The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20080913085349/http://www.ushl.com:80/about/history.cfm
USHL.COM - The United States Hockey League

USHL History

USHL History

The pedigree of today's United States Hockey League can be traced back to the early 1970s and what was then known as the Midwest Junior Hockey League. The MJHL featured teams in Chicago, Fargo-Moorhead, Minneapolis, St. Cloud, St. Paul and Thunder Bay when it opened for business in 1973.

In its original form, the league's existence was brief but successful. The 1976-77 season was to be the MJHL's last, concluding a four-season span that produced 20 NHL draft selections.

Two of the MJHL's early stars were Minnesota natives Gary Sargent and Jim Warner, both of whom used the league as a springboard to stints in the NHL.

Sargent came to the league's Fargo-Moorhead franchise after a MVP season at Bemidji State University. In just 47 games, the Sugar Kings' new star racked up 83 points (37G, 46A).

"He was a very dominant player and definitely that team's best player," said Warner, a member of the Minnesota Junior Stars.

In January 1974, Sargent and Warner found themselves playing alongside each other in the red, white and blue at the inaugural World Junior Championship in the Soviet Union, an event which was, at the time, still not yet sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The American entry, comprised entirely of MJHL players and coached by Junior Stars bench boss Andre Beaulieu, finished fifth at the six-team event with a victory over Czechoslovakia.

"We were near the arctic circle, in Leningrad, so there was hardly any daylight and here I was, a 19-year-old kid behind the Iron Curtain," said Warner. "It was a tremendous experience."

He may have been intimidated off the ice, but on it Warner played with poise, scoring three goals and adding an assist in five games. He increased his scoring pace upon returning stateside, finishing a brilliant 1973-74 MJHL campaign with 105 points (55G, 50A) in 56 games.

"We had a very good team, we were well conditioned and I had a lot of help from a lot of good guys," said Warner.

In retrospect, the inaugural season of MJHL play, 1973-74, was the league's best. In addition to Sargent, who registered over 200 points in the NHL with Philadelphia and Minnesota, and Warner, the league also boasted future NHL standout Paul Holmgren as a St. Paul Vulcan, future NHL pugilist and Slap Shot movie star Dave Hanson, also as a Vulcan, and nine NHL draft selections.

"That year, the league was very highly talented," said Warner. "Several good players just happened to be there in 1973-74."

The experience was instrumental in the development of many a hockey career.

"Without the league, I wouldn't have had the opportunity in hockey that I had," said Warner, who eventually skated with the NHL's Hartford Whalers. "Junior hockey really allowed me to move up. I played almost 300 games in those two years, when you include the summer hockey I played, and it was just a very exciting time."

Despite its rapid success, the league's strength dwindled a bit both on the ice and off, leading to the circuit's closure following the 1976-77 season.

Without a league, three MJHL teams pondered the future in the summer of 1977. Eventually the clubs contacted the minor-pro United States Hockey League, a circuit that had fallen on hard times after a successful run that began in the 1940s. A unique merger was formed, with the three junior teams (Bloomington Junior Stars, Austin Mavericks, St. Paul Vulcans) and three remaining pro teams (Sioux City Musketeers, Waterloo Black Hawks, Green Bay Bobcats) gathered under the USHL banner. League governors decided on a two-division format, with the junior-aged teams in the Midwest Division and the professionals in the U.S. Division. The teams played an interlocking schedule that was, predictably, dominated by the professionals. But the arrangement still proved beneficial for the juniors, as several parlayed the experience into NCAA Division I scholarship offers and, later, professional hockey careers.

Bloomington Junior Stars all-purpose man Mike Seide was among those who credited the old USHL for launching his hockey career. A Minneapolis native, Seide had watched his older brother Steve compete in the MJHL and decided like him to follow the junior hockey route after a successful high school career.

"Leaving high school, I only had some Division II offers and a couple of Division III offers," said Seide. "So I decided to play junior hockey. I bulked up from 178 pounds to 205, did well and got recruited by Northern Michigan University. It was a fun year."

Playing both defense and forward, Seide posted 16 points (4G, 12A) in 46 USHL games during the 1977-78 season. At the conclusion of the campaign, the Minnesota North Stars selected him in Round 10 of the NHL Amateur Draft.

Skating regularly against professional players in their mid-20s proved to be an exciting test for Seide.

"It was intimidating for the first few games," he said. "They thought they were tough until you called their bluff. But we figured that we were just as motivated as they were, if not more so."

Seide protected himself and his teammates, finishing the year as Bloomington's leader in penalty minutes. He eventually climbed into the professional ranks, his best season coming in 1981-82 with the Toledo Goaldiggers of the International Hockey League. That season, he scored 21 goals and racked up 214 penalty minutes en route to the IHL championship.

One of Seide's rivals in the old USHL was Sioux City forward Bob Ferguson who finished the 1977-78 season as the USHL's fifth-leading scorer with 87 points (37G, 50A). Now the USHL's all-time winningest head coach, Ferguson remembers the days of playing against eager junior-aged skaters on the rise.

"It was probably not fair to those younger kids," said Ferguson. "Because we got more prepared for those teams. You didn't want to lose to them."

Several junior players in addition to Seide made names for themselves in the old USHL including the St. Paul Vulcans trio of Jim Olson, Jim Mroszak and Kevin Hartzell, now the Sioux Falls Stampede's head coach. All three went on to solid college careers, as did other old-time USHL juniors like Austin's Bob Mancini and Bloomington's Tom Rudrud, now a USHL assistant coach in Tri-City.

The USHL's split existence would last just two seasons. The minor-pro wing of the league folded following the 1978-79 season, providing junior hockey operators with the opportunity to redefine the circuit. The 1979-80 season was the league's first as an entirely junior arrangement, signaling the dawn of what has become America's top junior hockey league.

1979-80 to 1984-85

Opening as a seven-team circuit, the USHL's first season as an entirely junior-aged league featured three teams in the Minnesota

hockey hotbed of Minneapolis-St. Paul and a fourth just over an hour away in Austin, Minn. To say the least, the USHL was a cozy contingent.

The Hennepin Nordiques claimed the league's first Anderson Cup championship, outdistancing the second-place Bloomington Junior Stars by a slim two-point margin. Dan Austin's Nordiques surged through the playoffs as well, hoisting the Clark Cup, remarkably, without the benefit of a top-five scoring threat.

The second season greeted expansion as Des Moines entered the league. Also emerging were the Dubuque Fighting Saints who, under the tutelage of current NHL scout Jack Barzee, became the USHL's first powerhouse. The Saints registered a 38-9-1 record that season on their way to sweeping the Anderson Cup, the Clark Cup and the Gold Cup.

Three players about to embark on lengthy NHL careers developed in the USHL that season, as Rick Zombo, Jim Johnson and Phil Housley patrolled the blue lines in Austin and St. Paul, respectively. Zombo, who racked up 36 points in 43 games with the Mavericks in 1980-81, returned to the USHL in 2003-04 as head coach of the now-defunct St. Louis Heartland Eagles.

Dubuque entered 1981-82 as the team to beat, featuring a young star named Gary Suter. Alas, it was the Sioux City Musketeers who rose to the top under the direction of Ferguson.

"That was my first year in coaching," said Ferguson. "The transition to junior hockey had been a bit of a struggle for the franchise, so the timing was perfect. Beating Des Moines in the Finals that year probably kept hockey alive in Sioux City."

But Dubuque, and Suter, would be heard from again one year later. The Fighting Saints cruised to the Anderson Cup, Clark Cup and Gold Cup titles in 1982-83 with a 39-8-1 record and 39 points from Suter who would go on to star at the University of Wisconsin before claiming the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year in 1986.

1985-86 to 1986-87

Prolific offensive production marked this unforgettable two-year span. Two of the league's most coveted offensive records were established in back-to-back seasons as Tim Ferguson and Rod Taylor notched all-time highs in points scored and goals scored, respectively, with 135 and 67. Ferguson's record-setting season propelled Sioux City to its second Clark Cup title in five years.

Also shining bright was Rochester's Darryl Noren who racked up an astounding 79 points in just 38 games as a Mustang in 1986-87. The Michigan native parlayed his brilliant USHL tenure into a 10-year stint in the East Coast Hockey League.

Another significant career launch occurred in Madison, Wis., one year earlier where Illinois native Don Granato racked up 69 points in 48 games with the Capitols. His playing career, while impressive, has been overshadowed a bit by a coaching career that has been superlative-filled. In over a decade behind benches in the USHL, ECHL and AHL, Granato has finished with a sub-.500 record only once.

1987-88 to 1994-95

A golden age in USHL history dominated by maple leaf-clad Canadians opened in 1987-88 when a Thunder Bay team that had been in the league since 1984 without much success blossomed into one of the most intimidating and cohesive forces the league has ever seen, posting a 40-7-1 record. The following season, led by future NHL standout Greg Johnson, the Flyers towered above the junior hockey ranks and steamrolled to a 40-6-2 mark. The team claimed the Anderson Cup and the Clark Cup, and then returned to Canada to claim that country's Junior A title, the Centennial Cup. In all, Thunder Bay registered a 60-10-2 record. Even more significant, Johnson capped a 96-point USHL campaign by claiming Canadian Junior Player of the Year honors, a feat unprecedented for a player skating in an American junior hockey system.

Another force that dominated the era was the brother tandem of Peter and Chris Ferraro that proved to be the standard by which all others were measured in the early-1990s.

Beginning in Dubuque in 1990-91, Chris Ferraro posted a league-leading 97 points. His brother joined him the next season in the top-ten and together they terrorized opposing goaltenders with a 2.5 points-per-game average. Finishing the season in Waterloo, the Ferraro brothers ended the campaign as the league's No. 1 (Peter) and No. 2 (Chris) scorers.

Also of note during this six-year span were the exploits of winger Landon Wilson. His one season in the USHL (1992-93) was among the most fearsome in league history. During the campaign, the former first-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs racked up 65 points in 43 games all while spending 284 minutes in the penalty box. He went on to enjoy nearly 350 NHL games as a member of the Colorado Avalanche, the Boston Bruins, the Phoenix Coyotes and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Another impact performance came from current Toronto Maple Leaf Jason Blake, who lit a fire under the Waterloo Black Hawks faithful with an electrifying 100-point campaign in 1993-94. Even more impressive, Blake's 100-point outburst came in the days of a 48-game USHL schedule. Among Blake's 100 points were 50 goals, a mark that he and Dubuque forward Mark Mowers both reached in 1993-94, and one that hasn't been threatened since.

In 1994-95 the league expanded for the first time since the Omaha Lancers came aboard in 1986, as the Green Bay Gamblers, soon to be a league powerhouse, joined to bring the total number of teams to 11.

1995-96 to 2001-02

A new era dawned in 1995. It was then that John "Gino" Gasparini, the legendary former University of North Dakota head coach and athletic director, was named the USHL's commissioner. The winner of three national titles as a coach, Gasparini – and his dynamic leadership – was a perfect fit for the burgeoning USHL and so began the most successful time in league history.

With the game becoming more prominent in the United States, the league also continued its growth by adding expansion teams and relocating existing teams into many new markets. New USHL teams sprouted in Fargo-Moorhead (1995-96), Lincoln (1996-97), Sioux Falls (1999-00) and Topeka (2001-02). Additionally, erstwhile USHL teams found new homes. The North Iowa Huskies moved to Cedar Rapids (1999-00), Fargo-Moorhead moved to Chicago (2000-01) and the Twin Cities Vulcans moved to Kearney, Neb. to become the Tri-City Storm, also in 2000-01. In 2001-02, the Dubuque Fighting Saints relocated to Tulsa, Okla. and became the Tulsa Crude.

Also making an appearance in the league was the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, who resided in the league's East Division for two seasons, from 1998-2000.

New venues became another significant trademark of the USHL beginning in the mid-1990s, as the league took fan and player experience to an unprecedented level in American junior hockey. Waterloo left venerable McElroy Auditorium for the modern confines of Young Arena in 1995. Omaha left behind one of the greatest home-ice advantages in junior hockey when they left Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum for the Mid America Center in 2002. Later, Green Bay and Sioux City would also move into new, modern facilities with all the amenities enjoyed by professional teams.

On the ice, the USHL continued to develop talent at an ever-increasing rate. Players such as Tyler Arnason, Keith Ballard, Ty Conklin, Karl Goehring, Ryan Malone and Jed Ortmeyer became USHL standouts and, later, embarked on successful college and professional careers.

In an era when defensive hockey was the norm, offense made a resurgence with the arrival of Brandon Bochenski and Thomas Vanek to the USHL landscape. Bochenski notched 47 goals in 55 games for the Lincoln Stars in 2000-01 before joining the college ranks at the University of North Dakota. Currently with the Boston Bruins, Bochenski's 47 goals are the most by a USHL player since 1993-94.

Vanek played three seasons in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede, leading the league in scoring with 91 points in 2001-02. He parlayed his USHL success into a college scholarship at the University of Minnesota and the No. 5 overall selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. A member of the Buffalo Sabres, Vanek led the NHL in plus/minus rating in 2006-07 and was named a Second Team All-NHL selection. In the off-season, Vanek signed a seven-year contract worth $50 million, the largest NHL contract ever signed by a former USHL player.

But the more recent seasons of USHL action haven't been the exclusive property of scoring threats. Some brilliant goaltenders have also helped define the times, most notably Dan Ellis, Dominic Vicari and Bobby Goepfert. Omaha's Ellis, in fact, was the fans' selection to the USHL's 25th Anniversary Team. His brilliant 1999-00 season was legendary as the Ontario native posted a league-record 11 shutouts. Two seasons later, Vicari, also a Lancer, and Goepfert, a member of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, dueled for the league's goaltending crown. In the end, it was Goepfert who was named Goaltender of the Year after posting an astounding .936 saves percentage in 51 games between the pipes. Vicari wasn't far behind with a .926 mark of his own.

All three goaltenders have gone on to college hockey success, with Ellis also achieving brilliance at the professional level. His 2003-04 season included not only his first NHL goaltending victory with the Dallas Stars, but also an ECHL championship and Most Valuable Player honors.

Former Sioux City Musketeers forward Ruslan Fedotenko also claimed a chunk of USHL fame in the 1990s, finishing second in the league scoring race with 77 points in 1998-99. With offers on the table from Providence College and Lake Superior State University, the Ukraine-born Fedotenko weighed his options and, in the end, the professional game's allure proved too strong. Two years later, he was skating in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers. He won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 and signed a free agent contract with the New York Islanders in 2007.

"It helped me a lot," Fedotenko said of the USHL. "It's a really good league. And quick. I think it's a good step for me. I had a great time there."

The next time Lord Stanley's mug was hoisted – in 2005-06 – another former USHL star was beneath the glimmering chalice: former Des Moines forward Erik Cole. The New York native's triumphant return from a fractured neck proved to be one of the key storylines in Carolina's quest for the Cup, as the Hurricanes toppled Edmonton in seven games. Prior to embarking on a professional career, Cole shined as a Buccaneer in 1996-97 with 64 points (30G, 34A) in 48 games.

2002-03 to Today

Great players, college scholarships and NHL draft picks are the theme of today's USHL. Since gaining classification as America's only Tier I league in 2002, the USHL has seen a spike in the number of players committing to NCAA Division I universities, the number of players being chosen in the NHL Entry Draft and the number of players ultimately climbing to the NHL.

The NHL Entry Draft in particular has been a barometer of the USHL's evolution as the primary American-based source of top-end talent. In the last five years, nearly 140 players with ties to the USHL have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, a number which includes 11 first-round selections. In 2003, Vanek's No. 5 overall selection marked the highest that a former USHL player was ever chosen in the draft. In 2005, a record 26 USHL players were selected by NHL clubs - including a record-tying three taken in the first round - far outdistancing any other American development program. It also marked the first time that a United States-based junior league produced more NHL draft picks than a Canadian major junior league, as the USHL's total of 26 outpaced the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's 23.

In 2006, 20 current and former USHL stars were selected by NHLteams, led by a pair of Des Moines Buccaneers. Kyle Okposo was taken No. 7 overall by the New York Islanders, while his linemate, Trevor Lewis, was chosen ten picks later at No. 17 by the Los Angeles Kings. Later in the summer, Lewis would sign a contract with the Kings, becoming the first player in history to sign a NHL contract directly from the USHL.

The 2007 NHL Draft saw 42 players with ties to the USHL chosen. Leading the way was former Sioux City standout Sam Gagner, who was taken at No. 6 by the Edmonton Oilers. Later in the first round, Sioux City's Max Pacioretty (No. 22 to Montreal), Tri-City's Patrick White (No. 25 to Vancouver) and Omaha's Nick Petrecki (No. 28 to San Jose) were also selected, making it the first draft during which four USHL alumni were taken in Round 1. By comparison, the Ontario Hockey League had just three players chosen in the round.

Including the draft, the 2006-07 season could arguably be called the league's finest thus far as an all-junior circuit. The league added a 12th team, the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets, who played in the same facility as the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets. A total of 174 players made their commitment to NCAA Division I universities, far and away a record high for the league. Twenty-five players signed NHL contracts, with nearly half of those players being undrafted free agents. The USHL also experienced a proliferation of players making it to the pinnacle, as 62 players made appearances in NHL games.

Young stars such as Vanek, Matt Carle, Joe Pavelski and Paul Stastny represent the next generation of USHL players who are making their mark on hockey's grandest stage.

Stastny, a former Lancer, was the NHL's second-highest scoring rookie in 2006-07, set a rookie record for consecutive games with at least one point, going 20 straight and eclipsing the record previously held by his hall-of-fame father, Peter, and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, which goes to the NHL's Rookie of the Year.

Pavelski also took the NHL by storm, following brilliant runs in the USHL and NCAA ranks that produced national titles. A two-time USHL all-star, Pavelski finished the 2006-07 campaign among the NHL's top-ten in points-per-game by a rookie. In the junior ranks, he twice led the Waterloo Black Hawks in scoring and capped his two-year run by hoisting the Clark Cup. He was named the USHL Rookie of the Year in 2002-03, was a member of the USHL All-Rookie Team, and was named First-Team All-USHL that same year. His 69-point (36G, 33A) rookie campaign helped the Black Hawks win their first-ever East Division title, besting second-place Cedar Rapids by 20 points. Although he has enjoyed success at all levels in his career, Pavelski is quick to point out that much of his current good fortune is due to his time in the USHL.

"Even though I had some success earlier, Waterloo was really the starting point in my career," said Pavelski. "I really matured in my two years there and a lot of that is thanks to P.K. (O'Handley). In my first year I learned so much from him, how to go out and succeed every night and having the numbers I did helped get me out there in different situations. My second year I think I grew a lot more as a person than as a player. I lived with P.K. that year and I just learned so much from him, from the stories he would tell and the advice he'd give. I had a great time in Waterloo and in the USHL."

Pavelski was named the USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year in 2003-04 after leading the Black Hawks to the Tier I National Championship.

Among the USHL's other vital statistics of the 2000s would be a number of on-campus superlatives. Since 2002, graduates of America's Tier I League have claimed five of the last seven NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player Awards (Grant Potulny, Vanek, Adam Berkhoel, Peter Mannino and Justin Abdelkader) and three of the last five Hobey Baker Memorial Awards (Peter Sejna, Marty Sertich and Matt Carle).

Following Pavelski to USA Hockey's top individual honor for a junior player, Jeff Lerg etched his name into USHL annals as another of the great goaltenders that called Omaha home. Lerg dominated the USHL in 2004-05, posting a 36-11-4 record, with a 2.16 goals-against average, a .916 saves percentage and six shutouts. The 36 wins set a USHL single-season victories record. In 2006-07, Lerg helped guide Michigan State University to the NCAA National Championship. He was also named the USA Hockey College Player of the Year, becoming the first player to ever be named both the top player in both junior and college by USA Hockey.

"The League has come a long way since the 1970s, but our goal hasn't changed," said USHL President Gino Gasparini. "We've always been committed to providing the very best development venue possible for our athletes so they, in turn, have every opportunity to excel at the next level. Their accomplishments make us proud, but they also fuel our efforts to continue improving season after season."