USHL Weekly
Published on December 15, 2008 under United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release
The USHL at 30 Years
One of the most dominant teams in USHL history came in the form of the 1994-95 Des Moines Buccaneers, who rode a 38-5-5 mark and 290 goals to Anderson, Clark and Gold Cup titles.
"To only lose five games during the regular season was some- thing else. It was a special team and we had a coach in Bob Ferguson who, unless you played for him, you'll never under- stand how great of a coach he is," said Regg Simon, the captain of the 1994-95 Buccaneers.
"In the national championship game that year we were down by a goal with a little over 20 seconds left and Omaha iced the puck trying to score on an empty net. Bob Thorton won the offensive zone draw to Reggie Berg, who shot and Brad Frattaroli tipped it in to force overtime, where we won it. 'Refuse to Lose' became our de facto motto and our fans really took to it as well."
USHL INSIDER
Final Weekend: This weekend marks the final weekend of USHL play in the 2008 portion of the 2008-09 season.
Tri-City Terror: Tri-City's Mike Cichy had points on all five goals Tri-City scored last week, scoring three goals and assisting on the other two, but the effort wasn't enough as the Storm went 0-3 for the week.
Forcing The Issue: The Fargo Force look like anything but an expansion team of late, winning five of their last seven games and surging into play- off position in the West Division.
Waterloo Winning Too: The Black Hawks are among the hottest teams in the USHL, having won eight of their last ten games and are currently on a three-game winning streak.
Eddy Stampeding: David Eddy has been on a tear in Sioux Falls since the calendar flipped to December. Eddy has scored three goals and has ten points in six December games, including points in each of his last four games.
Des Moines Doubles Up: With Saturday's 2-1 win over Sioux Falls on Saturday, the Buccaneers won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Indy Owns The West: With Saturday's 3-2 win over Lincoln, Indiana improved to a USHL-best 10-1-0 on the year against teams from the West Division.
Overtime For Omaha: Louis Leblanc netted the game-winner in over- time as Omaha beat Cedar Rapids 3-2 on Friday.
Different But Same: Matt Donovan scored twice on Friday and Jeff Costello scored twice on Saturday, but the RoughRiders lost a pair of games, 3-2 in overtime to Omaha on Friday and 3-2 to Fargo on Satur- day.
Storm Stopper: T.J. Massie made a league-high 46 saves in Tri-City's 7- 2 loss to Waterloo on Saturday.
PRO ALUMNI NEWS
Joey Crabb (Green Bay) scored his first NHL goal in Atlanta's 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
Jeff Taffe (Rochester), who started the season in Pittsburgh, is now ninth in the AHL in scoring with 29 points in 25 games for the Wilkes- Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Thomas Vanek (Sioux Falls) continues to lead the NHL in goals with 24. He is three goals up on the second highest goal scorer.
Nathan Gerbe (Omaha) picked up his first NHL point, an assist, in a 4-2 Buffalo win over New Jersey on Saturday.
Colin Stuart (Lincoln) was recalled by the Atlanta Thrashers for one game and then sent back to Chicago of the AHL. Stuart played 8:39 in Satur- day's game at Boston.
Teddy Purcell (Cedar Rapids) was called up by the Los Angeles Kings and recorded an assist in his first game back, a 6-2 win over St. Louis on Thursday.
Luke Stauffacher (Green Bay) is tied for seventh in the IHL in scoring with 26 points. His 15 goals tie him for second in the league and he is tied for the league lead in game-winning goals with three.
Dan Ellis (Omaha) earned his second shutout of the season, making 27 saves in Nashville's 3-0 win over Dallas on Saturday.
Andy Franck (Sioux City) currently sits second in the CHL goaltender rankings with a 1.79 goals against average in 14 games for Oklahoma City.
COLLEGE ALUMNI NEWS
Brett Olson (Waterloo), playing in front of hometown friends and family, scored Michigan Tech's lone goal with 3:32 to play in regulation to force overtime in Saturday's 1-1 tie with Minnesota-Duluth.
Mike Sislo (Green Bay) took home Hockey East Player of the Week honors after scoring four goals and two assists in a 9-4 win over Holy Cross on Thursday.
The CCHA honored three USHL alumni this week. Carter Camper (Lin- coln) was named Offensive Player of the Week after scoring a goal and five assists in Miami's sweep of RPI. Eddie Del Grosso (Indiana) was named Defensive Player of the Week after scoring a goal in each game of Ne- braska-Omaha's sweep of Lake Superior State. Chad Billins (Waterloo) was named Rookie of the Week after scoring a goal and going +3 in a win over Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday.
Nico Sacchetti (Omaha) scored his first college goal, the final goal of the game, in Minnesota's 4-1 win over Colorado College on Saturday. Jake Hansen (Sioux Falls) also scored his first career goal in the game.
Corey Elkins (Sioux City) paced the offense for Ohio State, scoring twice and adding an assist as they routed Bentley 10-1 on Friday.
Robby Dee (Omaha) scored his first goal of the season, and the second of his career, in Maine's 5-1 win over Union on Saturday.
Richard Bachman (Cedar Rapids) made 21 saves as Colorado College knocked off Minnesota, 1-0 on Sunday. It was the first time the Tigers have shut out Minnesota, in Minnesota, since 1955.
United States Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2008
- USHL Weekly - USHL
- Stampede Travel East this Weekend - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Ice Await Stampede Friday Night - Indiana Ice
- USHL names players of the week - USHL
- Steel bounce back against Green Bay - Chicago Steel
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.
