2011-12 USHL Regular Season Schedule Announced

Press Release

The United States Hockey League announced today the 480-game schedule for the 2011-12 regular season.  The season will open on Friday, September 30th, 2011 and conclude on Saturday, April 14th, 2012.

FULL SCHEDULE

The scheduling process was the collective effort from each of the 16 USHL Member Clubs and League office personnel to develop a set of games that balanced the required games between conference opponents, availability of arenas, preferred team dates, and team travel demands.

“It was a different approach with the scheduling this year and the first time that senior management from each Member Club had direct involvement in the formation of the final product,” said USHL Commissioner Skip Prince.  “We believe a standard was set for collaboration on all levels during the process and thank each USHL organization for the time and effort spent to complete a schedule that is the outline for what will be an exciting 2011-12 season.”

The 16 USHL Member Clubs are split equally into two conferences – Eastern and Western – and each club plays a total of 60 games (30 home, 30 road).  One change has been made to the conference alignment as the defending Clark Cup champion Dubuque Fighting Saints will compete in the Eastern Conference and the Waterloo Black Hawks will now be part of the Western Conference.  The adjustment represents a true geographic split of the League after the 2010-11 season in which the two expansion clubs – Dubuque and Muskegon – were divided into separate conferences.  While USHL teams are split into conferences, the schedule was designed to include more games between opponents in close proximity to nurture geographic rivalries and to better manage team travel.

2011-12 USHL Conference Alignment

Western Conference                                       Eastern Conference

Des Moines Buccaneers                                  Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Fargo Force                                                     Chicago Steel

Lincoln Stars                                                   Dubuque Fighting Saints

Omaha Lancers                                               Green Bay Gamblers

Sioux City Musketeers                                    Indiana Ice

Sioux Falls Stampede                                      Muskegon Lumberjacks

Tri-City Storm                                                 Team USA

Waterloo Black Hawks                                    Youngstown Phantoms

                                                

In keeping with the USHL’s commitment to education by minimizing lost classroom time for the student-athletes, while also providing a fan-friendly environment, 93% of the games during the 2011-12 season will be played on weekend or holiday dates.

A total of eight games take place during the opening weekend of the 2011-12 season (September 30^th – October 2^nd), highlighted by a rematch of the 2011 Clark Cup Final as the Dubuque Fighting Saints begin their title defense on Saturday, October 1^st when they host the Green Bay Gamblers.  A trio of head coaches will also make their USHL regular season debuts during opening weekend as Brett Larson leads the Sioux City Musketeers to Kearney, Nebraska to take on the Tri-City Storm on Friday, September 30^th, and the following evening sees Kyle Wallack take the Indiana Ice on the road to play the defending Anderson Cup champion Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and John Marks guides the Fargo Force in a road contest versus the Des Moines Buccaneers.

To help celebrate the fifth annual “Hockey Weekend Across America”, a total of 17 USHL games will be played during the weekend of February 17-19 in conjunction with USA Hockey’s initiative to celebrate the game and expose hockey to audiences nationwide.

2011-12 USHL Home Openers

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders – Saturday, October 1^st vs. Indiana

Chicago Steel – Friday, October 7^th vs. Youngstown

Des Moines Buccaneers – Saturday, October 1^st vs. Fargo

Dubuque Fighting Saints – Saturday, October 1^st vs. Green Bay

Fargo Force – Friday, October 14^th vs. Muskegon

Green Bay Gamblers – Friday, October 7^th vs. Des Moines

Indiana Ice – Saturday, October 15^th vs. Team USA

Lincoln Stars – Friday, September 30^th vs. Sioux Falls

Muskegon Lumberjacks – Saturday, October 22^nd vs. Dubuque

Omaha Lancers – Friday, September 30^th vs. Waterloo

Sioux City Musketeers – Saturday, October 8^th vs. Fargo

Sioux Falls Stampede – Saturday, October 8^th vs. Waterloo

Tri-City Storm – Friday, September 30^th vs. Sioux City

Team USA – Friday, September 30^th vs. Youngstown

Waterloo Black Hawks – Saturday, October 15^th vs. Cedar Rapids

Youngstown Phantoms – Friday, October 14^th vs. Des Moines

At the conclusion of the 480-game regular season schedule, the USHL Clark Cup Playoffs will again have 12 teams competing – the top six teams in each conference. 

A full USHL schedule is available online - 2011-12 USHL SCHEDULE

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)