PAPILLION, NEBRASKA – Last season saw a lot of excitement in the USHL’s West Division as Fargo became a storm in the playoffs, lancing Omaha in three games; then making Lincoln see stars in three straight for the West Division title. Meanwhile, Sioux Falls stampeded their way to the final playoff spot in the Division, while Fargo couldn’t finish their miraculous run and turned heads in the hockey world. This season offers many new storylines the will surely rival last season. With the addition of two new franchises in the USHL, Des Moines will move into the West Division and look to make its presence felt. The addition of the Buccaneers brings the division total to seven franchises with Fargo (ND) being the northern most team, Youngstown (OH) the eastern most, and Tri-City (NE) the southern and western most franchise. Des Moines Buccaneers Last season was quite forgettable for the Des Moines Buccaneers. Finishing last in the East Division with a 12-43-5 record, good enough for 29 points and a .242 winning percentage. The Buccaneers will do all that they can to move forward this season as they will move into the West Division to balance out the additions of the USA Developmental team and Youngstown. Des Moines opens the season with a reasonable schedule playing the bulk of their games at home to open the season. In the month of October, the Bucs will play a total of three road games, one of which will still be within the state of Iowa against Cedar Rapids on October 2nd to open the season. Expect Des Moines to be a formidable foe for the West Division as they try to regain their presence as an elite franchise in the USHL. Fargo Force The clock struck midnight in the inaugural season for Fargo at the end of game four of the Clark Cup finals as the Indiana Ice finished the series winning three games to one. The Force began the playoffs in dominating fashion sweeping both Omaha and Lincoln in the first two rounds. Under then head coach Dean Blais, the Force won four of their first six playoff games on the road to the Clark Cup Finals. Blais has since moved back into the college coaching ranks and new head coach Steve Johnson will try to improve upon what has been a dream season for the Force. Johnson has had wonderful success in the USHL in seasons past and returns to regain his momentum with a talented Force team after a two year coaching absence from the USHL. With the bulk of the stars off last season team moving onto college, Fargo will need to grow as a team very quickly to re-conquer last seasons success in the playoffs in what looks to be a very competitive division. Lincoln Stars The Stars were eliminated from the West Division finals in dominating fashion by the Force last season. The West Division regular season champions struggled through the playoffs grinding out a tough series against Sioux Falls only to be swept by Fargo. This season Lincoln will return a solid core of players who should offer them an advantage in making another great season for the Lincoln Stars. As the season moves along, the Stars may be thanking the schedule makers more and more as Lincoln plays four home games in the month of October to begin the season, but ends the season playing seven home games and making two road trips, one to Fargo for two games, the other to Cedar Rapids for one game. Omaha Lancers With a new sheet of ice under their feet, the Lancers return to the City of Omaha this season with great excitement. After spending a handful of seasons across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa; the Omaha Lancers will open this season at the popular Civic Auditorium where they will look to continue the steady pace of success that they have had year in and year out. Without stars like Louis LeBlanc and Danny Kristo, Omaha will look to incorporate their new players in with the solid core from last season that should allow the Lancers to meet their expectations and improve on their first round sweeping at the hands of Fargo last year. Sioux City Musketeers Last season the Sioux City Musketeers left more to be desired. They offered little explosiveness and struggled continually to remain at .500. In the end, Sioux City would not finish .500 and would eventually finish six points out of the playoffs. Entering this season, the Musketeers are showing great promise. They have been extremely competitive throughout the preseason scoring in respectable fashion and playing their traditional lights out defense. While the Muskies will have a fresh start, a poor start could cause panic and cast the Musketeers back into images of last season. Sioux Falls Stampede With two road games to open the season, Sioux Falls will look to take an early lead in the West Division. In what looks to be another solid Sioux Falls team, the Stampede will need to make good on their early home dates as March offers a road trip laden schedule that could be concerning for the only playoff team last season with a sub-.500 road record. With a good core group of players returning, the Stampede should offer tough competition to a wide-open division. Like the Musketeers, the Stampede fared well in the preseason which could be a signal for what’s to come. Tri-City Storm The Tri-City Storm (Grand Island, Kearney, and Hastings, Nebraska) had the worst record in the USHL last season managing 11 wins and a .192 winning percentage. This season offers a good news bad news scenario for the Storm in which they will look to return to their winning ways and regain their strength. The good news for the Storm is that last season is, well; last season. However, with a new year upon us, the Storm are not being offered a cake walk. With the addition to a hungry Des Moines team, the Storm will be fighting for every win much like their Division opponents. If Tri-City can make good on the new year, last season will become a learning lesson for their core players and the news players could gain valuable confidence in knowing that it was they who stepped in to right the ship. Expect Tri-City to have an aggressive September as they will open the season which arch rival Omaha prior to a four game home stand before introducing themselves to new USHL member Youngstown towards the end of the month. You may contact the author at: john.strathman@prohockeynews.com
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