Chicago Steel

Chicago Steel
City:	Geneva, Illinois
League:	USHL
Division:	East
Founded:	1996
Home Arena:	Fox Valley Ice Arena
Colors:	Black, Red, Gray
Owner(s):	Larry Robbins Bruce Liimatainen & Mike Greenberg (minor)
General Manager:	Ryan Bennett (2015-16)
Head Coach:	Vacant
Franchise history
1996–2000:	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks
2000–present:	Chicago Steel

The Chicago Steel is a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team formed in 2000. It plays all of its home games at the Fox Valley Ice Arena, located in the Geneva, Illinois. The Steel play in the Eastern Division of the United States Hockey League. The GM and Head Coach of the Steel is former NHL'er Steve Poapst.

History

The Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks moved to Chicago, Illinois and became the Steel in 2000. For the most part, the team hovered around the .500 mark, until 2003-04. Under the direction of rookie Head Coach Wil Nichol, the Steel won their first-ever East Division title, besting the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders by one point.

The feat was remarkable considering the Steel didn’t have a scorer or a goaltender ranked among the league leaders. Danny Charleston led the team in scoring and Curt Hammer award winner Topher Scott also provided clutch goals. Shane Connolly and Adam D’Alba split the goaltending duties and Nichol claimed league coach of the year honors.

The division title didn’t bring post-season success, however, as the Steel fell to eventual Clark Cup champion Waterloo Black Hawks in a tight, five-game, first-round series.

In May 2015, the majority ownership of the Chicago Steel was purchased by Larry Robbins while current owners Bruce Liimatainen and Mike Greenberg remained involved but as minority owners. The announcement for change of owners was accompanied by the announcement for a change of leadership on ice as Ryan Bennett and Dan Muse were hired as the new General Manager and Coach respectively. On July 27, 2015 the team announced they were relocating to the Fox Valley Ice Arena in nearby Geneva, Illinois. The previous management had a strained relationship with the Edge Ice Arena and the city of Bensenville.

On May 22, 2017, the Steel defeated the Sioux City Musketeers 2–1 in overtime of game five, finishing a 3-games-to-2 series win to claim the franchise's first Clark Cup. Head coach Dan Muse would then be hired by the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators as an assistant coach and Mark Abalan would take over as head coach of the Steel.

On January 2, 2018, Abalan was let go and Ryan Cruthers was named the interim head coach and assistant general manager of the Steel. During the 2018 Clark Cup playoffs, the interim tag was removed and Cruthers was named the permanent head coach; however, Cruthers would leave the team in May 2018 when the Steel hired Ryan Hardy as general manager.

Greg Moore was then hired as the head coach for the 2018–19 season after previously serving as an assistant with Team USA. In 2019, he left to become head coach of the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League and Brock Sheahan was promoted to head coach.

The Steel then won the regular season championship, the Anderson Cup, in the pandemic-shortened 2019–20 season. They won a second-straight Anderson Cup in the shortened 2020–21 season and subsequently won their second Clark Cup as playoff champions.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OL = Overtime Losses, SL = Shoot out Losses GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points

Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks
Season	GP	W	L	T	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts	Finish	Playoffs
1996-97	54	24	28	-	2	0	160	154	50	5th of 6 North	Lost Quarterfinals 2-4 (Green Bay Gamblers)
1997-98	56	30	19	-	0	7	207	208	59	2nd of 6 North	Lost Quarterfinals 0-4 (Omaha Lancers)
1998-99	56	14	41	-	1	0	164	275	29	4th of 4 West	Did not qualify
1999-00	58	18	34	-	0	6	181	228	42	7th of 7 West	Did not qualify
Chicago Steel
Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts	Finish	Playoffs
2000-01	56	21	30	-	5	0	182	232	47	4th of 6 East	Did not qualify
2001-02	61	29	24	-	8	0	191	209	66	4th of 6 East	Lost Quaterfinals 1-3 (Omaha Lancers)
2002-03	60	26	28	-	5	1	178	204	58	4th of 5 East	Did not qualify
2003-04	60	34	22	-	1	3	190	165	72	1st of 6 East	Lost Quarterfinals 2-3 (Waterloo Black Hawks)
2004-05	60	26	29	-	3	2	165	187	57	3rd of 6 East	Won Quarterfinals 3-2 (Waterloo Black Hawks) Lost Semifinals 0-3 (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders)
2005-06	60	18	36	-	3	3	163	243	42	6th of 6 East	Did not qualify
2006-07	60	12	46	-	1	1	150	253	26	6th of 6 East	Lost Quarterfinals 1-4 (Waterloo Black Hawks)
2007-08	60	32	22	-	1	5	218	199	70	4th of 6 East	Won Quarterfinals 3-1 (Indiana Ice) Lost Semifinals 0-3 (Waterloo Black Hawks)
2008-09	60	31	27	-	2	0	194	213	64	5th of 6 East	Did not qualify
2009-10	60	24	30	-	4	2	178	212	54	5th of 6 East	Did not qualify
2010-11	60	9	43	-	4	4	103	248	26	8th of 8 Eastern	Did not qualify
2011-12	60	25	31	-	2	2	177	210	54	7th of 8 Eastern	Did not qualify
2012-13	64	29	31	-	2	2	179	212	62	5th of 8 Eastern	Did not qualify
2013-14	60	29	27	-	3	1	179	195	62	6th of 7 Eastern	Did not qualify
2014-15	60	30	27	-	3	0	199	209	63	6th of 8 Eastern	Did not qualify
2015-16	60	27	26	-	4	3	168	168	61	6th of 9 Eastern	Did not qualify
2016-17	60	38	17	-	2	3	196	144	81	1st of 9 Eastern	Won Quarterfinals 3-2 (Youngstown Phantoms) Won  Semifinals 3-1 (Dubuque Fighting Saints) Won Final 3-2 (Sioux City Musketeers Clark Cup Champions
2017-18	60	28	25	-	2	5	219	218	63	6th of 9 Eastern	Won First Round 2-1 (Muskegon Lumberjacks) Lost Conf Semifinals 1-3 (NTDP)
2018-19	62	37	21	-	4	0	243	207	78	2nd of 9 Eastern	Won Conf. Semifinals 3-1 (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) W, Conf. Final 3-1 (Muskegon Lumberjacks) Lost Final 0-3 (Sioux Falls Stampede)
2019-20	49	41	7	-	1	0	242	136	83	1st of 8  Eastern Anderson Cup Champions	Playoffs cancelled along with balance of regular season due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020-21	54	38	11	-	3	2	265	185	.750	1st of 6 Eastern Anderson Cup Champions	Won Conf. Semifinals 2-0 (Dubuque Fighting Saints) Won Conf. Final 2-0 (Muskegon Lumberjacks) Won Final 3-1 Fargo Force Clark Cup Champions
2021-22	62	39	13	-	9	1	254	196	88	1st Eastern	Lost Conf. Semifinals 1-3 (Madison Capitals
2022-23	62	39	18	-	4	1	275	227	83	1st Eastern	Lost Conf. Final
2023-24	62	27	28	-	3	4	209	256	61	6th Eastern	Lost Conf. Quarterfinals 1-2 (Green Bay Gamblers)

Notable alumni

• Matt Clackson, currently in the Washington Capitals organization, son of Kim Clackson
• Tom Gilbert, defenseman for the Florida Panthers
• Joe Loprieno, San Jose Sharks prospect
• John Moore, defenseman for the New York Rangers, and 2011 AHL All-Star
• Travis Morin, Dallas Stars prospect
• Danny Richmond, member of 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, defenseman for the Lahti Pelicans of the SM-liiga in Finland
• Lee Sweatt, retired
• Dean Chelios and Jake Chelios, currently playing for the Michigan State Spartans, sons of Chris Chelios
• Philip Samuelsson, Defenseman for the Boston College Eagles, prospect for the Pittsburgh Penguins, son of Ulf Samuelsson
• Drew LeBlanc, Forward for the 2012-2013 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks

Team Spirit

The team mascot is Rusty the Pooch.

External links

• Chicago Steel Hockey Team Official site