Week 7 of the USHL schedule features 15 games, starting with seven on Friday.
This weekend’s slate features the most anticipated game of the season to date, several intriguing cross-conference showdowns and the fourth matchup of the season between Cedar Rapids and Des Moines on Sunday afternoon. ball valve plastic
To view the complete USHL schedule, click here. To view the current standings, click here.
In case you missed either of them earlier this week, make sure to check out The Rink Live’s USHL Rink Report for a look back at Week 6 and USHL notebook for plenty of news and notes around the league.
The Rink Live’s Jordan McAlpine takes a look at some of the week’s top games along with a player to watch in each matchup.
Fargo (10-0-0-0) vs. Dubuque (9-1-1-1), Scheels Arena, 7:05 p.m.
Not much needs to be said about this one as the league’s top two teams will play in front of a sold-out crowd Friday night in Fargo.
𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗨𝗧‼️ Your #1 ranked Force will face off against the #2 ranked Fighting Saints tomorrow in front of a SOLD OUT CROWD! Didn’t get tickets? The Force are back home on Fri, Nov 10 at 7:05pm, visit https://t.co/LqcyI0WtgH to buy yours now!#ForceNation⚡️ | #StarsRise pic.twitter.com/qfnpe4yyiR
The Force are the USHL’s final undefeated team and are currently riding a franchise-best 10-game win streak. Fargo has allowed the league’s fewest goals (16), its penalty kill (93.8%) and power play (38.7%) rank first and third in the league and the Force have one of the league’s best goalie tandems in Anton Castro and Hampton Slukynsky.
However, one of the two will be tasked with slowing down the league’s most explosive offense. Dubuque leads the USHL with 66 goals and Kirk MacDonald’s lineup features four of the league’s top eight point producers in Erik Pahlsson (10-9-19), Chase LaPinta (4-11-15), Juraj Pekarcik (3-12-15) and Gavin Cornforth (8-16-14).
Dubuque also has the league’s second-best power play at 39.6% (19-for-48) and the Fighting Saints have scored at least four goals in 11 of their 12 games. The lone exception being a 4-0 home loss to Fargo on Oct. 14.
Player to watch: Mac Swanson, F, Fargo
Fargo last played at home on Oct. 7 as Swanson scored 3:01 into overtime that night, giving the Force a 5-4 win over Sioux City. And with a talented team like Dubuque coming to town, the Force will need players like Swanson to be at their best.
The UND commit scored a goal and picked up a pair of assists last weekend in Omaha and has at least a point in eight of his 10 games this season. Swanson has three goals and 12 points overall this season, including two game-winners.
The first of two games the two teams will play this weekend, Tri-City will look to get back in the win column Friday night while the Phantoms will look to keep a five-game point streak rolling. Youngstown is 4-0-1 in that stretch.
Ryan Ward — who spent two seasons as Tri-City’s director of player development before taking the Youngstown job — has guided the Phantoms to an 8-1-1 record over their last 10 games. Youngstown earned five of a possible six points in a three-in-three last weekend, sweeping Sioux Falls and falling to Madison in overtime.
As for their cross-conference foe, Tri-City comes into this weekend fourth in the Western Conference and looking to snap a three-game skid. The Storm put up a fight but fell to Dubuque, 4-2, at home on Oct. 21 and dropped a pair of road games last weekend at Dubuque and Cedar Rapids.
Tri-City is 3-3-0 on the road this season, although one of those wins came in Pittsburgh. Kearney and Youngstown are separated by roughly 1,050 miles and while Ward has ties to Tri-City, Anthony Noreen is also very familiar with Youngstown. The 40-year-old bench boss spent five seasons behind the Youngstown bench, four of which as head coach.
Player to watch: Mikey Burchill, F, Youngstown
Several of Youngstown’s off-season acquisitions have made an immediate impact this fall, including Burchill. The left-shot forward has 11 points through 12 games — which is tied for the team lead — and his four goals are tied for third on Youngstown’s roster.
He’s coming off a good weekend too as Burchill scored once and racked up a trio of assists, recording at least a point in all three games. Burchill is no stranger to the USHL either as he’s played 126 regular-season games over his three-year career.
Waterloo fell to Dubuque last time out, putting an end to a four-game win streak. However, the Black Hawks have started to find their footing and Matt Smaby’s group has started to turn the page after a 1-4-0 start.
Waterloo scored five goals in that loss to the Fighting Saints, extending their streak of scoring four goals or more to six games. Goaltender Calvin Vachon — who did not play against Dubuque — has also been good between the pipes and brings a personal four-game win streak into Saturday’s contest.
The Muskegon Lumberjacks come to Young Arena for the first time during Matt Smaby's tenure as Hawks head coach. He talks about that in today's @1650KCNZ Black Hawks Minute.https://t.co/MMKwKHtEiQ
The Black Hawks will play Muskegon in their only game this weekend before playing four of their next five against Western Conference rivals. As for the Lumberjacks, Saturday completes a quick two-game road trip as Muskegon will play in Des Moines before making the two-hour trip to Waterloo.
The Lumberjacks had a golden opportunity last weekend as Muskegon hosted Green Bay for three games. While they still earned two points, the 0-1-1-1 showing had to leave a bad taste in the mouth. Muskegon is one of three teams tied for third in the Eastern Conference with 16 points.
Player to watch: Matvei Gridin, F, Muskegon
The Russian forward was held off the score sheet last Saturday and Sunday for just the second and third time this season. The first time it happened, Gridin responded with four goals and eight points over the next four games
Gridin comes into this weekend tied for the USHL goal lead with 10 through 12 games, including a league-leading six power-play goals. His 18 points also rank second in the USHL and while Gridin has done most of his damage at home, four of his goals and eight of his points have come away from Trinity Health Arena.
While the attention is on Friday night’s game in Fargo, it won’t be Dubuque’s only tough matchup of the weekend as the Fighting Saints will face red-hot Sioux City on Saturday. Dubuque is 5-0-1 on the road heading into this weekend.
As for the Musketeers, Jason Kersner’s club is coming off back-to-back wins over Chicago and is 7-2-1 in its last 10. Sioux City is also 4-1-1 at home this season and have scored 30 goals on home ice, including six in each of those wins over Chicago.
The Musketeers are currently second in the league with 58 goals scored and Sioux City’s power play has been a difference-maker as of late.
The Musketeers went 4-for-8 on the man advantage last weekend — including a perfect 3-for-3 showing on Saturday — and lead the league at 41.9% (18-for-43).
Player to watch: Brian Nicholas, F, Sioux City
Nicholas heads into this week’s action riding a seven-game point-scoring streak and has 3-6-9 in that stretch.
Industrial Ball Valves The Michigan commit has four goals on the season — all of which have come on the power play — and 11 points through 13 games. Nicholas is tied for third in the USHL with those four power-play markers.