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USHL Weekly

February 9, 2009 - United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


The USHL at 30 Years

After their first two seasons where they finished in the bottom half of the USHL, Dave Siciliano took over the Thunder Bay Flyers and they immediately became contenders. It all culminated with the 1988-89 season, where the Flyers enjoyed one of the greatest years in junior hockey history. "This was the best overall team I coached in the USHL. They were highly skilled, possessed great speed, played with intensity and intelligence and were very tough," Siciliano said. "A very hard combination to beat."

The Flyers rolled to their second-straight Anderson Cup title, fashioning a 40-6-2 record along the way. They also claimed the Clark Cup, winning an epic series against St. Paul in the finals. "I must say the final series was the toughest series we played in playoff hockey that season," Siciliano said. That with the Vulcans was an outsanding series going the full five games with the winning goal scored in the final minutes at the Fort William Gardens by Greg Johnson. This series was a classic." The Flyers advanced to play for Canada's Tier II championship, the Centennial Cup, winning the tournament and the national championship, the first time a team based in a United States league had done that.

"We lost one game during the round robin and then won the championship vs. the home team which made it even more gratifying. That win helped put the USHL on the Canadian hockey landscape."

USHL INSIDER

Fabulous Friday: Radoslav Illo scored with 42 seconds left in overtime, giving the Tri-City Storm a 1-0 win over Cedar Rapids on Friday. The win snapped the Storm's losing streak at 19 games. They had last won on November 26.

Freaky Friday: The Green Bay Gamblers had their franchise-best winning streak snapped at 12 with a 6-3 loss at Fargo on Friday night. The last loss for the Gamblers came against Sioux City on December 19, the final weekend before the holiday break.

The "Cost" Of Going Overtime: All-star Jeff Costello scored at 2:42 of overtime to give Cedar Rapids a 5-4 win over Omaha on Saturday. The win, coupled with a Green Bay loss, gives the RoughRiders sole possession of first place in the East Division.

What's Cookin'?: Indiana's Max Cook had a goal and an assist in Friday's 8-4 win over Sioux City. He then scored twice in a 7-3 win over Des Moines on Saturday. Cook also scored the game-winning goal in both games.

Great Scott: Scott Pavelski scored a shorthanded goal in regulation and then added the winner in the shootout as Waterloo beat Sioux Falls 3-2 on Saturday.

Forcing The Issue: The Force stormed out of the gates after the all-star game, winning three games in three days, all at home. On Friday, they snapped Green Bay's winning streak at 12 games with a 6-3 win. On Saturday they again beat the Gamblers, 2-1. Then on Sunday afternoon they beat Lincoln 4-3.

That's A Lot Of Rubber: Clay Witt made a career-high 41 saves, and stopped three more in the shootout, but the Herd lost 3-2 at Waterloo on Saturday.

Capitol Gains: Alex Chiasson had a goal and three assists, Rocco Carzo had two goals and an assist and Brett Bruneteau and Josh Myers had a goal and an asssist each as Des Moines crushed Waterloo 8-4 at home on Friday.

PRO ALUMNI NEWS

Davis Drewiske (Des Moines) was called up from Manchester Monarchs by the Los Angeles Kings and made his NHL debut on February 3 against Ottawa, playing 10:15. Drewiske was the 70th USHL player to appear in an NHL game this season, establishing a new league-high for alumni in the NHL in one year.

Andy Wozniewski (Dubuque) was called up by the St. Louis Blues for one game before being returned to Peoria of the AHL. He spent last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Thomas Vanek (Sioux Falls), who was enjoying an all-star season with the Buffalo Sabres, will miss the next 3-4 weeks because of a broken jaw. Vanek suffered the injury when he was hit in the face with a puck during Buffalo's game on Saturday against Ottawa.

Tim Stapleton (Green Bay) scored four goals on Sunday in the Toronto Marlies' 10-5 win over Grand Rapids and was named the AHL's "First Star of the Night" on Sunday.

Alex Goligoski (Sioux Falls) was reassigned by the Pittsburgh Penguins to their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Goligoski, an early-season injury replacement, scored six goals and had 20 points in 44 games with Pittsburgh.

Mark Stuart (Rochester) has tied his career-high for goals in a season with four and set a new career-high for points in a season with ten.

Chad LaRose (Sioux Falls) scored his 12th goal of the season in Carolina's 7-2 win over Phoenix on Saturday, establishing a new high for goals in a season.

COLLEGE ALUMNI NEWS

The championship game of the legendary Beanpot in Boston takes place Monday between Boston University and Northeastern. Boston University's roster sports six former USHL players: Ryan Ruikka (Des Moines), Colby Cohen (Lincoln), Chris Connolly (Omaha), Eric Gryba (Green Bay),

John McCarthy (Des Moines) and Zach Cohen (Tri-City). Northeastern has nine former USHLers: Steve Quailer (Sioux City), Joe Vitale (Sioux Falls), Alex Tuckerman (Sioux City), Dennis McCauley (Sioux City),

David Strathman (Cedar Rapids), Louis Liotti (Sioux City), J.P. Maley (Des Moines), Randy Guzior (Chicago) and Steve Silva (Green Bay).

Erik Condra (Lincoln) was the hero for Notre Dame on Friday. Condra scored his first goal of the game midway through the third period, then added another with one second to play in regulation to tie the game. The Irish would win the game over Ohio State 4-3 on Calle Ridderwall's (Tri- City) overtime winner.

Scott Darling (Indiana) made 31 saves, giving him his third shutout of the season as Maine blanked New Hampshire 1-0 on Saturday.

Brett Olson (Waterloo) had a goal and an assist in Michigan Tech's 2-2 tie with Colorado College on Friday. Olson has now taken over as the topscorer for Michigan Tech with 20 points in 30 games.

Doug Jones (Cedar Rapids) is second in the nation in points-per-game among freshmen, with 25 points in 23 games. He is one of two freshman in all of NCAA Division I hockey to average over a point-per-game.

John Mitchell (Indiana) scored twice, the second being the game-winner, as Wisconsin beat Minnesota 5-4 Saturday and swept the weekend series.

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United States Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2009


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.


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