2017–18 USHL season
The 2017–18 USHL season was the 39th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season ran from October 6, 2017, to April 14, 2018.[1] The regular season champions, the Waterloo Black Hawks, were awarded the Anderson Cup. The playoff champions, the Fargo Force, were awarded the Clark Cup.
2017–18 USHL Season | |
---|---|
League | United States Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | October 6, 2017 – April 14, 2018 |
Number of games | 60 |
Number of teams | 17 |
Regular season | |
Anderson Cup | Waterloo Black Hawks |
Clark Cup Playoffs | |
Western champions | Fargo Force |
Western runners-up | Waterloo Black Hawks |
Eastern champions | Youngstown Phantoms |
Eastern runners-up | Team USA |
Clark Cup Playoffs MVP | Griffin Loughran |
Clark Cup Champions | |
Champions | Fargo Force |
League changes
The Bloomington Thunder were rebranded as the Central Illinois Flying Aces.[2]
While the alignment remained the same from the previous season, the league increased the number of teams that qualify for the playoffs from eight to twelve. The top two seeds in each conference now have a bye in the first round. The third and fourth conference seeds than host the fifth and sixth conference seeds in a best-of-three series. The rest of the playoffs are a best-of-five series.[1]
Regular season
Final standings:[3]
Eastern Conference
|
Western Conference
|
x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched conference title; z = clinched regular season title
Post season awards
USHL awards
Award | Name | Team |
---|---|---|
Player of the Year | Anthony Del Gaizo | Muskegon Lumberjacks[4] |
Forward of the Year | Jackson Cates | Waterloo Black Hawks[4] |
Defenseman of the Year | Ben Finkelstein | Waterloo Black Hawks[4] |
Rookie of the Year | Matej Pekar | Muskegon Lumberjacks[4] |
Goaltender of the Year | Filip Larsson | Tri-City Storm[4] |
Coach of the Year | P.K. O'Handley | Waterloo Black Hawks[5] |
Scholar-Athlete | Alex Steeves | Dubuque Fighting Saints[6] |
Curt Hammer | Marc McLaughlin | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders[7] |
General Manager of the Year | P.K. O'Handley | Waterloo Black Hawks[5] |
Executive of the Year | Brandon Bruss[8] | Green Bay Gamblers |
Organization of the Year | Sioux Falls Stampede[9] |
All-USHL First Team
Pos | Name | Team |
---|---|---|
G | Filip Larsson | Tri-City |
D | Ben Finkelstein | Waterloo |
D | Graham Lillibridge | Chicago |
F | Jackson Cates | Waterloo |
F | Anthony Del Gaizo | Muskegon |
F | Jack Dugan | Chicago |
Source[10]
All-USHL Second Team
Pos | Name | Team |
---|---|---|
G | Zach Driscoll | Youngstown |
D | Marc Del Gaizo | Muskegon |
D | Ty Farmer | Fargo |
F | Jack Drury | Waterloo |
F | Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup | Fargo |
F | Filip Suchy | Omaha |
Source[10]
All Rookie First Team
Pos | Name | Team |
---|---|---|
G | Oskar Autio | Chicago |
D | Michael Callahan | Youngstown |
D | Tyler Jubenvill | Cedar Rapids |
F | Paul Cotter | Lincoln |
F | Robert Mastrosimone | Chicago |
F | Matej Pekar | Muskegon |
Source[11]
All Rookie Second Team
Pos | Name | Team |
---|---|---|
G | Zach Borgiel | Muskegon |
D | Mason Klee | Lincoln |
D | Matt Staudacher | Muskegon |
F | Ryan O'Reilly | Madison |
F | Tyler Madden | Tri-City |
F | Michael Mancinelli | Madison |
Clark Cup playoffs
First Round (Best-of-3) | Conference Semifinals (Best-of-5) | Conference Finals (Best-of-5) | Clark Cup Championship (Best-of-5) | ||||||||||||||||
E1 | Team USA | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
E6 | Chicago | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
E3 | Muskegon | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
E6 | Chicago | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
E1 | Team USA | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
E2 | Youngstown | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
E4 | Green Bay | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
E5 | Dubuque | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
E2 | Youngstown | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
E5 | Dubuque | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
E2 | Youngstown | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
W3 | Fargo | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
W1 | Waterloo | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
W5 | Lincoln | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
W4 | Sioux Falls | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
W5 | Lincoln | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
W1 | Waterloo | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
W3 | Fargo | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
W3 | Fargo | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
W6 | Tri-City | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
W2 | Omaha | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
W3 | Fargo | 3 |
References
- "USHL Announces 2017-18 Schedule". USHL. July 18, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
- "It's Official: Thunder Hockey Team Becomes Flying Aces". WGLT. August 24, 2017.
- "USHL Standings". USHL. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
- "USHL Announces End of Year Awards". OurSportsCentral.com. April 30, 2018.
- "P.K. O'Handley Named USHL Coach & General Manager of the Year". USHL. May 2, 2018.
- "USHL Scholar-Athlete Award and All-Academic Team Announced". USHL. May 1, 2018.
- "Marc McLaughlin Named Curt Hammer Award Recipient". USHL. May 1, 2018.
- "EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR". USHL. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
- "Sioux Falls Stampede Named USHL Organization of the Year". OurSportsCentral.com. June 27, 2018.
- "All-USHL Teams Announced". USHL. May 1, 2018.
- "All-USHL Rookie Teams Announced". USHL. May 1, 2018.