NORTH CHARLESTON, SC- A quick review of the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays team shows that almost half of the current roster is populated with players who sometime between the age of 16 and 20, left home and skated in the United States Hockey League. For example, ‘Rays’ forward Matt Fornataro (11 goals,11 assists, 22 points) who currently leads the team in scoring, played for the Waterloo Blackhawks, a long time member of the USHL. The USHL was founded in 1961 and became a junior league in 1970. It currently has 14 teams based in the mid west with league headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The USHL will expand to at least 15 teams next season when Dubuque, Iowa will join the league. Current teams are located in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska and South Dakota. Players are generally eligible to play in USA Hockey sanctioned junior leagues between the ages of 16 and 20 years of age. It is the only Tier One Junior league in the United States. In short, this means that the experience players’ gain, the schedule and number of games they play, the competition and crowds they play before, give these young men a real taste of what it will be like to play higher level college and eventually professional hockey. The league, with two exceptions, is similar to the major junior leagues in Canada that skate under the umbrella Canadian Hockey League. Three leagues, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Western Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey League make up the CHL. The major differences are that first USHL players are not paid and thus retain their amateur status. Secondly, their career track is geared towards college hockey first and pro hockey later; while the major junior leagues in Canada are pro hockey feeder programs. Indeed, seven of the eight USHL graduates on the ‘Rays went on to play college hockey and then signed pro contacts. Matt Scherer, in his third year with the ‘Rays and a big part of the team’s Kelly Cup victory last season, played four seasons in the USHL, mostly with the Tri City Storm in Kearney, NE. He went on to a four year career at the University of Connecticut before turning pro. Johann Kroll was a Sioux City Musketeer who went on to play four years at Ohio State. Rob Ricci, a Canadian, prepped for his college ice hockey career with Merrimack College, spending two seasons with the Cedar Rapids Roughriders. Thus, many of the USHL players who go on to play college hockey end up skating in pro hockey. Last year t he USHL produced 190 NCAA Division I hockey commitments, 27 USHL Alumni signed NHL contracts, 17 USHL players were chosen in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. To date, 109 former USHL players have played in the NHL . The USHL offers an alternative to those who want to retain their amateur status yet play competitive hockey in an exciting environment. Players skate around 80 games per year when pre season and playoff games are considered. These are considered great hockey environments. The league’s current average attendance is 2,403, with five teams averaging over 3,000 fans per game. Historically the league wide attendance rises as the teams move into December. The ‘Rays’ 6’5” rookie Jake Hauswirth, skated the last two seasons with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL routinely played before home crowds of over 4,100 people. Fornataro’s old USHL team in Waterloo, Iowa skates in a great down town civic arena and routinely sells out the 3,500 seat arena. The venues and crowds are very similar across most of the league. Since the league skates almost 90% of its games on weekends, the players are able to attend school, have part time jobs, and regularly perform community service. They get a taste of the travel, media exposure and the pressures of being a local hero which helps to prepare them to play after their junior eligibility is completed. Former Stingrays’ star center Travis Morin, who now plays for the American Hockey League’s Texas Stars, delayed his entry into college to play a year with the USHL’s Chicago Steel. In an interview last season with PHN he said “I did so to allow myself some time to mature and to experience playing against the quicker, stronger, larger players in junior hockey versus high school. I also experienced the longer season and my first time living away from home and a lot of game related travel. It was a great transition between high school and college.” The USHL has become an excellent alternative for young men who want to use junior hockey, to college, to professional hockey route as their hockey career path and the Stingrays are one of several pro teams that are benefitting from this choice. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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