Ice Hockey Wiki
Advertisement
USHL Logo (2016)

This is the 2020-21 United States Hockey League season.

This is the league's 44th season as a junior hockey league.

The league was planning on beginning play on November 6th.


Membership Changes[]

  • On February 28, 2019 the ownership of the Central Illinois Flying Aces announced they would not be renewing the lease at the Grossinger Motors Arena and would be sitting out the 2019-20 season. The team stated it is evaluating opportunities to resume play for the 2020-21[1] and appear not to be returning for the 2020-21 season.
  • On September 18, 2020 the league announced that the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and the Madison Capitols were both sitting out the 2020-21 season. Cedar Rapids was forced to sit out when their home rink, the ImOn Ice Arena, was damaged by a derecho storm on August 10th. Madison's decision was based on it not being financially feasible for the team to play with the restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic involving practice, playing games, and hosting fans at their home arena with restrictions put in place by the state of Wisconsin.[2]

Teams[]

Eastern Conference
Team Founded Arena City
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 1983 ImOn Ice Arena Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Chicago Steel 1996 Fox Valley Ice Arena Geneva, Illinois
Dubuque Fighting Saints 2010 Mystique Ice Center Dubuque, Iowa
Green Bay Gamblers 1994 Resch Center Green Bay, Wisconsin
Madison Captols 2014 Bob Suter's Capitol Ice Arena Middleton, Wisconsin
Muskegon Lumberjacks 2010 L. C. Walker Arena Muskegon, Michigan
US NTDP 1996 USA Hockey Arena Plymouth, Michigan
Youngstown Phantoms 2003 Covelli Centre Youngstown, Ohio
Western Conference
Team Founded Arena City
Des Moines Buccaneers 1980 Buccaneer Arena Urbandale, Iowa
Fargo Force 2008 Scheels Arena Fargo, North Dakota
Lincoln Stars 1996 Ice Box Lincoln, Nebraska
Omaha Lancers 1986 Ralston Arena Ralston, Nebraska
Sioux City Musketeers 1972 Fleet Farm Arena Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux Falls Stampede 1999 Denny Sanford PREMIER Center Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Tri-City Storm 2000 Viaero Event Center Kearney, Nebraska
Waterloo Black Hawks 1962 Young Arena Waterloo, Iowa
Dormant Teams
Team Founded Arena City
Central Illinois Flying Aces 2014 Grossinger Motors Arena Bloomington, Illinois
Indiana Ice 2004 Lyceum Pavilion Indianapolis, Indiana

Standings[]

Eastern Conference[]

Team GP W L OL SL GF GA Pts %
Chicago Steel 54 38 11 3 2 265 185 81 .750
Muskegon Lumberjacks 54 34 16 2 2 241 209 72 .667
Green Bay Gamblers 51 30 17 2 2 190 182 64 .627
Dubuque Fighting Saints 52 24 23 4 1 199 212 53 .510
US NTDP 54 22 24 4 4 226 245 52 .481
Youngstown Phantoms 49 12 30 5 2 145 218 31 .316

Western Conference[]

Team GP W L OL SL GF GA Pts %
Tri-City Storm 52 30 18 3 1 178 137 64 .615
Omaha Lancers 53 30 20 2 1 169 156 63 .594
Sioux City Musketeers 53 31 21 1 0 160 125 63 .594
Fargo Force 54 31 21 3 0 169 148 65 .583
Des Moines Buccaneers 51 26 21 4 0 158 152 56 .549
Lincoln Stars 54 22 28 3 1 160 204 48 .444
Waterloo Black Hawks 53 22 30 1 0 165 202 45 .425
Sioux Falls Stampede 55 18 32 3 1 163 213 40 .370

Clark Cup Playoffs[]

Original Format[]

The playoff format had been modified in 2020 to have the top six teams in each conference qualifying for the playoffs with the top two seeds in each conference earning a bye to the conference semifinals. The conference quarterfinals will be best of three hosted by the #3 and #4 seeds. The conference semifinals will match the #1 seed against the winner of the 4-5 series and the #2 seed against the winner of the 3-6 series in a best-of-three series. The division final and league final will be best of five with home ice advantage going to the higher seed.

Revised Format[]

Due to the pandemic and fewer teams the First Round from the regular format was removed for 2021. The Division semifinal round is reduced a best-of-three series with all games played at the higher seed. The division final and league final will be best of five with home ice advantage going to the higher seed.

Eastern Conference Semifinals[]

Western Conference Semifinals[]

Eastern Conference Final[]

Western Conference Final[]

Clark Cup Final[]

Bracket[]

Division Semifinals
(Best-of-Three)
Division Finals
(Best-of-Three)
Clark Cup Finals
(Best-of-Five)
         
E1 Chicago Steel 2
E4 Dubuque Fighting Saints 0
E1 Chicago Steel 2
E2 Muskegon Lumberjacks 0
E2 Muskegon Lumberjacks 2
E3 Green Bay Gamblers 0
W4 Aberdeen Wings 0
E1 Chicago Steel 3
W1 Tri-City Storm 1
W4 Fargo Force 2
W4 Fargo Force 2
W3 Sioux City Musketeers 0
W2 Omaha Lancers 0
W3 Sioux City Musketeers 2
Legend
  • E1, E2, E3, E4 – The teams from the Eastern Conference
  • W1, W2, W3, W4 – The teams from the Midwestern Conference

References[]

Advertisement