U.S.A. Junior Standings as of 2/1

United States Hockey League

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

U.S.A. Junior Standings as of 1/24

United States Hockey League

Green Bay continues to have its strangle hold on the East Division with a 13 point gap over 2nd place Cedar Rapids as the Gamblers are putting themselves in a positition to be the favorites to win the East Division and get to the Clark Cup Championship in May. Elsewhere in the East is the Cedar Rapids Roughriders who's looking to separate themselves from a pack that includes the Indiana Ice, Chicago Steel who have recovered from a bad to start to the season to get into 4th place in the East.

This week will be crictal for both the Ice and the Steel as a weekend series will take place in Indiana following this weeks All Star Game on Tuesday night. Outside the playoff picture we have the Waterloo Blackhawks who have won 6 of their last 7 to get one game below .500 and just 1 point back of the Steel for the final playoff spot. Youngstown have been struggling lately have lost 7 of their last 8 to fall to 6th place and are starting to lose track of the playoff picture.

Omaha and Fargo out west for the top spot as the Lancers still lead by 5 points over the Force with Fargo winning their last head to head matchup against each other back on 1/2 in a 6-5 win to keep the Force within striking distance. Sioux Falls looks to keep it's grip on the 3rd spot despite getting crushed back on 1/22 with a 10-1 loss to Cedar Rapids, however the game before, they put an 8-2 beating on the USNTDP the game before.

After finishing last season with the worst record in the league last year, the Tri-City Storm have stormed back and currently have the 4th and final playoff spot with a 5 and 7 point gap over the Sioux City Musketeers and Des Moines Buccaneers. After the All Star Break, the Storm have a chance to prove that they are real with a 1/29 tilt with the Fargo Force, then a 2 game set on the road on 2/3 and 2/5 against the East Division Leading Green Bay Gamblers, paired with a home game against the Sioux City Musketeers to get some breathing room against a team trying to chase them down to better the Storm's playoff hopes this season.

After the All Star Game, the Musketeers will continue a 6 game road trip where they are 0-2 so far with one goal losses against Chicago and Green Bay. Next up for them is games against Des Moines on 1/29 and 2/5 then a trip to Nebraska to play the Tri-City Storm and Omaha Lancers on 1/30 and 2/2 in between.

North American Hockey League

The Central Division in the NAHL looks to be pretty set in stone right now with no real playoff races going on with the Bismarck Bobcats having a 9 point lead for the Central Lead by winning 10 of their last 12 including all sorts of ways to win which included an 8-2 blowout of Albert Lea to kick off the streak back in Mid December and a pair of OT Wins Owatonna and North Iowa who could be the 1st round playoff matchup in the Central.

Owatonna is trailing Bismarck by 9 points, but has a 12 point lead over Alexnadria, And assuming that they stay in the 2nd spot, expect the Express to start finding out what lines will work best for a possible playoff run as they not expected to contend for the Central Division Top spot or be able to fall to 3rd or 4th in the Central.

North Iowa has been falling hard which has them in 4th place in the Central Division, since the Outlaws have just 3 points in the way of OT Losses in the last month and a half, the Outlaws should be looking at 4th place or possibly 3rd if they can get back up on their feet to at least challenge Alexandria so they wouldn't have to play the Bismarck Bobcats in the 1st round. They last win came back on December 6 with a 7-4 win over the Owatonna Express. Since then, the Outlaws have lost 11 in a row.

At least the Albert Lea Thunder probably won't challenge for the playoffs because of the restrictions have in place because of the league in control of them for the actions of former owner Barry Sorskin who earlier this season was found guilty of of a pay to play scandal which have been going on since the team 1st entered the league last season.

Since a great start to the season that at 1 point, had them just 2 points back of the Division Leading Traverse City, the Jets have fallen out of contention for the Division and have drifted to 3rd and nearing 4th place with the Motor City Metal Jackets just 3 points back of 3rd and with them winning 5 of their last 6 to get withing striking distance of the Jets and possibly the Marquette Rangers who have taken advantage with a heavy dose of last place Alpena and some problems against teams like the North Stars and the Jets who they have struggled with recently.

The top of the South may be the best race in the NAHL in the last 2 months of the season. For the Bandits, the 3 time Robertson Cup Champions are in a dead heat with the Roadrunners who have hit the wall since players like Erik Higby who since having a 5 point night in a blowout win against Wichita Falls back on 1/2, have scored just 5 points since including being held pointless in the last 4 games. This given players like Bryce Johnson become a more dangerous weapon with at least 1 point in 8 of the last 10 games.

Texas and Springfield are currently tied for 3rd, but with 4 games in hand over the Jr. Blues, the Tornado are expected to at least pull away with the Jr. Blues to hold on to the 3rd spot. However, with a very tough schedule coming up with division leading Topeka next weekend, 5 straight games against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs (2 @ home, 3 on the road) and 2 games on the road against lead leading Wenatchee, the Tornado will get a chance to prove that they can become a factor in the South Division for the last 2 months of the regular season.

For Wichita Falls, the big question will be is how new head coach Rick Davoult will change the Wildcats after the team made the move on Thursday, getting rid of long time head coach John Bowkus. After a 3 goal rally in the 3rd period to win 4-2 against the Tornado last night, the Wildcats are down 8 points still have a tough road to get into the playoffs, and if they get in, it will most likely by the Bandits or the Roadrunners as they have to play lights out just to have a shot for the rest of the season.

You can pretty much put in Wenatchee set in stone for the top spot in the West with a 19 point lead over the Icedogs and will be easily the 1st team to clinch the top Spot for the playoffs and with them hosting the Robertson Cup. Expect the Wild to be a big contender for the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship.

Fairbanks is looking like it will successfully fend off the Alaska Avalanche for 2nd, but it will probably be a 1st round matchup between the Alaska Rivals. The big thing that will hurt the Avalanche is the lack of scoring threats on the team.

United States Hockey League

East Division

1. Green Bay 36 GP 27-6-3 57 PTS 124-76

2. Cedar Rapids 38 GP 21-15-2 44 PTS 132-110

3. Indiana 35 GP 19-14-2 40 PTS 107-102

4. Chicago 36 GP 15-16-2 35 PTS 117-134

5. Waterloo 35 GP 16-17-2 34 PTS 128-136

6. Youngstown 35 GP 14-19-2 30 PTS 114-138

7. USNTDP 34 GP 10-20-4 24 PTS 101-138


West Division

1. Omaha 37 GP 27-8-2 56 PTS 153-91

2. Fargo 36 GP 24-9-3 51 PTS 139-121

3. Sioux Falls 35 GP 19-8-8 46 PTS 132-110

4. Tri-City 38 GP 17-15-6 40 PTS 110-124

5. Sioux City 34 GP 16-15-3 35 PTS 90-102

6. Des Moines 37 GP 15-19-3 33 PTS 134-154

7. Lincoln 36 GP 11-21-4 26 PTS 85-130


North American Hockey League

North Division

1. Traverse City 39 GP 24-12-3 51 PTS 146-118

2. Marquette 37 GP 23-14-0 46 PTS 121-98

3. Janesville 36 GP 19-14-3 41 PTS 117-110

4. Motor City 36 GP 16-14-6 38 PTS 103-112

5. Alpena 38 GP 11-26-1 23 PTS 97-135


Central Division

1. Bismarck 41 GP 25-9-7 57 PTS 129-101

2. Owatonna 39 GP 22-13-4 48 PTS 123-125

3. Alexandria 36 GP 16-16-4 36 PTS 96-103

4. North Iowa 38 GP 13-20-5 31 PTS 110-154

5. Albert Lea 37 GP 9-23-5 23 PTS 88-149


South Division

1. Topeka 40 GP 29-7-4 62 PTS 168-94

2. St. Louis 36 GP 30-5-1 61 PTS 130-71

3. Texas 35 GP 16-16-3 35 PTS 101-115

4. Springfield 39 GP 15-19-5 35 PTS 114-125

5. Wichita Falls 39 GP 11-23-5 27 PTS 116-171



West Division

1. Wenatchee 43 GP 33-7-3 69 PTS 146-91

2. Fairbanks 42 GP 24-16-2 50 PTS 158-132

3. Alaska 37 GP 19-12-6 44 PTS 124-110

4. Kenai River 40 GP 10-28-2 22 PTS 92-157