CHICAGO – The start of the 2011-12 United States Hockey League regular season is only three weeks away, but USHL teams will be hitting the ice for preseason action beginning this weekend.
A total of 21 preseason contests will be played between USHL opponents prior to the 24 games that are scheduled for the 2011 USHL Fall Classic.
The first matchup of the USHL preseason features a pair of defending champs from the 2010-11 season as the reigning Anderson Cup champion Cedar Rapids RoughRiders will make the 75-mile trek to visit the Clark Cup champion Dubuque Fighting Saints on Friday night at the Mystique Community Ice Center. One day later, the teams will play a neutral site contest at the Coral Ridge Ice Arena in Coralville, Iowa.
The Chicago Steel and Indiana Ice will play a home and home series over the weekend, beginning with the Steel hosting Indiana on Saturday at the Arctic Ice Arena in Orland Park, Illinois – home of the USHL Prospect Combines. On Sunday, the teams travel to the Carmel Ice Skadium just north of Indianapolis for an afternoon contest.
Another two-game series highlighting the USHL preseason is a pair of games slated between the Sioux City Musketeers and Green Bay Gamblers at the Duluth Heritage Sports Center on September 16th and 17th. It will be a homecoming for a pair of Duluth, Minnesota natives as Gamblers defenseman Andy Welinski and Musketeers Head Coach Brett Larson make the return to their hometown. Larson played collegiate hockey at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and was most recently on the school’s coaching staff while Welinski is committed to play his collegiate hockey at UMD.
USHL teams are also using the preseason contests as an opportunity to give back to local communities. When the Muskegon Lumberjacks host the Youngstown Phantoms on Saturday, September 17th at the West Shore Community Ice Arena, proceeds will benefit the West Shore Amateur Hockey Association. That same evening as the Sioux Falls Stampede host the Des Moines Buccaneers at Larson Ice Center in Brookings, South Dakota, proceeds from that game benefit the Brookings Ice Skating Association.
2011 USHL Preseason Games
Friday, September 9 – Cedar Rapids @ Dubuque, 7:05 PM
Saturday, September 10 – Waterloo @ Sioux City, 7:00 PM
Saturday, September 10 – Indiana @ Chicago, 6:00 PM (Arctic Ice Arena – Orland Park, IL)
Saturday, September 10 – Dubuque @ Cedar Rapids (Coral Ridge Ice Arena – Coralville, IA)
Sunday, September 11 – Chicago @ Indiana, 2:00 PM (Carmel Ice Skadium – Carmel, IN)
Wednesday, September 14 – Waterloo @ Cedar Rapids, 7:00 PM
Thursday, September 15 – Lincoln @ Tri-City, 7:05 PM
Friday, September 16 – Des Moines @ Waterloo, 7:00 PM
Friday, September 16 – Green Bay @ Sioux City, 7:00 PM (Duluth Heritage Sports Center – Duluth, MN)
Friday, September 16 – Omaha @ Tri-City, 7:05 PM
Friday, September 16 – Chicago @ Dubuque, 7:05 PM
Friday, September 16 – Youngstown @ Team USA (U18), 7:00 PM
Friday, September 16 – Indiana @ Muskegon, 7:00 PM (Lawson Ice Arena – Kalamazoo, MI)
Saturday, September 17 – Green Bay @ Sioux City, 2:00 PM (Duluth Heritage Sports Center – Duluth, MN)
Saturday, September 17 – Dubuque @ Chicago, 6:35 PM
Saturday, September 17 – Youngstown @ Muskegon, 7:00 PM (West Shore Ice Arena – Scottsville, MI)
Saturday, September 17 – Des Moines @ Sioux Falls, 7:05 PM (Larson Ice Center – Brookings, SD)
Saturday, September 17 – Cedar Rapids @ Waterloo, 7:00 PM
Sunday, September 18 – Sioux Falls @ Des Moines, 3:05 PM
Sunday, September 18 – Lincoln @ Omaha, 4:05 PM (Tranquility IcePlex – Omaha, NE)
Tuesday, September 20 – Waterloo @ Des Moines, 7:00 PM
Click here for a full preseason schedule, including games at the 2011 USHL Fall Classic which takes place September 21-24 in Sioux City, Iowa at both the Tyson Events Center and IBP Ice Center.
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