the league lead in power play goals scored by a defenseman with 10.

Andreas Nodl (Sioux Falls) left St. Cloud State after his sophomore to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers. Nodl had 36 goals and 90 points in 80 career games with the Huskies.

Paul Stastny (Omaha) finished as the leading scorer of the Colorado Avalanche with 71 points in 66 games. Stastny missed 16 games at mid-season (and also missed the all-star game) after having an appendectomy.

Jared Boll (Lincoln) finished second in the NHL in penalty minutes with 226. He led the NHL in major penalties with 28. Right on his heels in the penalty minute race was Adam Bur ish (Green Bay), who finished third with 214.

Chad Costello (Cedar Rapids) left Northeastern after two seasons and has signed with the Texas Wildcatters of the ECHL, an affiliate of the Minnesota Wild.

Dan Ellis (Omaha) finished atop the NHL leaderboard in save percentage at .924. Just behind him in second place was Ty Conklin (Green Bay), who finished at .923.

Joe Fallon (Cedar Rapids) signed with the Chicago Blackhawks after finishing his four-year career at the University of Vermont. Fallon recorded 20 shutouts in his collegiate career, which places him second on the alltime NCAA shutout list. Fallon was chosen by Chicago in the sixth round (167 overall) of the 2005 NHL Draft.

Br ian Lee (Lincoln) picked up his first NHL point with an assist Thursday against Toronto.

Aaron Slat tengren (Omaha), the leading scorer and an ECHL All-Star for the Augusta Lynx, has returned to the team following a stint in the AHL with the Providence Bruins.

Pat r ick Sharp (Thunder Bay) led the Chicago Blackhawks in goals this season with 36 and tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with 7.

Check out the United States Hockey League Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United States Hockey League Stories from April 7, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central