PAPILLION, NE – The United States Hockey League (USHL) is an American Juniors A level league. Players must be “high school aged,” meaning they cannot be younger than the age of 16 and cannot be older than 20 prior at the beginning of the season.
The purpose of the league is to allow players, coaches, and officials to develop their abilities to pursue a career in ice hockey. The USHL is the only Tier I hockey league in the United States and is governed by USA Hockey. The league began in 1972 as the Can-Am League and changed its name to the Midwest Junior League in 1973. In 1977 the league merged with the United States hockey league and became exclusively Junior A in 1979. Upon becoming solely amateur in 1979, a stronger emphasis was placed upon education. Players are assisted with housing and placement within area high schools as they must live in the cities in which they play. The key goal for the USHL before player development is assistance to the players to receive scholarships into college and universities. Today, the USHL conducts a voluntary draft prior to the beginning of the season to keep a competitive balance and financial stability. Players within the league come from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Many remain in the United States to pursue the college education prior to finishing play in the USHL. The league is broken up into two divisions: The Eastern Division and the Western Division. The schedule allows for interdivisional play with a bulk of the games being played on Friday and Saturday nights. The season concludes with a playoff system where all participating teams of the league participate with the winners receiving the leagues ultimate prize, the Clark Cup. Below are the list of teams in the United States Hockey League by division. (NHL teams abbreviated) USHL East Division Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Colors: green and black Coach: Mark Carlson Arena: Cedar Rapids Ice Arena Notable Alumnus: Justin Abdelkader (DET), Dave Moss (CAL), Ted Purcell (LAK) Chicago Steel Location: Bensenville, Illinois Colors: black and red Coach: Steve Poapst Arena: Edge Ice Arena Notable Alumnus: Tom Gilbert (EDM) Des Moines Buccaneers Location: Urbandale, Iowa Colors: navy blues and red Coach: J.P. Parise Arena: Buccaneer Ice Arena Notable Alumnus: Jim Bode (PHI), Scott Clemmensen (NJD), Erik Cole (CAR), Kyle Okposo (NYI), Peter Sejna (STL) Green Bay Gamblers Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin Colors: black and gold Coach: Jon Cooper Arena: Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena Notable Alumnus: Ty Conklin (DET), Joseph Crabb (ATL) Indiana Ice Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Colors: frosty blue and silver Coach: Jeff Blashill Arena: Pepsi Coliseum Notable Alumnus: Alex Kangas (ATL), Brett Bruneteau (WSH) Waterloo Black Hawks Location: Waterloo, Iowa Colors: black and red Coach: P.K. O’Handley Arena: Young Arena Notable Alumnus: Jordan Parise (NJD), Joe Pavelski (SJS), Jason Blake (TOR) USHL West Division Fargo Force Location: Fargo, North Dakota Colors: blue and white Coach: Dean Blais Arena: Urban Plains Center Notable Alumnus: expansion team Lincoln Stars Location: Lincoln, Nebraska Colors: black and blue Coach: Jim McGroarty Arena: IceBox Notable Alumnus: Chris Porter (STL), Colin Stuart (ATL), David Backes (STL), Ryan Potulny (EDM) Omaha Lancers Location: Omaha, Nebraska Colors: black and orange Coach: Bliss Littler Arena: Omaha Civic Auditorium Notable Alumnus: Matt Carle (PHI), Joe Corvo (CAR), Ryan Malone (TBY), Paul Stastny (COL), Yan Stastny (STL) Sioux City Musketeers Location: Sioux City, Iowa Colors: green and gold Coach: Todd Knott Arena: Tyson Events Center Notable Alumnus: Ruslan Fedetenko (NYI), John Grahame (CAR), Rostislav Kesla (CBS) Sioux Falls Stampede Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota Colors: blue and gold Coach: Kevin Hartzell Arena: Sioux Falls Arena Notable Alumnus: Alex Kangas (MIN), T.J. Oshie (STL), Thomas Vanek (BUF) Tri-City Storm Location: Grand Island, Hastings, and Kearney, Nebraska Colors: black and purple Coach: Tom Rudrud Arena: FirsTier Events Center Notable Alumnus: Scott Parse (LAK), Christian Hansen (UND, son of Slap Shot’s Dave Hanson) You may contact the offer at: john.strathman@prohockeynews.com
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