Week 23 got off to an early start as Youngstown and Waterloo collided Thursday morning in a School Day Game. There’s still a busy weekend on the horizon too with eight games on Friday and Saturday and another four on Sunday.
To view the complete Week 23 schedule, click here, and to view the current USHL standings, click here.
Before the puck drops, USHL writer Jordan McAlpine gets you caught up on what you might’ve missed.
Botterill’s hatty leads Youngstown to Thursday morning win
The 10 a.m. puck drop didn’t phase anybody in Youngstown’s locker room as the Phantoms lit the lamp 10 times Thursday in a 10-4 win over Waterloo.
With the Covelli Centre with energetic kids, Ryan Botterill recorded his first career hat trick and the Phantoms scored eight goals over the final 38 minutes, cruising to the lopsided win.
Thursday’s trio gives Botterill 20 goals on the season and he was one of seven Youngstown skaters to record multiple points. Aiden Wright made 22 saves between the pipes, earning his seventh USHL win of the season.
Youngstown has now earned points in five straight (4-0-0-1) games and climbed back to third in the Eastern Conference with 59 points — one behind Green Bay and one ahead of Muskegon.
The Phantoms are also 8-1-0-1 over their last 10 home games, where they’ll play twice this weekend.
Hendrickson set to debut, St. Louis activated
The Fighting Saints swung a trade prior to the USHL trade deadline on Monday, acquiring forward Beckett Hendrickson from Sioux Falls. The Boston Bruins draft pick (2023, fourth round) and Minnesota commit had 18-25-43 over 43 games this season after spending the last two at the NTDP.
Hendrickson ranked third on the Sioux Falls roster in both goals and points, and now he joins a Dubuque lineup that has scored the league’s second-most goals (205) and features three of the league’s top-12 point producers.
He’ll make his Dubuque debut on Friday as the Fighting Saints visit Youngstown for a pair of games.
“We’re very excited to add Beckett to our group,” Dubuque head coach Kirk MacDonald told The Rink Live. “He’s a 200-foot player that brings a ton of experience to our group as we prepare for the Clark Cup playoffs.”
On top of adding Hendrickson, the Fighting Saints could potentially get another big boost this weekend in defenseman Lucas St. Louis. The left-shot blue liner was activated off Dubuque’s IR on Monday and has been skating this week, although it’s yet to be determined if he’ll be in the lineup this weekend.St. Louis last played on Dec. 29 but in 28 games this season, the Harvard commit has nine goals and 22 points. He’s especially been a weapon on the power play, where St. Louis has scored eight of his goals and added seven assists.Dubuque (30-10-3-3) needs just seven points to clinch a playoff spot. The Fighting Saints currently lead the Eastern Conference with 66 points — six ahead of Green Bay.
Record confusion?
Throughout much of the season the USHL had been promoting a record chase, as Cedar Rapids head coach Mark Carlson was believed to be closing in on becoming the USHL’s all-time win leader.
Cedar Rapids won in Waterloo Saturday night, 4-2, which should’ve tied him with P.K. O’Handley for the most in USHL history (783).
However, it was discovered that Carlson’s all-time record (which was listed at 782-588-138 heading into Saturday’s contest) was incorrect and appears to include the playoffs — which do not count towards the USHL record book.
It’s believed Carlson’s current career regular-season record is 742-541-136, although the USHL hasn’t publicly released an official number. He was honored for earning his 750th career win last January.
Multiple sources have told The Rink Live that an apology email was sent out by the league to each USHL club last weekend. Waterloo was initially planning to honor Carlson after Saturday’s game had he tied O’Handley’s record too.
However, there’s now some uncertainty on O’Handley’s career win total, which Waterloo has listed at 778. Carlson needs 36 wins to tie O’Handley if those numbers are correct.
Cedar Rapids lost to Madison last Sunday in overtime and will host the NTDP U17 this weekend. The RoughRiders (18-22-5-2) are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference with 43 points — just two behind Chicago for the final playoff spot.
Ice Chips
- Chicago has tendered defenseman Callum Croskery out of Oakville, Ontario. Croskery is the sixth member of the 2024 USHL tender class and the ninth tender in Chicago’s franchise history.
- Green Bay forward Julian Lutz has recorded at least one point in 19 of his last 20 games and currently owns a 16-game point streak, which is the longest streak in the USHL this season. Trevor Connelly (Tri-City) and James Hong (Madison) previously held that title at 13 games each.
- Des Moines forward Braden Rourke has committed to Robert Morris. Rourke has two goals and seven points through 36 games this season for the Buccaneers and put up 14-9-23 over 52 games last season.
- Fargo goaltender Hampton Slukynsky leads the USHL with four shutouts and is 21-1-0 with a 1.88 GAA and .915 save percentage in his rookie season. Slukynsky has won six straight starts and the Force have won 10 straight as a team.
- Fargo defenseman Eddie Revenig has received a three-game suspension for inciting an opponent, which happened last Saturday at Sioux City. Revenig has skated in 37 games this season for the Force. The Bemidji State commit has three assists and is a minus-1 on the season.
- Omaha has dropped 15 straight games and 12 straight at home. The Lancers last win came at Youngstown on Jan. 5 and their last home win was on Nov. 25 against Lincoln. Omaha is in Chicago for a pair of games this weekend before returning home to host Green Bay on March 8-9.
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