April 21, 2009
The remaining field of teams in the Clark Cup Playoffs has been cut in half and each division will now play a best-of-five series to determine their representative for the finals.
The top seed in the playoffs, Green Bay, advanced after sweeping the Waterloo Black Hawks in three games. The Gamblers will face the Indiana Ice who won a thrilling five-game series against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Indiana has the top two scorers during the playoffs in Brandon Richardson (4g, 6a) and Mike Cichy (3g, 6a) while Green Bay has the top playoff goaltender, Reid Ellingson, who has posted a 2-0 record, a 1.50 GAA, and a .948 SV%.
The Lincoln Stars knocked off the Sioux Falls Stampede three games to one and the Fargo Force advance to the semifinals after sweeping the defending champion Omaha Lancers. Andy Taranto has paced the Force scoring five goals in the playoffs, including two shorthanded goals. Lincoln's goaltending tandem of Anthony Borelli and Kevin Murdock have combined for a 1.98 GAA and a .935 SV%
East Division
#1 Green Bay Gamblers vs. #3 Indiana Ice
Green Bay Indiana
Record 39-17-4 39-19-2
Home 23-5-2 22-8-0
Road 16-12-2 17-11-2
Goals For Per Game 3.95 (2nd) 3.68 (3rd)
Goals Against Per Game 2.75 (3rd) 2.95 (5th)
Shots For Per Game 31.58 (4th) 31.05 (6th)
Shots Against Per Game 27.28 (2nd) 28.45 (4th)
Power Play % 17.4% (7th) 20.9% (3rd)
Penalty Killing % 81.8% (7th) 86.0% (3rd)
(league ranking in parentheses)
Season Series:
11/28/08 – Indiana 4 @ Green Bay 6
12/6/08 – Green Bay 1 @ Indiana 2
1/17/09 – Green Bay 8 @ Indiana 4
1/30/09 – Green Bay 6 @ Indiana 3
1/31/09 – Green Bay 3 @ Indiana 2
3/17/09 –Indiana 4@ Green Bay 8
3/27/09 – Indiana 4 @ Green Bay 0
Head-to-Head Stats:
Green Bay Indiana
Record 5-2-0 2-5-0
Home 2-1-0 1-3-0
Away 3-1-0 1-2-0
Goals For 32 23
Goals Against 23 32
Power Play 11-35 (31.4%) 8-29 (27.6%)
Penalty Kill 21-29 (72.4%) 24-35 (68.6%)
Head-to-Head Team Leaders:
Green Bay Indiana
Points Ryan Furne (6g, 3a) Torey Krug (2g, 5a)
C.J. Lee (5g, 4a) Mike Cichy (2g, 5a)
Stanislav Galiev (1g, 6a)
Goals Ryan Furne, 6 Zach Golembiewski, 4
Assists William Rapuzzi, 5 Stanislav Galiev, 6
Plus/Minus C.J. Lee, +5 John Parker, +2
PIM C.J. Lee, 25 Mikael Owilli, 25
Wins Reid Ellingson, 3 Brett Bennett, 2
GAA Steve Summerhays, 3.00 Brett Bennett, 4.01
SV% Steve Summerhays, .917 Brett Bennett, .861
Notes:
* Green Bay has been the highest scoring playoff team per game (5.33) while Indiana ranks second (4.80).
* Indiana has been the top power play team in the playoffs (38.1%) and Green Bay ranks second (28.6%).
* Green Bay has the fewest penalty minutes per game in the playoffs (11.33).
* Green Bay ranks second in playoff penalty killing (91.7%).
* Indiana leads the playoffs with three shorthanded goals and Green Bay is the only club to not have allowed a shorthanded goal in the playoffs.
* Both teams led the league with 39 wins during the regular season.
* Indiana's Stanislav Galiev led the league with seven game-winning goals and Green Bay's William Rapuzzi tied for second with six game-winners.
* Green Bay tied for the league lead with 23 home wins while Indiana finished third with 22.
* Indiana was the top road power play team during the regular season (21.7%).
* Green Bay was the second highest scoring thrid period team this season (81 goals) while Indiana was third (74 goals).
West Division
#1 Lincoln Stars vs. #3 Fargo Force
Lincoln Fargo
Record 37-17-6 32-23-5
Home 21-6-3 19-10-1
Road 16-11-3 13-13-4
Goals For Per Game 3.18 (8th) 3.18 (8th)
Goals Against Per Game 2.58 (2nd) 2.77 (4th)
Shots For Per Game 34.25 (2nd) 30.05 (9th)
Shots Against Per Game 28.55 (5th) 29.67 (6th)
Power Play % 17.6% (7th) 14.8% (10th)
Penalty Killing % 89.5% (1st) 85.9% (4th)
(league ranking in parentheses)
Season Series:
10/17/08 – Fargo 2 @ Lincoln 3
11/1/08 – Fargo 1 @ Lincoln 4
11/22/08 – Lincoln 4 @ Fargo 1
1/10/09 – Fargo 3 @ Lincoln 4
2/8/09 – Lincoln 3 @ Fargo 4
3/21/09 – Fargo 1 @ Lincoln 5
4/4/09 – Lincoln 4 @ Fargo 3
Head-to-Head Stats:
Lincoln Fargo
Record 6-1-0 1-6-0
Home 4-0-0 1-2-0
Away 2-1-0 0-4-0
Goals For 27 15
Goals Against 15 27
Power Play 8-41 (19.5%) 1-37 (2.7%)
Penalty Kill 36-37 (97.3%) 33-41 (80.5%)
Head-to-Head Team Leaders:
Lincoln Fargo
Points Kirt Hill (5g, 6a) Andy Taranto, (4g, 5a)
Goals Kirt Hill, 5 Andy Taranto, 4
Assists Kirt Hill, 6 Andy Taranto, 5
Matt Leitner, 5
Plus/Minus Michael Sdao, +5 Andy Taranto, +4
PIM Jimmy Siers, 26 Steve Spinell, 32
Wins Kevin Murdock, 3 Mike Lee, 1
Anthony Borelli, 3
GAA Kevin Murdock, 1.33 Mike Lee, 3.54
SV% Kevin Murdock, .953 Mike Lee, .916
Notes:
* Lincoln has allowed the second fewest goals per game in the playoffs (2.25) and Fargo has allowed the third fewest (2.33).
* Lincoln ranks first in shots per game in the playoffs (37.75) and Fargo ranks second to last in shots allowed (35.67)
* Fargo has won all three of their playoff games despite being out-shot in each.
* Lincoln defenseman Mike Dalhuisen (+8) is the playoff leader in plus/minus rating.
* Andy Taranto has scored the first goal of the game for Fargo in all three playoff contests. Two were on the power play and one was shorthanded.
* Fargo led the league with 17 shorthanded goals during the regular season and forward Andy Taranto is tops in the playoffs with two shorthanded goals.
* Fargo goaltender Mike Lee ranked second in the league with 26 wins during the regular season.
* Lincoln goaltender Kevin Murdock led the league in both GAA (2.24) and SV% (.920).
* Lincoln led the league in penalty minutes (1675) during the regular season.
* Lincoln (89.2%) and Fargo (86.8%) were the top penalty killing teams on home ice this season.
The USHL is celebrating its 30th season of junior hockey in 2008-09. With over 160 players already committed to NCAA Division I schools and 16 NHL Draft picks playing in the league, the USHL is the nation's foremost producer of junior hockey talent. For more information, visit us on the web at www.ushl.com.
