Great second half in store for USHL

With teams either just into the second half or just wrapping up the first half of their 60-game schedules, the pecking order has been set, but far from finalized in America’s top junior hockey league.

In the early days of 2016, the Dubuque Fighting Saints have set themselves up as the team to beat with a 21-8-0-0 record, but that gives the squad just four points worth of breathing room in the league’s East Division.

The West Division is even closer with no team any further than five points away from a playoff spot as all eight teams continue their battle royale that will ultimately see four thrown over the ropes in the final three and a half months of the regular season marathon.

EAST DIVISION

The Saints entered the month of December having dropped its past three games and sitting near .500 at 11-8 overall, but have not lost a game since and outscoring opponents 48-19 during a 10 game winning streak it carries into play Jan. 8 when the Cedar Rapids Roughriders pay a visit.

One team the Saints may not want to run into in the post season is the Chicago Steel. While the Steel currently sits in sixth place overall in the East with a 12-16-2-2 record and seven points away from the fourth place Bloomington Thunder who currently hold the fourth and final playoff spot in the division, the Steel also are a perfect 3-0 against the Saints this season and have outscored the league leaders 10-2.

The Saints are led offensively by 19-year-old forward and Penn St. commit, Nathan Sucese who has put up 32 points 13g, 19a) through 29 games while 19-year-old twins, Mitchell (9g, 12a) and Evan (8g, 13a) Smith — both commited to Yale next season have 21 points apiece.

In goal, Hunter Miska, 20, has appeared in 22 games and posted an 18-4 record with a .917 Save Percentage while 18-year-old Jaxon Castor, already commited to Arizona State for next season has played the other seven — posting a record of 3-4 and an .898 Save Percentage.

The Saints’ 21-8-0-0 record for 42 points gives it a four point edge on the second place Green Bay Gamblers (18-10-1-1). The Gamblers started off slowly, picking up just one point through its first four games of the season, but the team rallied back and went over the .500 mark for the first time on Halloween with a 6-2 win to wrap up a weekend sweep at Muskegon and pushing its record to 5-4-0-1. The Gamblers rolled through November with a solid 7-3 record including a stretch from Oct. 24-Nov. 20 that saw the team win eight of nine.

A three game losing streak in early December gave the Saints a chance to overtake the Gamblers which are 6-2 since then, including a lopsided 10-1 win in its first game of 2016 at home to third place Cedar Rapids on Saturday. The Gamblers will head back into action Friday at home against Youngstown and then travels to Dubuque for a key game against the Saints on Saturday.

Sam Saliba, 20, on his way to Michigan State, leads the Gamblers offensively so far with 26 points (13g, 13a). German import Marc Michaelis, 20, has 23 points (3g, 20a) and 18-year-old defenseman Cameron Lee has picked up 21 points (5g, 16a) as he prepares for his first year at Western Michigan next season.

The work is goal has been split fairly evenly between 18-year-old Slovakian, Adam Huska who has played 17 games and posted an 11-6-0-0 record with a .942 Save Percentage and German Kevin Reich, 20, who has played 14 games, posting a 7-4-1-1 record with a Save Percentage of .909. Huska was a Seventh Round (184th Overall) Selection by the New York Rangers at the NHL Entry Draft this past summer.

The Cedar Rapids Roughriders opened the season strong, winning its first four games by a margin of 24-8, but then dropped its next four and finished the month of October at 6-3-1-0. The team got hot again in November and ran a season best seven game winning streak from Nov. 21-Dec. 11. However, the team is 2-4 since then, including a rough 10-1 shellacking at the hands of the Gamblers in its first game of the New Year.

The Roughriders will get an early jump on the upcoming weekend, playing Thursday (Jan. 7) at home against Sioux City and then face the division leading Fighting Saints in Dubuque on Friday and return home to play Team USA on Saturday.

Ross Colton, 19, leads the team in scoring with 28 points (13g, 15a), having already commited to University of Vermont for next season. Hugh McGing, 17 is next with 22 points (13g, 9a) while 18-year-old, Matt Filipe, commited to Northeastern (12g, 8a) and 18-year-old Jack Ahcan, committed to St. Cloud (5g, 15a) both have 20 points.

A big chunk of the work in goal has been handled by Benjamin Blacker who has appeared in 22 games, posting a record of 13-8-1-1 and a Save Percentage of .916 and committed earlier to Western Michigan. Another 18-year-old, Ryan Larkin has played four games with a 3-0-1-0 record and a .917 Save Percentage.

If the post season started today, the final qualifying spot in the East would go to sophomore league entry Bloomington Thunder.

The Thunder dropped three of its first four to start the season played a mostly ‘win one-lose one’ pace until the end of November when it grabbed a 3-2 edge against Team USA and didn’t lose again until dropping a 6-4 decision to the Roughriders at Cedar Rapids Dec. 30 snapping a seven-game winning streak and denying the team a perfect month of December. Since then the Thunder has played once more, kicking off 2-16 with a 2-0 shutout win at home against the Madison Capitols.

Leading the way on offense for the Thunder is Blake Gober, 20 (8g, 8a) who is off to Penn State next season and 18-year-old Tarek Baker, (7g, 9a), committed to University of Wisconsin — both with 16 points. Jake Durflinger, 18, acquired early this season from Sioux City has racked up 15 points (8g, 7a) so far as well.

Hayden Lavigne, 19 has appeared in 19 games for the Thunder and posts a record of 12-4-0-1 so far with a .905 Save Percentage. He will move on to University of Michigan next season. Another 19-year-old goaltender, Logan Halladay has appeared in 13 games so far with a record of 4-5-2-0 and a Save Percentage of .914 and he has committed to University of Minnesota for next season.

As of today (Jan. 5), the Youngstown Phantoms sit just two points away from a playoff spot, but still plenty of time to make a move.

The Phantoms have been hit hard in extra time, having played in eight games that have gone to overtime or shootout — seven since Nov. 21 and coming out as the winner in just one of them. Four of those extra time defeats played a part in the team dropping six of seven to end 2015. After snapping the skid with a 6-4 win at home to Chicago on Saturday, the Phantoms dropped a 3-1 decision to get a weekend split with the Steel.

The team hopes to generate a better month of January, beginning with games in Green Bay Friday and Madison Saturday.

Offensively, 17-year-old Notre Dame commit, Cameron Morrison has led the Phantoms this season with 32 points (15g, 17a) through 30 games while Japanese import, Yushiroh, Hirano, 20, has contributed 26 points (14g, 12a) and 18-year-old Chase Pearson, a Fifth Round (140th Overall) Selection of the Detroit Red Wings at this past summer’s entry draft and son of former NHL’er Scott Pearson has added 23 points (5g, 18a). He also is commited to attend University of Maine next season.

Goaltending has been split evenly between Ryan Bednard, an 18-year-old goaltender selected in the Seventh Round (206th Overall) of the NHL Entry Draft by the Florida Panthers this past summer and 20-year-old Colin DeAugustine. Bednard has appeared in 16 games and sports a record of 9-3-3-0 with a .916 Save Percentage as he prepares to play at Bowling Green State University next season and DeAugustine has played in 15 games with a record of 4-6-0-3 and an .887 Save Percentage.

After playing in the World Junior Club Championship tournament in the late summer, the Chicago Steel moved into a new home and grabbed a 5-1 win in its opening game against Team USA for a bright start to its season. It went on to drop the next three though and the team has never again been over the .500 mark.

A six-game losing streak that began in late October dropped the team’s record to 3-8-1-1 and a four-game winning streak at the end of November saw the team reach even keel at 9-9-2-1 but losses in seven of its next eight made thoughts getting north of .500 disappear. The Steel snapped that skid winning 8-4 on New Years Eve at Muskegon and opened the New Year with a split at Youngstown.

The Steel sits sixth overall in the East Division and seven points away from the final playoff position. Getting into the playoffs is still a possibility, but the team will need to put some wins together and that task is made a little harder as the Steel is in the middle of a stretch of 10-straight road contests. This weekend the team will play a pair at Fargo, looking forward to a stretch of home games beginning Jan. 17.

Offensively, the Steel is led by 18-year-old Tanner Laczynski who has notched 31 points (10g, 21a) in 25 games on his way to a commitment at Ohio State University next season. Jake Jaremko, 19, has contributed 27 points (14g, 13a) and has played in all 32 games as he prepares to move on to Minnesota State-Mankato next season. Brandon Duhaime, 18, has also chipped in 25 points (9g, 16a) in 30 games and he will move on to Brown University in 2017.

John Lethemon, 19, has faced a bulk of the work in goal for the Steel, playing in 20 games with a record of 9-10-1 and a Save Percentage of .897. He has already committed to Michigan State University for next season. Also, 18-year-old Czech goaltender Daniel Vladar has played 13 games with a record of 3-5-1-2 and a .925 Save Percentage.

Despite sitting in seventh spot overall and eight points away from a playoff spot the 12-11-2-1 Muskegon Lumberjacks have more control than the teams sitting ahead as they simply have played less games. With 26 games in the books,the Lumberjacks have a half dozen games in hand on the Chicago Steel as well as four less than Youngstown Phantoms and two less than the fourth place Bloomington Thunder.

The Lumberjacks dropped six of its first eight games, but opened November with a five game winning streak as played at or near the .500 level ever since. The team has gone to extra time or shootout nine times this season and come out ahead in six of those games so that bodes well for some of its bigger games ahead.

Offensively, the team is led by Rem Pitlick, 18, son of former NHL player Lance Pitlick with 33 points (18g, 15a) in just 22 games. Pitlick is committed to University of Minnesota next season. Collin Adams, 17, has 23 points (11g, 12a) on his way to University of North Dakota next season and 20-year-old defenseman Trevor Hamilton has contributed 20 points (5g, 15a) in his final season before moving on to Penn State University next season.

In goal. Joey Daccord, 19, has appeared in 19 games posting a record of 10-8-1-1 so far along with a .902 Save Percentage. Daccord was selected in the Seventh Round (199th Overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators and is scheduled to move on to Arizona State University next season.

Devin Cooley, 18, played in eight games with a record of 2-3-1 and a Save Percentage of .863.

The Madison Capitols entered its sophomore campaign with promise, snagging sins in five of its first seven games, but a loss at 3-2 loss at home to the Omaha Lancers on Oct. 30 was the start of a dismal stretch that saw the team drop five straight and eight of its next nine. The team has posted a record of 5-11-1-2 since Oct. 25 and sits eighth in the Eastern Division, just one point up on Team USA.

The Capitols need to get on a winning streak quick if it hopes to turn things around but has seven straight home games to help it out beginning this weekend when Sioux City and Youngstown both pay a visit.

Sam McCormick, 18, leads the way offensively for the Capitols, contributing 23 points (13g, 10a) in 28 games on his way to Ohio State University next season. Center Ryan Lohin, 19, has 22 points (8g, 14a) so far as he prepares to move on to UMass-Lowell next season and 18-year-old winger Alexandre Payusov has contributed 20 points (11g, 9a) so far.

In goal, Garrett Metcalfe, 19, also headed for UMass-Lowell next season, has appeared in 19 games for the Caps, with a record of 6-11-0-1 and a Save Percentage of .903. Ryan Edquist has been in a dozen games, collecting a record of 4-4-1-1 and a .923 Save Percentage. Edquist will play at University of Minnesota next season.

Team USA sits on the bottom of the East Division with an 11-13-1-1 record after 26 games, but like Muskegon, the team has games in hand on almost everyone it is trying to catch. It’s never easy for Team USA which splits games between its talented but young U-18 squad and an even younger U-17 team as well.

So far, Clayton Keller, 17, leads the way with 20 points (5g, 15a) in 10 games as he prepares to start at Boston University in the fall. Keller is expected to be among those selected in the First Round of the NHL Entry Draft this summer, ranked as high as 8th by Future Considerations. Another top ranked star, Kieffer Bellows, 17, has put up 18 points (8g, 10a) in 11 games and he also is expecting to play at Boston University next season.  Rounding out the top three is Scott Reedy, 16, with 17 points (5g, 12a). Reedy will be among those looked at as potential high picks in the summer of 2017 and he has already committed to attend University of Minnesota in the Fall of 2017.

In goal, Jake Oettinger, 17 and yet another planning to move on to Boston University, has appeared in 10 games with a record of 8-1-0-0 so far and a Save Percentage of .923. Dylan St. Cyr, 16, son of Manon Rheaume, the first female to play professional hockey and a star with the Canadian National Womens Team, has played nine games, posting a record of 1-6-0-0 and an .865 Save Percentage. St. Cyr will play at Michigan University beginning in 2018-19. Adam Scheel, 16, has played in eight games with a record of 1-4-1-1 and an .896 Save Percentage and he has already committed to play at University of Notre Dame beginning in 2018-19.

WEST DIVISION

In the West Division, Lincoln Stars lead the way heading into the second half with a solid 19-13 record. The Stars picked up a win and loss in September and then rattled off seven straight on its way to an 8-2 run through October and November was almost as good , the team putting up a 6-3 mark to carry a 14-6 record into December.

The team has looked positively human since then though, 5-3 through December and  the Stars dropped a pair to open 2016 at home to Tri-City and at Sioux City. The team will look to right its course beginning with a home-and-away set against Omaha Friday and Saturday.

Offensively, the Stars are led by Ludvig Hoff, a 19-year-old Norwegian import who has put up 30 points (10g, 20a) in 28 games and plans to move on to University of North Dakota next season. Grant Jozefek, 18 has chipped in 27 points (9g, 18a) as he prepares to attend Northeastern University in the fall and Adam Brady, 20, has contributed 24 points (9g, 15a). He will attend Robert Morris University in the fall.

Goaltending chores have been split evenly between Patrik Virtanen, a 20-year-old Swedish import who has played in 17 games and put up a record of 11-6-0-0 with a .915 Save Percentage and 19-year-old Peyton Jones who has played 16 games with a record of 8-7-0-0 and a .917 Save Percentage. Jones will move on to play at Penn State University in the fall.

The defending Clark Cup champion Sioux Falls Stampede sits second in the division as of Jan. 7 with a record of 16-12-1-1 but with a couple of games in hand on the Stars as well.

The Stampede dropped three of its first four games of the season but won five of its next six to hit the 10-game mark at 6-4-0-0 and the team has not been under the .500 plateau since. The team hit the Christmas Break riding an impressive four game winning streak, but has dropped all three games since returning, including a tough 2-1 overtime defeat at home against the Stars on New Years Eve and a 4-1 loss at Sioux City this past weekend.

The Stamps will try to break out of that funk beginning this weekend with a home game Friday against Team USA followed up on Saturday with a trip to Des Moines.

Offensive leader for Sioux Falls is 20-year-old German import Parker Tuomie with 28 points (17g, 11a) on his way to Minnesota State-Mankato next season. Another 20-year-old, Jack Suter is next with 20 points (7g, 13a) and he begin at the Air Force Academy in the fall. Collin Peters, 18, wraps up the top three with 18 points (9g, 9a) as he prepares to move on to Northern Michigan University.

In goal, 19-year-old Stefanos Lekkas has appeared in 20 games posting a record of 10-7-1-1 and a Save Percentage of .920 as he prepares to move on to University of Vermont in the fall and 18-year-old Czech netminder Ales Stezka has played 12 games, posting a record of 6-5-0-0 with a Save Percentage of .897.

Thanks to a solid run through the month of December that has carried into 2016 (so far), the Tri-City Storm currently sits third in the West Division with a record of 12-10-4-4.

The Storm won its first three games of the season and took points in its first four, but followed that up with a rough finish to October that saw it enter November with a 4-5-1-1 record.

The team played a so-so November with a record of 3-4-1-1, but won its first two games of December and carried a nice string into the Christmas Break, while the team didn’t win every game, it took points in all six before the break with a record of 4-0-1-1.

After dropping a 3-2 decision at Green Bay upon its return Dec. 28, the Storm have continued its trend with a 1-0-1-1 record since then. The team would prefer taking two points at a time of course, but if it can hold on to its playoff spot, the future could be good as the Storm is 3-2-0-1 in games against Lincoln so far, the three wins in its most recent matches and 1-1-1-0 so far against the Sioux Falls Stampede.

The Storm will look to keep up its winning ways with a trip to Waterloo for two against the Blackhawks on the weekend.

Offensively, Carson Meyer, 18, leads the way with 24 points (14g, 10a) in 26 games as he prepares to move on to Miami (Ohio) University next season and 20-year-old Swedish forward Mattias Goransson has chipped in 22 points (6g, 16a) in 30 games. He will play at U Mass-Lowell next season. Jake Wahlin, 19, has picked up 20 points (6g, 14a) and he will move on to play at St. Cloud State University next season.

In goal, 19-year-old Jake Kielly has played 16 games with a record of 7-5-1-1 and a .924 Save Percentage as he prepares to move on to Clarkson University in the fall. Matthew Greenfield, 20, has played 13 games, posting a 3-5-2-2 record with a Save Percentage of .899 and 17-year-old Dayton Rasmussen, acquired from Waterloo early in the season has played eight games total with a record of 2-1-1-1 and a .916 Save Percentage. Rasmussen will play at University of Denver beginning in the fall of 2017.

The Sioux City Musketeers hold down the final playoff spot as of Jan. 7 and the good news for the Musketeers is it is picking up its best results lately, with four straight wins since returning from the Christmas break.

The four-gamer matches the team’s longest stretch without a loss of the season as they also put four wins together in late October but followed that up with its longest losing skid, also four games and defeats in five of seven through the month of November.

The team will be at Cedar Rapids and Madison Friday and Saturday respectively, looking to continue its latest string of wins.

Offensively, Eeli Tolvanen, 16, from Finland leads the way with 29 points (13g, 16a) in 25 games and 18-year-old defenseman Ryan Zuhlsdorf, a Fifth Round (150th Overall) selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning at this past summer’s NHL Entry Draft, has 22 points — all assists as he prepares to move on to play at University of Minnesota in the fall. Teemu Pulkkinen, 20, from Finland has 21 points (9g, 12a) in 23 games.

Cameron Gornet, 20, has been the go-to guy between the pipes, playing in 24 games with a record of 12-11-1-0 and a Save Percentage of .911 as he prepares to play at Harvard, beginning in the fall. Evan Smith, 16 has played in five games, posting a 3-2 record and a .904 Save Percentage. A Seventh Round (205th Overall) Selection of the Nashville Predators at the NHL Entry Draft this past summer, Smith has moved on to play with the Saskatoon Blades in the Western Hockey League. That leaves 17-year-old David Fessenden as the back-up. He has played four minutes so far and stopped all four the shots he faced in that time.

The Waterloo Blackhawks head into the second half of the season just one point away from the playoff line and with a couple of games in hand to get that point. The best and most fitting description of the team so far is streaky.

After opening the campaign with two wins and a shootout loss, the Blackhawks fell five straight times but followed that up in late Oct. with the start of a four-game winning streak getting it to 6-5-0-1. The club ended a three game skid with an overtime win in mid December and went 3-2 to wrap up the regular season, also winning its only game of last weekend. The Blackhawks will look to improve its position and continue its latest two game winning streak when it hosts Tri-City for a pair of games this weekend.

A pair of 18-year olds, Nick Swaney (15g, 8a) and Ronnie Hein (6g, 17a) share the points lead on the team so far with 23 points apiece. Swaney, will move on to play at University of Minnesota Duluth in the fall while Hein moves on to play at Ferris State University. Yuri Terao, a 20-year-old Japanese import has picked up 21 points (8g, 13a) for the Blackhawks as well.

In goal, a pair of 19-year-olds have split the work evenly — Cale Morris and Drew Hotte both appearing in 14 games so far. Morris has posted a record of 7-4-0-2 and a Save Percentage of .915 and plans to play at University of Notre Dame in the fall while Hotte is 7-6-0-0 with a Save Percentage of .892.

The Omaha Lancers are even with the Blackhawks in points, but have played a couple of extra games so far. However, before it can get back on track, the team needs to figure out how to stop an abysmal skid it has been in since the start of December.

The Lancers grabbed points in seven straight games in late Oct-early Nov. with a 5-0-1-1 run that put its record at an impressive 9-3-1-1 and the team continued to roll through November, wrapping up the month with a four game streak that had it at 13-6-1-1. However, the team has lost seven of eight since then and enters play this weekend with a tough home and  away set against division leading Lincoln, riding a five-game losing streak and a record of 14-13-1-1. The team has not been under .500 since Oct. 2 when it dropped its third game of the season or even at .400 since its next game, Oct. 9 when it earned a 6-1 win at Des Moines to start a three game winning stretch.

The team is led on offense by a trio of shooters, each with 19 points. Brannon McManus, a 16-year-old forward(9g, 10a) in 27 games is already committed to University of Minnesota  beginning in the fall of 2017 and Josh French, 20 (7g, 12a) will be heading to Minnesota State-Mankato this coming fall. Jacob Bryson, an 18-year-old defenseman (2g, 17a) will be off to Providence College in the fall.

Zackarias Skog, a 20-year-old goaltender from Sweden has played in 16 games, posting a record of 6-7-0-1 with a .915 Save Percentage and 18-year-old Kris Oldham has played 14, putting together a record of 8-5-1-0. Oldham was selected in the Sixth Round (153rd Overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning and is scheduled to follow up this season, staying in Omaha to play at University of Nebraska-Omaha in the fall.

Des Moines Buccaneers sit at 13-14-2 and seventh in the Western Division, but may have turned a corner with wins in five of its most recent six games and an impressive mark against the league’s elite. However, the team has also lost big a couple of times and as a results leads the division in goals against with 94

The Bucs stumbled out of the gaate dropping both of its games in late September and adding two more losses (the final one in overtime), in early October before rallying and reaching .500 on Oct. 30 at 5-5-1-0. A loss on Halloween was the start of another three game skid and the team has not seen .500 since, although its current streak has it within a win as it hosts Team USA and Sioux Falls on the weekend.

Kenneth Hausinger, a 20-year-old center leads the team on offense with 24 points (10g, 14a) as he prepares to move on to Sacred Heart University for the 2016-17 season and Patrick Grasso, has 21 points (10g, 11a) on his way to University of New Hampshire in the fall. Georgy Gorodetsky, a 20-year-old Russian has collected 18 points (5g, 13a) and will move on to Arizona State University in the fall.

In goal, 19-year-old Czech Jan Ruzicka leads the way, appearing in 19 games with a record of 9-9-1 and a Save Percentage of .892 Nick MacNab, also 19, has played in 11 contests, putting together a record of 4-5-1-0 and a .901 Save Percentage. MacNab will move on to play at Yale University in the fall.

Fargo Force also started slow and following an 0-3-1-0 start to the season, the team has been at .500 only twice, when it won three straight in mid-October pushing its record to 3-3-1-0 and then at the beginning of December when it won three straight shootout games to get to 10-10-1, but a 1-3 run into the Christmas break had it south of the mark again.

Offensively, the Force is led by Denis Smirnov, an 18-year-old Russian forward with 27 points (10g, 17a). Smirnov will head to Penn State University in September and Blake Lizotte, 18, with 21 points (6g, 15a) will head to St. Cloud St. University. Zach Yon, 20 has collected 19 points (11g, 8a) and will play at University of North Dakota in the fall.

Ryan Wischow, 19, has played 24 games in goal for the Force this season, posting a record of 9-11-1 and a Save Percentage of .910. Robbie Beydoun has appeared in 10 games, compiling a record of 3-3-1-0 and a Save Percentage of .859.