The League returned to action on Friday with a battle of the league's top teams as the Green Bay Gamblers took a narrow 5-4 win over Omaha. For the Lancers, this was a rare weekend disappointment this season as the Lancers only took one point out of the weekend as the Lancers lost in OT to Cedar Rapids on Saturday.
This allowed the 2nd place Fargo Force to close the gap to 2 points with a weekend sweep with a 9-1 beat down of the Tri-City Storm and a 2-1 win over the struggling Lincoln Stars which included the 9 goals coming from 8 different players, among the outburst included Nate Condon who had 3 goals this weekend in the 2 games taking him to a team lead 18 goals this season.
Also the 2 southwest players in Chase Grant with 2 goals this weekend taking him to 17 on the season, also Johnnie Seafoss who got an assist which took him to 25 points (12G 13A) this season as the Force where after a Thursday night road game in Sioux Falls, the Force begin a 5 game home stand on Friday against the Division Leading Omaha Lancers for 2 which could be for the West Division Lead.
Elsewhere the Sioux Falls Stampede took care of a struggling Youngstown team with 8-1 and 8-3 wins where the Stampede are starting to clamp down on the 3rd spot in the West and are approaching the Omaha Lancers and Fargo Force and could take over for at least 2nd and getting into home ice for the playoffs if either the Lancers or Force dive coming up.
The Stampede used a 5 goal 1st period on Friday and then on Saturday, used 3 goals late in the 1st period and 2 goals early in the 3rd to pull away from the Phantoms who have been falling off the pace by losing 9 of their last 10 which has dropped them to 6th in the East. Even though the Phantoms are just 6 points back of 4th place Waterloo, the USNTDP is about to overtake the Phantoms and get out of the East Division Basement for the first time this year.
If the Phantoms are going to turn their season around in the last 23 games of the season, the goal tending will have to be better, both Tibbett and Mahalak have GAA approaching 4.00 and SV% well below 89% which should be their undoing in the last 2 months of the regular season.
Despite the 9-1 thrashing Fargo gave the Tri-City Storm, they still on track for the playoffs being 5 points up on the Sioux City Musketeers where the Storm have won 3 of their last 4 including an OT Win over the Sioux Falls Stampede and a pair of wins over the Indiana Ice last weekend, Jaden Schwartz will need to continue his form as the Storm superstar is 2nd overall in assists with 36 and could be in the race for the league scoring title with 57 points which has him in 2nd overall with him being 5 points back of Omaha's Matt White who has 62.
Prehaps the best race in the league could be for the final playoff spot in the East as the Waterloo Blackhawks and Chicago Steel have been moving back and fourth for the final playoff spot. Waterloo had a mixed weekend where the Blackhawks won 5-1 over the USNTDP, but the next night was a 10-2 drilling the next night.
Chicago on the otherhand had a minor setback with a pair of losses over the Indiana Ice where the big story for the Ice has been Jacob Fallon who left the USNTDP and has been off to a good start where he had two assists in a 5-2 loss in his return to Ann Arbor for the Ice and the change of team seems to be doing a lot of good right now.
For the Sioux City Musketeers, February could make or break their playoff hopes, after a road games against Omaha and Des Moines. 8 of the next 12 will be at home and will have some favorable matchups at home for the most part which includes against Sioux Falls and Tri-City which are huge towards the Musketeers playoff hopes and have games against teams like the USNTDP and the Des Moines Buccaneers which are pretty much out of the playoff race.
Here's a look at the USHL Schedule for this week.
2/2
Sioux City Musketeers VS. Omaha Lancers 7:05 PM
2/3
Indiana Ice VS. Youngstown Phantoms 9:00 AM
Tri-City Storm VS. Green Bay Gamblers 7:05 PM
2/4
Lincoln Stars VS. USNTDP 6:05 PM
Fargo Force VS. Sioux Falls Stampede 7:05 PM
2/5
Lincoln Stars VS. USNTDP 2:05 PM
Waterloo Blackhawks VS. Youngstown Phantoms 6:15 PM
Sioux City Musketeers VS. Des Moines Buccaneers 7:05 PM
Tri-City Storm VS. Green Bay Gamblers 7:05 PM
Cedar Rapids Roughriders VS. Chicago Steel 7:30 PM
Omaha Lancers VS. Fargo Force 7:35 PM
2/6
Waterloo Blackhwaks VS. Youngstown Phantoms 6:15 PM
Sioux Falls Stampede VS. Sioux City Musketeers 7:00 PM
Lincoln Stars VS. Des Moines Buccaneers 7:05 PM
Omaha Lancers VS. Fargo Force 7:05 PM
Tri-City Storm VS. Cedar Rapids Roughriders 7:05 PM
Green Bay Gamblers VS. Chicago Steel 7:30 PM
North American Hockey League
With a 13 point lead and just 15 games left in the regular season, the Bismarck Bobcats are starting to plan on being the top seed in the Central Division and are looking to find out their best roster combos for the post season.
For Bismarck, the key to the playoff success will be players like Ryan Jacobsen who is leading the team with 21 goals while players like Jason Fabian and Dominic Panetta who 18 goals and are the team leaders in assists with totals approaching 30 assists for the season. Goaltending wise, they could be set as the Bobcats have among the most durable goaltending in the league with Ryan Faragher as in the top 5 of goaltending leaders has played the most games with a 2.23 GAA and .916 SV%.
If the Bobcats can continue the strong offense, Faragher could be main key as he has a great chance for the Bobcats to defend the Central Division Title and be able to contend for the NAHL Robertson Cup Title in May.
Traverse City still has a 5 point lead in the North Division, but the North Stars have looked a bit up and down recently as the North Stars have looked great but against teams like the Alpena Ice Diggers have started to look better including a 6-win over the Motor City Metal Jackets who are 13 points ahead of the Ice Diggers.
If the Diggers are going to make a late run, it will come down to players like Ryan Tilmar who has a 6 game scoring streak which have included 5 goals during that time and an improving Marco Wieser who needs to find the magic to make up for the team's lack of offense beyond Ryan Tilmar and John Fritsche when they not playing well. A recent blow happened when the Ice Diggers traded Nick Taurence to Texas earlier this season who had 9 goals and was one of the faster players on the team.
The South Division is going to have the best drama in the last 2 months of the season. On top of the division, it's not a question of will have home ice in the Division Semifinals, it could be for the Division Championship as the Roadrunners have a slim 3 point lead over the St. Louis Bandits. This past weekend saw a sweep for the Roadrunners in one of their wildest games of the year on Saturday where after the Roadrunners were up 4-1 after the 1st intermission. The Tornado's James Howard and Scott Deur lead a come back where the game was tied at 5-5 midway through the 3rd period, however, the Roadrunners showed their offense prowl with 3 goals in 6 minutes with 2 of them being empty netters to win the game 8-5.
St. Louis got a split from the weekend where after losing 7-4 on Friday night, the Bandits came back with a 5-2 win on Saturday night to get the Bandits within 3 points of the Division leading Roadrunners.
It could come down to 4 games in early March that could determine the top Seed in the Division as the Roadrunners will host the Bandits on 3/5-6 in Topeka while the Bandits will return the favor on 3/12-13 which could be for the South Division Top seed. Also the Bandits have 4 games in hand right now where the Bandits will have a chance to catch up starting on February 17 when they start a 3 game series against the Wichita Falls Wildcats who are trying to catch up to the Springfield Jr. Blues and Texas Tornado.
Speaking of the South Division Basement, the Wildcats were sweeped at home as the Fairbanks Ice Dogs who will probably be 2nd in the West Division, won both games 3-2. However the Wildcats are starting to improve on defense where except for the 6-5 against the Texas Tornado, the Wildcats have kept opponents to 3 goals or less since Mike Flanagan took over the team in mid January.
One benefit though is that it looks like that the Wildcats have finally settled on who will the be the starter for the rest of the season as Andrew Keller has played a majority of the minutes the last few weeks and will benefit the team by knowing that they can develop an indentity for the rest of the season and won't have to worry about playing different styles for different net minders every night.
Springfield will have a tough month of February coming up as the Jr. Blues will play their next 5 games against the South Division Title Contenders as the Jr. Blues will travel to Missouri this weekend then will host the Roadrunners on Valentine's Day Weekend. However starting on 2/26, it's a critical time as the Jr. Blues play 2 against Janesville then the critical 6 game stretch in early March with a 3 game home and home against the Texas Tornado which could put their playoff fate either going full steam ahead or their dreams dashed for the season.
Texas also has a tough month of February as they don't player another division game until 2/26 when the Tornado travel to Wichita Falls to play the Wildcats. Between now and then, it's a pair of tough road trips as the Tornado will host the Fairbanks Ice Dogs for 3 this week. Then it's a return trip to the play the Ice Dogs on 2/12-13.
Then it's a trip to Washington State to play the league leading Wenatchee Wild on 2/19-20 as this could be a blessing in disguise, as the Wild are off until that weekend and with a 17 point lead in the West Division. The Wild may be more in a playoff prep mode then fighting it out for a playoff spot or even the Division Title. So they could be some rust on the players with a couple weeks off as the Wild have played the most games in the league to this point by playing 45 games to this point in the season.
Here's this Weeks NAHL Schedule
2/2
Albert Lea Thunder VS. Owatonna Express 7:00 PM
2/3
Fairbanks Ice Dogs VS. Texas Tornado 7:00 PM
2/4
Traverse City North Stars VS. Marquette Rangers 6:30 PM
Kenai River Brown Bears VS. Alaska Avalanche 7:00 PM Alaska Time
2/5
Motor City Metal Jackets VS. Marquette Rangers 6:30 PM
Alpena Ice Diggers VS. Janesville Jets 7:00 PM
North Iowa Outlaws VS. Owatonna Express 7:00 PM
Topeka Roadrunners VS. Wichita Falls Wildcats 7:05 PM
Alexandria Blizzard VS. Albert Lea Thunder 7:30 PM
Fairbanks Ice Dogs VS. Texas Tornado 7:30 PM
Springfield Jr. Blues VS. St. Louis Bandits 8:00 PM
Kenai River Brown Bears VS. Alaska Avalanche 7:00 PM Alaska Time
2/6
Motor City Metal Jackets VS. Marquette Rangers 6:30 PM
Bismarck Bobcats VS. Alexandria Blizzard 7:00 PM
Alpena Ice Diggers VS. Janesville Jets 7:00 PM
North Iowa Outlaws VS. Owatonna Express 7:00 PM
Fairbanks Ice Dogs VS. Texas Tornado 7:00 PM
Springfield Jr. Blues VS. St. Louis Bandits 7:05 PM
Topeka Roadrunners VS. Wichita Falls Wildcats 7:05 PM
Kenai River Brown Bears VS. Alaska Avalanche 7:00 PM Alaska Time
2/7
Alpena Ice Diggers VS. Janesville Jets 2:00 PM
I will start adding the number of games left in the regular season as we enter the last 2 months of the regular season as the playoff races begin to heat up. Also, I will show the Playoff Color Code to let you know who would be in and out at different updates for the rest of the regular season.
United States Hockey League Standings
East Division
1. Green Bay 38 GP 29-6-3 61 PTS 136-84 22 GR
2. Cedar Rapids 40 GP 23-15-2 48 PTS 138-114 20 GR
3. Indiana 38 GP 21-15-2 44 PTS 119-112 22 GR
4. Waterloo 37 GP 17-18-2 36 PTS 135-147 23 GR
5. Chicago 38 GP 15-18-5 35 PTS 122-144 22 GR
6. Youngstown 37 GP 14-21-2 30 PTS 118-154 23 GR
7. USNTDP 37 GP 12-21-4 28 PTS 117-147 23 GR
West Division
1. Omaha 39 GP 27-9-3 57 PTS 159-99 21 GR
2. Fargo 38 GP 26-9-3 55 PTS 150-123 22 GR
3. Sioux Falls 37 GP 21-8-8 50 PTS 148-114 23 GR
4. Tri-City 40 GP 18-16-6 42 PTS 114-134 20 GR
5. Sioux City 36 GP 17-16-3 37 PTS 96-108 24 GR
6. Des Moines 39 GP 15-21-3 33 PTS 141-166 21 GR
7. Lincoln 38 GP 11-22-5 27 PTS 88-135 22 GR
Division Leaders
Playoff Spots
Out of Playoffs
Here's the Current Playoff Matchups if the Season ended today.
East Division
#1 Green Bay Gamblers VS. #4 Waterloo Blackhawks
#2 Cedar Rapids Roughriders VS. #3 Indiana Ice
West Division
#1 Omaha Lancers VS. #4 Tri-City Storm
#2 Fargo Force VS. #3 Sioux Falls Stampede
North American Hockey League
North Division
1. Traverse City 40 GP 25-12-3 53 PTS 150-120 18 GR
2. Marquette 39 GP 24-15-0 48 PTS 129-103 19 GR
3. Janesville 38 GP 20-15-3 43 PTS 122-118 20 GR
4. Motor City 38 GP 16-16-6 38 PTS 107-122 20 GR
5. Alpena 39 GP 12-26-1 25 PTS 103-137 19 GR
Central Division
1. Bismarck 43 GP 27-9-7 61 PTS 136-105 15 GR
2. Owatonna 41 GP 22-15-4 48 PTS 125-137 17 GR
3. Alexandria 38 GP 18-16-4 40 PTS 108-105 20 GR
4. North Iowa 39 GP 13-21-5 31 PTS 111-158 19 GR
5. Albert Lea 40 GP 10-25-5 25 PTS 96-157 18 GR
South Division
1. Topeka 42 GP 31-7-4 66 PTS 179-101 16 GR
2. St. Louis 38 GP 31-6-1 63 PTS 139-80 20 GR
3. Springfield 41 GP 16-20-5 37 PTS 123-134 17 GR
4. Texas 38 GP 16-19-3 35 PTS 113-132 20 GR
5. Wichita Falls 42 GP 12-25-5 29 PTS 126-182 16 GR
West Division
1. Wenatchee 45 GP 34-8-3 71 PTS 154-96 13 GR
2. Fairbanks 44 GP 26-16-2 54 PTS 164-136 14 GR
3. Alaska 39 GP 20-13-3 46 PTS 129-118 19 GR
4. Kenai River 40 GP 10-28-2 22 PTS 92-157 18 GR
Division Leaders
Playoff Spots
Out of Playoffs
Here's the current playoff matchups if the Season ended Today.
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 Texas Tornado
#2 St. Louis Bandits VS. #3 Springfield Jr. Blues
West Division
#1 Wenatchee Wild VS. #4 Kenai River Brown Bears
#2 Fairbanks Ice Dogs VS. #3 Alaska Avalanche
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