2016–17 USHL season

The 2016–17 USHL season is the 38th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season ran from September 23, 2016, to April 8, 2017.^[1] The regular season champions, the Sioux City Musketeers, were awarded the Anderson Cup. The playoff champions, the Chicago Steel, were awarded the Clark Cup.

2016–17 USHL Season
League	United States Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September 23, 2016 – April 8, 2017
Number of games	60
Number of teams	17
Regular season
Anderson Cup	Sioux City Musketeers
Season MVP	Matīss Kivlenieks (Sioux City Musketeers)
Top scorer	Zach Solow (Dubuque Fighting Saints)
Clark Cup Playoffs
Clark Cup Playoffs MVP	Eduards Tralmaks (Steel)
Finals champions	Chicago Steel
Runners-up	Sioux City Musketeers

Regular season

Final standings^[2]

Eastern Conference Team GP W L OTL SOL PTS GF GA PIM y – Chicago Steel 60 38 17 2 3 81 196 144 748 x – Dubuque Fighting Saints 60 36 17 5 2 79 201 163 1038 x – Muskegon Lumberjacks 60 37 18 3 2 79 192 157 1021 x – Youngstown Phantoms 60 34 20 5 1 74 161 135 1054 Green Bay Gamblers 60 34 22 2 2 72 173 145 900 Bloomington Thunder 60 25 27 5 3 58 150 177 1012 Madison Capitols 60 23 32 1 4 51 135 192 851 Team USA 60 23 34 1 2 49 164 214 819 Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 60 12 44 3 1 28 109 228 931

Western Conference Team GP W L OTL SOL PTS GF GA PIM z – Sioux City Musketeers 60 40 13 5 2 87 179 125 787 x – Waterloo Black Hawks 60 40 16 2 2 84 210 161 891 x – Fargo Force 60 36 19 4 1 77 193 149 792 x – Des Moines Buccaneers 60 36 20 1 3 76 177 154 797 Lincoln Stars 60 32 22 5 1 70 171 161 1147 Omaha Lancers 60 22 31 5 2 51 159 214 1246 Sioux Falls Stampede 60 21 30 3 6 51 169 193 902 Tri-City Storm 60 21 31 6 2 50 153 180 714

x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched conference title; z = clinched regular season title

Statistical leaders

Scoring leaders

Players are listed by points, then goals.

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts. = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Zach Solow	Dubuque Fighting Saints	56	18	51	69	42
Blake Lizotte	Fargo Force	56	19	46	65	42
Colin Theisen	Dubuque Fighting Saints	57	35	27	62	30
Hank Crone	Fargo Force	56	24	38	62	72
Jack Adams	Fargo Force	56	37	23	60	55
Andrei Svechnikov	Muskegon Lumberjacks	48	29	29	58	68
Alex Limoges	Tri-City/Waterloo	55	22	34	56	18
Eeli Tolvanen	Sioux City Musketeers	52	30	24	54	26
Cole Guttman	Dubuque Fighting Saints	53	27	27	54	18
Nick Swaney	Waterloo Black Hawks	47	26	25	51	12

Leading goaltenders

These are the goaltenders that lead the league in GAA that have played at least 1380 minutes.

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage

Player	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	OTL	SOL	SO	GAA	SV%
Matīss Kivlenieks	Sioux City Musketeers	49	2991	36	7	4	2	5	1.85	0.932
Ivan Kulbakov	Youngstown Phantoms	52	3050	30	16	4	1	5	1.93	0.919
Robbie Beydoun	Waterloo Black Hawks	39	2270	24	9	2	2	5	2.22	0.919
Josef Kořenář	Lincoln Stars	32	1783	14	11	4	0	2	2.22	0.923
Dávid Hrenák	Green Bay Gamblers	33	1878	15	14	1	1	4	2.24	0.913

Post season awards

USHL awards

Award	Name	Team
Player of the Year	Matīss Kivlenieks	Sioux City Musketeers[3]
Forward of the Year	Zach Solow	Dubuque Fighting Saints[4]
Defenseman of the Year	Connor Mackey	Green Bay Gamblers[5]
Rookie of the Year	Andrei Svechnikov	Muskegon Lumberjacks[6]
Goaltender of the Year	Matiss Kivlenieks	Sioux City Musketeers[3]
Coach of the Year	Jay Varady	Sioux City Musketeers
Scholar-Athlete	Michael Karow Graham Lillibridge	Youngstown Phantoms Chicago Steel
Curt Hammer	Logan Halladay Riese Zmolek	Bloomington Thunder Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
General Manager of the Year	Mark LeRose	Sioux City Musketeers
Executive of the Year	Not awarded
Organization of the Year	Not awarded

All-USHL First Team

Pos	Name	Team
G	Matīss Kivlenieks	Sioux City
D	Mario Ferraro	Des Moines
D	Connor Mackey	Green Bay
F	Zach Solow	Dubuque
F	Andrei Svechnikov	Muskegon
F	Eeli Tolvanen	Sioux City

All-USHL Second Team

Pos	Name	Team
G	Ivan Kulbakov	Youngstown
D	Mikey Anderson	Waterloo
D	Quinn Hughes	Team USA
F	Jack Adams	Fargo
F	Blake Lizotte	Fargo
F	Nick Swaney	Waterloo

All Rookie Team

Pos	Name	Team
G	Keith Petruzzelli	Muskegon
D	Mario Ferraro	Des Moines
D	Clayton Phillips	Fargo
F	Cole Guttman	Dubuque
F	Isaac Johnson	Des Moines
F	Andrei Svechnikov	Muskegon

Clark Cup playoffs

	Conference Semi-Finals (Best of 5)					Conference Finals (Best of 5)					Clark Cup Championship (Best of 5)
	1	Chicago	3
	4	Youngstown	2
						1	Chicago	3
	Eastern Conference
						2	Dubuque	1
	2	Dubuque	3
	3	Muskegon	1
											E1	Chicago	3
											W1	Sioux City	2
	1	Sioux City	3
	4	Des Moines	0
						1	Sioux City	3
	Western Conference
						2	Waterloo	2
	2	Waterloo	3
	3	Fargo	0

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference

(1) Chicago Steel vs. (4) Youngstown Phantoms

April 14	Chicago Steel		4 – 1		Youngstown Phantoms	Fox Valley Ice Arena
14:19 - Baker Shore (1)		First period			No scoring
16:50 - Mitch Lewandowski (1)		Second period			No scoring
12:20 - Reggie Lutz (1) 18:32 - en - Marc Johnstone (1)		Third period			Max Ellis (1) - 16:49
Aleš Stezka (25 saves / 26 shots)		Goalie stats			Ivan Kulbakov (33 saves / 36 shots)

April 15	Chicago Steel		6 – 0		Youngstown Phantoms	Fox Valley Ice Arena
6:05 - pp - Reggie Lutz (2) 7:56 - pp - Reggie Lutz (3)		First period			No scoring
0:16 - sh - Jack Badini (1) 12:40 - Mitch Lewandowski (2) 16:08 - pp - Jack Badini (2)		Second period			No scoring
5:09 - pp - Eduards Tralmaks (1)		Third period			No scoring
Aleš Stezka (40 saves / 40 shots)		Goalie stats			Ivan Kulbakov (12 saves / 17 shots) Britt League (5 saves / 6 shots)

April 21	Youngstown Phantoms		4 – 1		Chicago Steel	Covelli Centre
7:41 - Michael Karow (1)		First period			No scoring
6:10 - Marshall Moise (1) 9:23 - sh - Tommy Apap (1)		Second period			Eduards Tralmaks (2) - 1:49
7:17 - Brandon Estes (1)		Third period			No scoring
Ivan Kulbakov (23 saves / 24 shots)		Goalie stats			Aleš Stezka (23 saves / 27 shots)

April 22	Youngstown Phantoms		3 – 2		Chicago Steel	Covelli Centre
14:56 - Austin Pooley (1)		First period			No scoring
1:00 - Coale Norris (1)		Second period			No scoring
12:33 - Evan Wisocky (1)		Third period			Marc Johnstone (2) - 10:04 Eduards Tralmaks (3) - 13:23
Ivan Kulbakov (16 saves / 18 shots)		Goalie stats			Aleš Stezka (27 saves / 30 shots)

April 25	Chicago Steel		2 – 0		Youngstown Phantoms	Fox Valley Ice Arena
No scoring		First period			No scoring
11:50 - Jack Badini (3)		Second period			No scoring
17:09 - en - Derek Daschke (1)		Third period			No scoring
Aleš Stezka (40 saves / 40 shots)		Goalie stats			Ivan Kulbakov (25 saves / 26 shots)

Chicago wins series 3 – 2

(2) Dubuque Fighting Saints vs. (3) Muskegon Lumberjacks

April 14	Dubuque Fighting Saints		4 – 3	OT	Muskegon Lumberjacks	Mystique Ice Center
10:17 - Dallas Gerads (1)		First period			Collin Adams (1) - pp - 7:27 Collin Adams (2) - 13:13
10:42 - pp - Austin Rueschhoff (1)		Second period			No scoring
4:55 - Quinn Preston (1)		Third period			Bo Hanson (1) - 18:15
14:46 - Colin Theisen (1)		First overtime period			No scoring
Jaxon Castor (25 saves / 28 shots)		Goalie stats			Keith Petruzzelli (27 saves / 31 shots)

April 15	Dubuque Fighting Saints		3 – 0		Muskegon Lumberjacks	Mystique Ice Center
No scoring		First period			No scoring
3:12 - Dallas Gerads (2) 5:36 - pp - Austin Rueschhoff (2)		Second period			No scoring
19:17 - en - Keenan Suthers (1)		Third period			No scoring
Jaxon Castor (36 saves / 36 shots)		Goalie stats			Keith Petruzzelli (19 saves / 21 shots)

April 20	Muskegon Lumberjacks		3 – 0		Dubuque Fighting Saints	L.C. Walker Arena
10:57 - Collin Adams (3)		First period			No scoring
1:41 - pp - Marc Del Gaizo (1)		Second period			No scoring
16:35 - en - Ty Farmer (1)		Third period			No scoring
Adam Brízgala (33 saves / 33 shots)		Goalie stats			Jaxon Castor (31 saves / 33 shots)

April 21	Muskegon Lumberjacks		2 – 7		Dubuque Fighting Saints	L.C. Walker Arena
No scoring		First period			Patrick Kudla (1) - 3:40 Cole Guttman (1) - pp - 19:47
8:20 - pp - Austin Alger (1)		Second period			Jacob Hamacher (1) - 0:09
13:38 - Will Smith (1)		Third period			Quinn Preston (2) - pp - 7:05 Jacob Hamacher (2) - 8:11 Michael Boyle (1) - 17:14 Alex Steeves (1) - 17:31
Adam Brízgala (34 saves / 41 shots)		Goalie stats			Jaxon Castor (27 saves / 29 shots)

Dubuque wins series 3 – 1

Western Conference

(1) Sioux City Musketeers vs. (4) Des Moines Buccaneers

April 14	Sioux City Musketeers		4 – 1		Des Moines Buccaneers	Tyson Events Center
14:14 - John Carter MacLean (1)		First period			No scoring
1:51 - Charlie Kelleher (1) 13:41 - Charlie Kelleher (2)		Second period			No scoring
13:30 - pp - Eeli Tolvanen (1)		Third period			Collin Rutherford (1) - 1:05
Matīss Kivlenieks (21 saves / 22 shots)		Goalie stats			Jan Růžička (36 saves / 39 shots) Nick MacNab (10 saves / 11 shots)

April 16	Sioux City Musketeers		5 – 0		Des Moines Buccaneers	Tyson Events Center
3:46 - Brady Ferner (1) 13:11 - Carson Vance (1)		First period			No scoring
14:47 - Odeen Tufto (1)		Second period			No scoring
7:33 - pp - Kristián Pospíšil (1) 11:31 - Jackson Keane (1)		Third period			No scoring
Matīss Kivlenieks (23 saves / 23 shots)		Goalie stats			Jan Růžička (29 saves / 34 shots)

April 21	Des Moines Buccaneers		1 – 2		Sioux City Musketeers	Buccaneer Arena
No scoring		First period			No scoring
1:29 - Colin Ugbekile (1)		Second period			Charlie Kelleher (3) - 5:16
No scoring		Third period			Kristian Pospisil (2) - pp - 9:14
Jan Růžička (30 saves / 32 shots)		Goalie stats			Matīss Kivlenieks (27 saves / 28 shots)

Sioux City wins series 3 – 0

(2) Waterloo Black Hawks vs. (3) Fargo Force

April 14	Waterloo Black Hawks		4 – 3	OT	Fargo Force	Young Arena
15:35 - Nick Swaney (1)		First period			Shane McMahan (1) - 13:21
No scoring		Second period			Carson Musser (1) - 13:02
8:04 - pp - Mikey Anderson (1) 15:57 - pp - Kevin Charyszyn (1)		Third period			Mitchell Chaffee (1) - 5:00
4:51 - Bailey Conger (1)		First overtime period			No scoring
Robbie Beydoun (19 saves / 22 shots)		Goalie stats			Matt Murray (13 saves / 14 shots) Ryan Bischel (27 saves / 30 shots)

April 15	Waterloo Black Hawks		4 – 1		Fargo Force	Young Arena
11:48 - pp - Dylan Samberg (1)		First period			No scoring
12:34 - Ethan Johnson (1)		Second period			No scoring
18:22 - en - Mikey Anderson (2) 19:37 - en - Shane Bowers (1)		Third period			Shane McMahan (2) - 6:58
Robbie Beydoun (30 saves / 31 shots)		Goalie stats			Ryan Bischel (31 saves / 33 shots)

April 18	Fargo Force		0 – 3		Waterloo Black Hawks	Scheels Arena
No scoring		First period			Jackson Cates (1) - 14:28
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			Shane Bowers (2) - 1:20 Bailey Conger (2) - sh - en - 18:39
Ryan Bischel (37 saves / 39 shots)		Goalie stats			Robbie Beydoun (24 saves / 24 shots)

Waterloo wins series 3 – 0

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference

(1) Chicago Steel vs. (2) Dubuque Fighting Saints

April 28	Chicago Steel		4 – 3		Dubuque Fighting Saints	Fox Valley Ice Arena
No scoring		First period			No scoring
8:20 - Reggie Lutz (4)		Second period			Quinn Preston (3) - 11:44
8:27 - pp - Jack Badini (4) 9:05 - Brannon McManus (1) 15:39 - Brannon McManus (2)		Third period			Eric MacAdams (1) - 0:42 Scott Corbett (1) - 7:39
Aleš Stezka (23 saves / 26 shots)		Goalie stats			Jaxon Castor (29 saves / 33 shots)

April 29	Chicago Steel		1 – 3		Dubuque Fighting Saints	Fox Valley Ice Arena
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			Veli-Matti Tiuraniemi (1) - 10:52 Patrick Kudla (2) - pp - 18:05
13:40 - Eduards Tralmaks (4)		Third period			Austin Rueschhoff (3) - 12:45
Aleš Stezka (29 saves / 32 shots)		Goalie stats			Jaxon Castor (34 saves / 35 shots)

May 5	Dubuque Fighting Saints		3 – 4		Chicago Steel	Mystique Ice Center
No scoring		First period			No scoring
7:46 - Zach Solow (1) 11:46 - Colin Theisen (2) 13:32 - pp - Patrick Kudla (3)		Second period			Marc Johnstone (3) - 0:38
No scoring		Third period			Eduards Tralmaks (5) - 7:21 Jake Jaremko (1) - 12:09 Brannon McManus (3) - 16:49
Jaxon Castor (24 saves / 28 shots)		Goalie stats			Aleš Stezka (25 saves / 28 shots)

May 6	Dubuque Fighting Saints		3 – 7		Chicago Steel	Mystique Ice Center
No scoring		First period			Eduards Tralmaks (6) - 9:53 Jack Badini (5) - sh - 11:11
5:18 - Dallas Gerads (3) 13:01 - Michael Boyle (2)		Second period			Reggie Lutz (5) - pp - 6:19 Baker Shore (2) - 18:00 Brannon McManus (4) - 19:00
9:24 - pp - Austin Rueschhoff (4)		Third period			Eduards Tralmaks (7) - 4:18 Jake Jaremko (2) - en - 10:40
Jaxon Castor (27 saves / 33 shots)		Goalie stats			Aleš Stezka (28 saves / 31 shots)

Chicago wins series 3 – 1

Western Conference

(1) Sioux City Musketeers vs. (2) Waterloo Black Hawks

April 28	Sioux City Musketeers		5 – 2		Waterloo Black Hawks	Tyson Events Center
4:07 - Connor Ford (1) 15:26 - pp - Eeli Tolvanen (2)		First period			No scoring
11:24 - Eeli Tolvanen (3)		Second period			Ben Copeland (1) - 16:49 Ben Copeland (2) - 17:39
9:03 - sh - Odeen Tufto (2) 18:30 - en - Tarek Baker (1)		Third period			No scoring
Matīss Kivlenieks (31 saves / 33 shots)		Goalie stats			Robbie Beydoun (24 saves / 28 shots)

April 30	Sioux City Musketeers		1 – 2	OT	Waterloo Black Hawks	Tyson Events Center
3:52 - pp - Jacob Wilson (1)		First period			Alex Limoges (1) - 8:37
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			Yuki Miura (1) - 6:47
Matīss Kivlenieks (33 saves / 35 shots)		Goalie stats			Robbie Beydoun (30 saves / 31 shots)

May 5	Waterloo Black Hawks		0 – 3		Sioux City Musketeers	Young Arena
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			Tarek Baker (2) - pp - 5:28 Matt Hellickson (1) - 19:38
No scoring		Third period			Odeen Tufto (3) - en - 19:23
Robbie Beydoun (25 saves / 27 shots)		Goalie stats			Matīss Kivlenieks (29 saves / 29 shots)

May 6	Waterloo Black Hawks		3 – 1		Sioux City Musketeers	Young Arena
8:05 - pp - Ethan Spaxman (1) 19:27 - Bailey Conger (3)		First period			Kristián Pospíšil (3) - pp - 13:19
19:26 - pp - Jackson Cates (2)		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Robbie Beydoun (28 saves / 29 shots) Peter Thome (0 saves / 0 shots)		Goalie stats			Matīss Kivlenieks (31 saves / 34 shots)

May 9	Sioux City Musketeers		8 – 3		Waterloo Black Hawks	Tyson Events Center
4:59 - Tarek Baker (3) 13:21 - Jacob Wilson (2) 16:20 - Micah Miller (1)		First period			No scoring
2:15 - Phillip Knies (1) 12:07 - Kristián Pospíšil (4)		Second period			Bailey Conger (4) - pp - 16:52 Grant Gabriele (1) - 17:27
13:43 - Odeen Tufto (4) 15:36 - sh - Brian Rigali (1) 16:53 - en - Eeli Tolvanen (4)		Third period			Ben Copeland (3) - 1:51
Matīss Kivlenieks (32 saves / 35 shots)		Goalie stats			Robbie Beydoun (8 saves / 12 shots) Peter Thome (12 saves / 15 shots)

Sioux City wins series 3 – 2

Clark Cup Finals

(W1) Sioux City Musketeers vs. (E1) Chicago Steel

May 12	Sioux City Musketeers		5 – 4	OT	Chicago Steel	Tyson Events Center
0:31 - Brian Rigali (2) 10:27 - Keegan Mantaro (1) 18:46 - Odeen Tufto (5)		First period			Jason O'Neill (1) - 2:17 Baker Shore (3) - sh - 8:57
No scoring		Second period			Jordan Seyfert (1) - 5:36
17:02 - Brian Rigali (3)		Third period			Jack Badini (6) - 5:16
2:27 - pp - Phillip Knies (2)		First overtime period			No scoring
Matīss Kivlenieks (20 saves / 24 shots)		Goalie stats			Matt Ladd (25 saves / 30 shots)

May 13	Sioux City Musketeers		1 – 5		Chicago Steel	Tyson Events Center
No scoring		First period			Reggie Lutz (6) - 11:03 Brannon McManus (5) - 11:49 Brannon McManus (6) - 16:12
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
15:14 - pp - Aapeli Räsänen (1)		Third period			Jake Jaremko (3) - pp - 7:47 Eduards Tralmaks (8) - pp - 13:13
Matīss Kivlenieks (20 saves / 24 shots) Todd Scott (4 saves / 5 shots)		Goalie stats			Aleš Stezka (38 saves / 39 shots)

May 19	Chicago Steel		3 – 0		Sioux City Musketeers	Fox Valley Ice Arena
4:18 - Jack Badini (7)		First period			No scoring
14:27 - pp - Johnny Walker (1)		Second period			No scoring
18:10 - en - Eduards Tralmaks (9)		Third period			No scoring
Aleš Stezka (27 saves / 27 shots)		Goalie stats			Matīss Kivlenieks (33 saves / 35 shots)

May 20	Chicago Steel		4 – 5		Sioux City Musketeers	Fox Valley Ice Arena
10:06 - pp - Mitch Lewandowski (3) 11:53 - Jake Jaremko (4)		First period			No scoring
10:58 - Jake Jaremko (5) 18:47 - pp - Reggie Lutz (7)		Second period			Aapeli Räsänen (2) - 2:37 Phillip Knies (3) - 10:02 Odeen Tufto (6) - 19:16
No scoring		Third period			Eeli Tolvanen (5) - 17:07 Kristián Pospíšil (5) - 18:51
Aleš Stezka (27 saves / 32 shots)		Goalie stats			Matīss Kivlenieks (20 saves / 24 shots)

May 23	Sioux City Musketeers		1 – 2	OT	Chicago Steel	Tyson Events Center
11:04 - Carson Vance (2)		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			Eduards Tralmaks (10) - 15:27
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			Tyler Gratton (1) - 11:30
Matīss Kivlenieks (25 saves / 27 shots)		Goalie stats			Aleš Stezka (45 saves / 46 shots)

Chicago wins series 3 – 2

Playoff scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Jack Badini	Chicago Steel	14	7	10	17	2
Marc Johnstone	Chicago Steel	14	3	12	15	6
Kristián Pospíšil	Sioux City Musketeers	13	5	9	14	14
Jake Jaremko	Chicago Steel	14	5	8	13	0
Eduards Tralmaks	Chicago Steel	14	10	2	12	2
Reggie Lutz	Chicago Steel	14	7	5	12	10
Mitch Lewandowski	Chicago Steel	13	3	9	12	10
Odeen Tufto	Sioux City Musketeers	13	6	5	11	2
Brannon McManus	Chicago Steel	14	6	4	10	2
Eeli Tolvanen	Sioux City Musketeers	13	5	5	10	6

Playoff leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Robbie Beydoun	Waterloo Black Hawks	8	480	5	3	16	1	.922	2.00
Aleš Stezka	Chicago Steel	13	796	9	4	27	3	.936	2.04
Matīss Kivlenieks	Sioux City Musketeers	13	807	8	5	28	2	.925	2.08
Ryan Bischel	Fargo Force	3	168	0	3	7	0	.931	2.49
Keith Petruzzelli	Muskegon Lumberjacks	2	138	0	2	6	0	.885	2.61