U.S.A. Junior Standings and Weekly Update as of 2/8

United States Hockey League

For the first time in a long time, we have a new leader in the West Division. With the help of a weekend sweep of the Omaha Lancers, the Fargo Force have taken a 2 point lead with a game in hand. In addition to the sweep, the Force have won 7 of their last 8 and their only loss was an OT Loss to a surging Sioux Falls Team who is now just 6 points back of Omaha for 2nd and 8 points back for Fargo for the West Division lead, but have been surging the last few weeks.

For the surging Stampede, it's been an offensive explosion in recent games where they have scored 4 or more goals in 4 straight games, including a season high 8 goal outburst in a weekend series against struggling Youngstown last weekend. Leading the way for the Stampede on offense has been Matt Lindblad who has 10 points in the last 6 games, including a 4 assists game against the Phantoms on 1/29 and has a goal in his last 3.

As for leading score Michael Voran, he also 10 points in his last 7 to take his team scoring lead total to 48 points (17G 31A). The Stampede are looking to ruffle some feathers in be in the race for home ice during at least the 1st round of the playoffs and a surprise run to possibly be in the throns of Omaha and Fargo for the West Division Championship and a shot at the USHL Clark Cup in May.

Tri-City had an impressive weekend which included a shootout of league leading Green Bay. The night before, the Gamblers ran away with a 4 goal first period on Wednesday helped the Gamblers win 7-5. After the two games in Green Bay, the Storm won a back and fourth game to beat the Cedar Rapids Roughriders who's currently holding on to 2nd place in the East 3-2 in OT as the Storm look to continue their strangle hold on 4th place in the West behind Sioux City who's offense has been struggling. Also the Des Moines Buccaneers and the Lincoln Stars look to be falling back as the bottom feeders of the West are 10 and 18 points back of 4th with just 19 games left in the season.

A 4 game losing streak have put a blow in the Chicago Steel's playoff hopes as the Steel hosted the top teams in the East as the Steel lost 5-2 to Cedar Rapids on Friday then a 2-1 loss to Green Bay on Saturday followed by a pair of losses to the Indiana Ice who are in 3rd have taken the gap between them and Waterloo to 5 points. The Blackhawks to their credit took care of the last place Phantoms with 3-1 and 4-1 wins over the weekend to extend their lead to 5 for the 4th and final spot in the East with 20 games left in the season.

Overall as we hit the final 3rd of the season, the top of the west will be where the best drama will be in the top of the West as the East is going to be pretty much set, it's just a matter of the seeding and the matchups will be when the regular season ends on April 3. The big questions will be if Sioux Falls can create havoc for Omaha and Fargo and if Chicago can catch up to the Waterloo Blackhawks in the bottom of the East.

This Weeks USHL Schedule (All Games are Local Time)

2/8

Waterloo Blackhawks VS. Indiana Ice 12:05 PM EST

2/9

Sioux Falls Stampede VS. Lincoln Stars 7:05 PM CST

2/11

Omaha Lancers VS. Des Moines Buccaneers 7:05 PM CST

2/12

Des Moines Buccaneers VS. Indiana Ice 7:05 PM EST

Green Bay Gamblers VS. Sioux City Musketeers 7:00 PM CST

Youngstown Phantoms VS. Sioux Falls Stampede 7:05 PM CST

Lincoln Stars VS. Tri-City Storm 7:05 PM CST

Chicago Steel VS. Waterloo Blackhawks 7:05 PM CST

Cedar Rapids Roughriders VS. Fargo Force 7:35 PM CST

2/13

Chicago Steel VS. Omaha Lancers 4:05 PM CST

Des Moines Buccaneeres VS. Indiana Ice 7:05 PM EST

Tri-City Storm VS. Sioux City Musketeers 7:00 PM CST

Cedar Rapids Roughriders VS. Fargo Force 7:05 PM CST

Youngstown Phantoms VS. Lincoln Stars 7:05 PM CST

Green Bay Gamblers VS. Sioux Falls Stampede 7:05 PM CST

2/14

Sioux Falls Stampede VS. Waterloo Blackhawks 3:05 PM CST

Youngstown Phantoms VS. Omaha Lancers 5:05 PM CST



North American Hockey League

With Marquette surging in the North Division by winning 7 of their last 9, the Rangers are now just 2 points back of the Traverse City North Stars. The Rangers are looking to players like Tanner Kero who's leading the league in goals this season with 28 and has 7 goals in his last 6 games. As for the Marquette VS. Traverse City rivalry, the Rangers got a huge win back on Thursday night with a 5-4 SO Win in Marquette to help with them winning 2 of their 3 games this weekend against the North Stars and Metal Jackets. It could come down to 6 head to head matchups in March which includes a 3 game series in Traverse City coming up from 3/19-21.

A 8 game losing streak has hurt the Outlaws which included a weekend sweep against the Owatonna Express where they outscored 13-0 in the 2 games this weekend. Also back on Jan. 24, an embarrassing 4-1 loss in Albert Lea has the Thunder are now just 4 points back of the Outlaws for the 4th and final playoff spot in the Central.

For North Iowa, earlier this season, the Outlaws were in a good spot to finish at least in 3rd, now their in 4th and could be in danger of missing out of the playoffs all together just a year after they made it to the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship Tournament last year. Albert Lea would be the comeback story of the year the NAHL revelled to a huge pay to play scandal that has the team in control of the league that fired their G.M. and former owner who were fired shortly after this came to light.

A brutal weekend for the Wildcats have them ever further in the abyss after a 5-0 loss on Friday to the Topeka Roadrunners. To their credit, the Wildcats came back from a 4-1 2nd intermission deficit to comeback to force OT where they still lose 5-4 on a Edgars Lipsbergs scores in the final second of OT to win and complete the weekend sweep.

After a 7-6 OT Loss to the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, the Tornado came back to win on both Friday and Saturday to win 2-1 in a SO, then a 5-2 win where 4 unanswered goals late in the 2nd and throughout the 3rd periods to win and to get them within 1 game of .500 and to leapfrog Springfield for 3rd place in the South Division.

With Wenatchee on break till 2/19, the Wild may start to rust. Time will tell when they start a 7 game home stand which will be the last of their season as the final 6 will all be on the road with another long break as the Wild will be off from 3/7-19. How will this affect them in the last 13 games of the regular season in late Feb. and in March getting ready for the playoffs as they expected to be among the favorites to win the Robertson Cup as Tournament Hosts this season.


This Weeks NAHL Schedule (All Start Times are Local)

2/9

Traverse City North Stars VS. Alpena Ice Diggers 8:00 PM EST

2/11

Owatonna Express VS. Bismarck Bobcats 7:15 PM CST

2/12

Janesville Jets VS. Alpena Ice Diggers 7:00 PM EST

Traverse City North Stars VS. Motor City Metal Jackets 7:30 PM EST

North Iowa Outlaws VS. Alexandria Blizzard 7:00 PM CST

Topeka Roadrunners VS. Springfield Jr. Blues 7:00 PM CST

Wichita Falls Wildcats VS. St. Louis Bandits 7:05 PM CST

Owatonna Express VS. Bismarck Bobcats 7:15 PM CST

Texas Tornado VS. Fairbanks Ice Dogs 7:30 PM AKST

Alaska Avalanche VS. Kenai River Brown Bears 7:30 PM AKST

2/13

Janesville Jets VS. Alpena Ice Diggers 7:00 PM EST

Traverse City North Stars VS. Motor City Metal Jackets 7:30 PM EST

North Iowa Outlaws VS. Alexandria Blizzard 7:00 PM CST

Albert Lea Thunder VS. Owatonna Express 7:00 PM CST

Topeka Roadrunners VS. Springfield Jr. Blues 7:00 PM CST

Wichita Falls Wildcats VS. St. Louis Bandits 7:05 PM CST

Texas Tornado VS. Fairbanks Ice Dogs 7:30 PM AKST

Alaska Avalanche VS. Kenai River Brown Bears 7:30 PM AKST

2/14

Wichita Falls Wilcats VS. St. Louis Bandits 2:00 PM CST

Alexandria Blizzard VS. Albert Lea Thunder 5:30 PM CST


United States Hockey League Standings

East Division

1. *-Green Bay 41 GP 31-7-3 65 PTS 145-93 19 GR

2. Cedar Rapids 42 GP 24-15-3 51 PTS 145-119 18 GR

3. Indiana 39 GP 22-15-2 46 PTS 124-113 21 GR

4. Waterloo 39 GP 19-18-2 40 PTS 142-149 21 GR

5. Chicago 40 GP 15-20-5 35 PTS 125-151 20 GR

6. USNTDP 39 GP 14-21-4 32 PTS 125-149 21 GR

7. Youngstown 40 GP 14-24-2 30 PTS 121-166 20 GR


West Division

1. Fargo 41 GP 29-9-3 61 PTS 162-131 19 GR

2. Omaha 42 GP 28-11-3 59 PTS 167-106 18 GR

3. Sioux Falls 39 GP 22-8-9 53 PTS 157-120 21 GR

4. Tri-City 43 GP 20-17-6 46 PTS 125-143 17 GR

5. Sioux City 39 GP 18-18-3 39 PTS 99-118 21 GR

6. Des Moines 41 GP 16-21-4 36 PTS 148-173 19 GR

7. Lincoln 41 GP 11-24-6 28 PTS 95-149 19 GR

#-Holds down Homce Ice Advantage


Current USHL Playoff Matchups

East Division

#1 Green Bay Gamblers VS. #4 Waterloo Blackhawks

#2 Cedar Rapids Roughriders VS. #3 Indiana Ice


West Division

#1 Fargo Force VS. #4 Tri-City Storm

#2 Omaha Lancers VS. #3 Sioux Falls Stampede


North American Hockey League Standings

North Division

1. Traverse City 41 GP 25-12-4 54 PTS 154-125 17 GR

2. Marquette 42 GP 26-16-0 52 PTS 140-112 16 GR

3. Janesville 41 GP 21-17-3 45 PTS 129-128 17 GR

4. Motor City 40 GP 17-17-6 40 PTS 112-128 18 GR

5. Alpena 42 GP 14-26-4 32 PTS 113-144 16 GR


Central Division

1. Bismarck 44 GP 29-8-7 63 PTS 140-107 14 GR

2. Owatonna 44 GP 25-15-4 54 PTS 146-139 14 GR

3. Alexandria 40 GP 18-18-4 40 PTS 110-112 18 GR

4. North Iowa 41 GP 13-23-5 31 PTS 111-171 17 GR

5. Albert Lea 42 GP 11-26-5 27 PTS 101-165 16 GR


South Division

1. Topeka 44 GP 33-7-4 70 PTS 189-105 14 GR

2. St. Louis 40 GP 32-7-1 65 PTS 145-85 18 GR

3. Texas 41 GP 18-19-4 40 PTS 126-142 17 GR

4. Springfield 43 GP 17-21-5 39 PTS 128-140 15 GR

5. Wichita Falls 44 GP 12-26-6 30 PTS 130-192 14 GR


West Division

1. Wenatchee 45 GP 34-8-3 71 PTS 154-96 13 GR

2. Fairbanks 47 GP 27-17-3 57 PTS 174-149 11 GR

3. Alaska 42 GP 23-13-6 52 PTS 145-127 16 GR

4. Kenai River 43 GP 10-30-3 23 PTS 101-173 15 GR


Current NAHL Playoff Matchups

North Division

#1 Traverse City North Stars VS. #4 Motor City Metal Jackets

#2 Marquette Rangers VS. #3 Janesville Jets


Central Division

#1 Bismarck Bobcats VS. #4 North Iowa Outlaws

#2 Owatonna Express VS. #3 Alexandria Blizzard


South Division

#1 Topeka Roadrunners VS. #4 Springfield Jr. Blues

#2 St. Louis Bandits VS. #3 Texas Tornado


West Division

#1 Wenatchee Wild VS. #4 Kenai River Brown Bears

#2 Fairbanks Ice Dogs VS. #3 Alaska Avalanche