2002–03 USHL season

2002-03 USHL season
2002-03 USHL season
League	United States Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September 2002 – April 29, 2003
Number of games	60
Number of teams	11
Regular season
Anderson Cup	Lincoln Stars
Season MVP	Ryan Potulny (Lincoln Stars)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Danny Irmen (Stars)
Finals champions	Lincoln Stars
Runners-up	River City Lancers
USHL seasons
	← 2001–02 2003–04 →

The 2002–03 USHL season is the 24th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season began on September 27, 2002, and concluded on March 30, 2003,^[1] with the regular season champion winning the Anderson Cup. The 2002–03 season was the first for the River City Lancers after relocating to Council Bluffs, Iowa, from Omaha, Nebraska, and the last for the Topeka ScareCrows, which relocated to Chesterfield, Missouri, after the season concluded.

The Clark Cup playoffs features the top eight team from the eleven-team league regardless of division competing for the league title.

Regular season

Final standings^[2]

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched league title

East Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
yWaterloo Black Hawks	60	38	17	5	81	221	171
xCedar Rapids RoughRiders	60	27	26	7	61	157	180
xDes Moines Buccaneers	60	27	27	6	60	200	223
Chicago Steel	60	26	28	6	59	178	204
Green Bay Gamblers	60	16	36	8	40	139	215

West Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
zLincoln Stars	60	37	14	9	83	214	153
xTopeka ScareCrows	60	36	17	7	79	211	166
xSioux City Musketeers	60	36	18	6	78	210	186
xRiver City Lancers	60	36	19	5	77	178	149
xTri-City Storm	60	27	28	5	59	183	200
Sioux Falls Stampede	60	24	30	6	54	179	223

Clark Cup playoffs

Quarter-finals							Semi-finals							Clark Cup Championship

1	Lincoln	5	4	6	–	–

8	Tri-City	3	1	0	–	–
							1	Lincoln	6	3	5	–	–

							6	Cedar Rapids	3	2	2	–	–
3	Topeka	2	2	2	2	–

6	Cedar Rapids	3	1	3	4	–
														1	Lincoln	3	0	4	5	–

														2	River City	2	2	1	1	–
2	Waterloo	6	3	5	5	–

7	Des Moines	3	7	2	4	–
							2	River City	2	4	3	–	–

							5	Waterloo	0	3	1	–	–
4	Sioux City	2	2	4	1	–

5	River City	5	3	1	4	–

^[3]

Quarterfinals

(1) Lincoln Stars vs. (8) Tri-City Storm

April 2	Tri-City Storm		3 – 5	Lincoln Stars	Viaero Center	Recap
Scott Parse (1) - 16:29 Steve Wagner (1) - 19:59		First period		10:42 - David Backes (1)
No scoring		Second period		15:30 - pp - Chris Porter (1) 17:33 - Danny Irmen (1)
Mark Agnew (1) - 4:55		Third period		12:29 - Danny Irmen (2) 19:10 - en - Ben Gordon (1)
Eric Aarnio (29 saves / 33 shots)		Goalie stats		Nate Ziegelman (23 saves / 26 shots)

April 4	Lincoln Stars		4 – 1	Tri-City Storm	Ice Box	Recap
13:20 - Jeff McFarland (1)		First period		No scoring
19:22 - Ryan Potulny (1) 19:51 - pp - Danny Irmen (3)		Second period		No scoring
16:09 - pp - Chris Porter (2)		Third period		Scott Parse (2) - 5:36
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (22 saves / 23 shots)		Goalie stats		Eric Aarnio (36 saves / 40 shots)

April 5	Lincoln Stars		6 – 0	Tri-City Storm	Ice Box	Recap
Danny Irmen (4) - 0:26 Brent Borgen (1) - 1:55		First period		No scoring
John Snowden (1) - 2:13 Ben Gordon (2) - pp - 18:20		Second period		No scoring
Ryan Potulny (2) - 1:25 Ben Gordon (3) - pp - 17:39		Third period		No scoring
Nate Ziegelman (23 saves / 23 shots)		Goalie stats		Eric Aarnio (22 saves / 26 shots) Casey Mapes (9 saves / 11 shots)

Lincoln wins series 3 – 0

(3) Topeka Scarecrows vs. (6) Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

April 2	Topeka Scarecrows		2 – 3	2OT	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	Kansas Expocentre	Recap
9:56 - Erik Fabian (1)		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			Mike Manley (1) - pp - 7:30
13:20 - pp - Rob Rankin (1)		Third period			Tyler Howells (1) - 16:55
No scoring		Second overtime period			Matt Olinger (1) - 7:07
Michael Zacharias (33 saves / 36 shots)		Goalie stats			Joe Fallon (31 saves / 33 shots)

April 3	Topeka Scarecrows		2 – 1	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	Kansas Expocentre	Recap
No scoring		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		Tyler Howells (2) - 8:05
2:51 - James Unger (1) 10:22 - Eric Vesely (1)		Third period		No scoring
Michael Zacharias (15 saves / 16 shots)		Goalie stats		Joe Fallon (50 saves / 52 shots)

April 5	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders		3 – 2	Topeka Scarecrows	Cedar Rapids Ice Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period		No scoring
19:08 - pp - Troy Brummett (1)		Second period		No scoring
0:47 - Jon Grabarek (1) 19:31 - pp - Matt Olinger (2)		Third period		J.P. Platisha (1) - pp - 6:08 Eric Vesely (2) - 17:08
Joe Fallon (35 saves / 37 shots)		Goalie stats		Michael Zacharias (29 saves / 32 shots)

April 6	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders		4 – 2	Topeka Scarecrows	Cedar Rapids Ice Arena	Recap
3:28 - Troy Brummett (2)		First period		Luke Erickson (1) - 9:02
2:44 - Chase Watson (1)		Second period		Eric Vesely (3) - sh - 7:40
4:43 - pp - Chase Watson (2) 18:56 - en - Zach Pearson (1)		Third period		No scoring
Joe Fallon (19 saves / 21 shots)		Goalie stats		Michael Zacharias (16 saves / 19 shots)

Cedar Rapids wins series 3 – 1

(2) Waterloo Black Hawks vs. (7) Des Moines Buccaneers

April 2	Waterloo Black Hawks		6 – 3	Des Moines Buccaneers	Young Arena	Recap
5:34 - Derek Whitmore (1) 18:23 - pp - Jon Saunders (1)		First period		No scoring
0:56 - Joe Pavelski (1)		Second period		Marty Mjelleli (1) - 2:36
5:29 - Ross Carlson (1) 9:44 - Joel Hanson (1)		Third period		Marty Mjelleli (2) - 2:26 Jamie Hoffmann (1) - 10:16
Jordan Parise (20 saves / 23 shots)		Goalie stats		A.J. Bucchino (51 saves / 56 shots)

April 4	Des Moines Buccaneers		7 – 3	Waterloo Black Hawks	Buccaneer Arena	Recap
Mike Erickson (1) 2:53 Kyle Bushee (1) - 3:53 Joe Campbell (1) - 16:15 Bryce Anderson (1) - 17:04		First period		No scoring
Tomáš Jasko (1) - 15:32		Second period		0:43 - Joe Pavelski (2) 13:57 - Igor Bobček (1)
Marty Mjelleli (3) - 4:33 Evan Stoflet (1) - 14:31		Third period		15:03 - pp - Rob Lehtinen (1)
A.J. Bucchino (39 saves / 42 shots)		Goalie stats		Jeff Jakaitis (2 saves / 4 shots) Jordan Parise (32 saves / 37 shots)

April 5	Waterloo Black Hawks		5 – 2	Des Moines Buccaneers	Young Arena	Recap
Joel Hanson (2) - 1:08		First period		No scoring
Matt Fornataro (1) - 11:57 Joel Hanson (3) - 13:53		Second period		4:41 - Joel Kitchen (1)
Joel Hanson (4) - pp - 11:37 Joe Pavelski (3) - sh - 19:43		Third period		15:36 - Patrick Borgestad (1)
Jordan Parise (24 saves / 26 shots)		Goalie stats		A.J. Bucchino (43 saves / 48 shots)

April 8	Des Moines Buccaneers		4 – 5	2OT	Waterloo Black Hawks	Buccaneer Arena	Recap
5:51 - Marty Guerin (1) 13:47 - Tomáš Jasko (2)		First period			Rob Lehtinen (2) - 8:56
4:52 - pp - Joel Kitchen (2)		Second period			Ross Carlson (3) - pp - 2:09 Jon Saunders (2) - 3:06 Ross Carlson (4) - pp - 11:44
2:00 - Joel Kitchen (3)		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		Second overtime period			Matt Fornataro (2) - 10:03
A.J. Bucchino (57 saves / 62 shots)		Goalie stats			Jordan Parise (29 saves / 33 shots)

Waterloo wins series 3 – 1

(4) Sioux City Musketeers vs. (5) River City Lancers

April 1	Sioux City Musketeers		2 – 5	River City Lancers	Tyson Events Center	Recap
No scoring		First period		Yale Lewis (1) - 18:51
7:25 - pp - Johann Kroll (1)		Second period		Mike Howe (1) - pp - 14:12
9:24 - Mike Ramirez (1)		Third period		Drew Miller (1) - sh - 3:20 Grant Clafton (1) - 6:13 Matt Carle (1) - en - 18:57
Ján Chovan (35 saves / 39 shots)		Goalie stats		Dominic Vicari (32 saves / 34 shots)

April 3	Sioux City Musketeers		2 – 3	OT	River City Lancers	Tyson Events Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
11:41 - Nathan Schwartzbauer (1)		Second period			Janne Jokila (1) - pp - 5:39 Nate Raduns (1) - 6:37
6:18 - pp - Mike Curry (1)		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			Grant Clafton (2) - 2:23
Ján Chovan (45 saves / 48 shots)		Goalie stats			Dominic Vicari (17 saves / 19 shots)

April 5	River City Lancers		1 – 4	Sioux City Musketeers	Omaha Civic Auditorium	Recap
No scoring		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		Brandon Polich (1) - 4:16 Mike Ramirez (2) - 7:46 Ryan Hawkins (1) - 14:38
10:57 - Corey Carlson (1)		Third period		B.J. Greaves (1) - en - 17:56
Dominic Vicari (20 saves / 23 shots)		Goalie stats		Ján Chovan (34 saves / 35 shots)

April 6	River City Lancers		4 – 1	Sioux City Musketeers	Omaha Civic Auditorium	Recap
No scoring		First period		Bill Magnuson (1) - 15:47
3:40 - Charlie Kronschnabel (1) 11:00 - pp - Drew Miller (2)		Second period		No scoring
6:45 - Charlie Kronschnabel (2) 15:42 - Mike Howe (2)		Third period		No scoring
Dominic Vicari (23 saves / 24 shots)		Goalie stats		Ján Chovan (39 saves / 43 shots)

River City wins series 3 – 1

Semifinals

(1) Lincoln Stars vs. (6) Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

April 11	Lincoln Stars		6 – 3	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	Ice Box	Recap
3:47 - pp - Danny Irmen (5) 4:06 - Matt Hayek (1) 7:24 - Tyler Magura (1) 10:27 - sh - David Backes (2) 14:43 - Matt Hayek (2)		First period		Jon Grabarek (2) - pp - 13:44
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
9:27 - pp - Ben Gordon (4)		Third period		Matt Olinger (3) - 3:33 Chris Snavely (1) - pp - 8:07
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (22 saves / 25 shots) Nate Ziegelmann (5 saves / 5 shots)		Goalie stats		Joe Fallon (21 saves / 26 shots) Wes Russell (8 saves / 9 shots)

April 12	Lincoln Stars		3 – 2	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	Ice Box	Recap
18:18 - pp - Per Mårs (1)		First period		No scoring
15:50 - Chris Porter (3)		Second period		No scoring
0:10 - Ryan Potulny (3)		Third period		Mike Manley (2) - 1:59 Mike Pasley (1) - 19:49
Nate Ziegelmann (27 saves / 29 shots)		Goalie stats		Joe Fallon (23 saves / 26 shots)

April 15	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders		2 – 5	Lincoln Stars	Cedar Rapids Ice Arena	Recap
11:29 - Chris Snavely (2)		First period		Ryan Potulny (3) - pp - 17:06
0:36 - Chase Watson (3)		Second period		John Snowden (2) - 1:53 John Snowden (3) - 19:42
No scoring		Third period		Ben Gordon (5) - 1:58 David Backes (3) - pp - 16:38
Joe Fallon (41 saves / 46 shots)		Goalie stats		Nate Ziegelmann (24 saves / 26 shots)

Lincoln wins series 3 – 0

(2) River City Lancers vs. (5) Waterloo Black Hawks

April 11	Waterloo Black Hawks		0 – 2	River City Lancers	Young Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period		1:49 - John Togiai (1) 4:12 - Drew Miller (3)
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
No scoring		Third period		No scoring
Jordan Parise (28 saves / 30 shots)		Goalie stats		Dominic Vicari (29 saves / 29 shots)

April 12	Waterloo Black Hawks		3 – 4	River City Lancers	Young Arena	Recap
Joe Pavelski (4) - 4:54		First period		No scoring
Yale Lewis (2) - 8:52 Taylor Jindra (1) - 11:41		Second period		7:35 - pp - Andy Nelson (1) 10:04 - pp - Janne Jokila (1) 15:05 - pp - Joel Hanson (5)
No scoring		Third period		16:45 - Nathan Gerbe (1)
Jeff Jakaitis (35 saves / 39 shots)		Goalie stats		Dominic Vicari (34 saves / 37 shots)

April 15	River City Lancers		3 – 1	Waterloo Black Hawks	Omaha Civic Auditorium	Recap
Taylor Jindra (2) - 8:24		First period		1:21 - Joe Pavelski (5)
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
Phil Todd (1) - 6:25 Drew Miller (3) - en - 19:58		Third period		No scoring
Dominic Vicari (19 saves / 20 shots)		Goalie stats		Jordan Parise (42 saves / 44 shots)

River City wins series 3 – 0

Clark Cup Finals

(1) Lincoln Stars vs. (2) River City Lancers

April 22	Lincoln Stars		3 – 2	OT	River City Lancers	Ice Box	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
6:09 - Matt Hayek (3) 9:49 - Jeff McFarland (2)		Third period			Taylor Jindra (3) - 14:44 Mike Howe (3) - pp - 16:34
0:25 - Ryan Potulny (4)		First overtime period			No scoring
Nate Ziegelmann (31 saves / 33 shots)		Goalie stats			Dominic Vicari (36 saves / 39 shots)

April 25	River City Lancers		2 – 0	Lincoln Stars	Omaha Civic Auditorium	Recap
No scoring		First period		No scoring
Mike Howe (4) - 1:22 Matt Carle (2) - pp - 4:00		Second period		No scoring
No scoring		Third period		No scoring
Dominic Vicari (28 saves / 28 shots)		Goalie stats		Nate Ziegelmann (28 saves / 30 shots)

April 26	Lincoln Stars		4 – 1	River City Lancers	Ice Box	Recap
No scoring		First period		No scoring
Ryan Potulny (5) - pp - 1:05 Danny Irmen (6) - 16:32 Mike Eickman (1) - pp - 19:24		Second period		11:07 - Jason Dest (1)
Ben Gordon (6) - en - 18:13		Third period		No scoring
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (35 saves / 36 shots)		Goalie stats		Dominic Vicari (32 saves / 35 shots)

April 29	River City Lancers		1 – 5	Lincoln Stars	Omaha Civic Auditorium	Recap
No scoring		First period		Danny Irmen (7) - 16:58
8:29 - sh - Drew Miller (4)		Second period		David Backes (4) - sh - 12:22 Ethan Graham (1) - 14:03
No scoring		Third period		Chris Porter (3) - 7:04 Danny Irmen (8) - en - 17:21
Dominic Vicari (24 saves / 28 shots)		Goalie stats		Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (35 saves / 36 shots)

Lincoln wins series 3 – 1

Players

Scoring leaders

	Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	/-	PIM
1	Ryan Potulny	Lincoln Stars	54	35	43	78	32	18
2	Luke Erickson	Topeka ScareCrows	64	31	40	71	21	72
3	Joe Pavelski	Waterloo Black Hawks	60	36	33	69	26	32
	David Backes	Lincoln Stars	57	28	41	69	10	126
5	Jacob Micflikier	Sioux Falls Stampede	59	31	36	67	5	26
	Tomáš Jasko	Des Moines Buccaneers	60	30	37	67	-3	33
7	Morod Radmacher	Sioux Falls Stampede	60	26	38	64	-3	50
8	Marty Guerin	Des Moines Buccaneers	60	27	33	60	14	30
	Grant Goeckner-Zoeller	Sioux City Musketeers	60	27	33	60	19	60
	Brandon Polich	Sioux City Musketeers	60	17	43	60	20	79

^[4]

Leading goaltenders

	Player	Team	GP	MIN	W	L	OTL	SO	GA	GAA	SV	SV%
1	Dominic Vicari	River City Lancers	45	2507	28	14	2	6	85	2.03	902	.914
2	Jean-Philippe Lamoureux	Lincoln Stars	34	1967	22	7	4	4	71	2.16	781	.917
3	Jordan Parise	Waterloo Black Hawks	35	1927	21	10	2	2	82	2.55	878	.915
	Michael Zacharias	Topeka ScareCrows	27	1578	14	7	4	2	67	2.55	545	.891
5	Nate Ziegelmann	Lincoln Stars	28	1672	15	7	5	1	72	2.58	713	.908

^[5]

Awards

Coach of the Year: P.K. O'Handley Waterloo Black Hawks
Curt Hammer Award: Jake Taylor Green Bay Gamblers
Defenseman of the Year: Matt Carle River City Lancers
Forward of the Year: Ryan Potulny Lincoln Stars
General Manager of the Year: P.K. O'Handley Waterloo Black Hawks
Goaltender of the Year: Dominic Vicari River City Lancers
Organization of the Year: Waterloo Black Hawks
Player of the Year: Ryan Potulny Lincoln Stars
Rookie of the Year: Joe Pavelski Waterloo Black Hawks

References

^ "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
^ "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
^ "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
^ "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
^ "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.

External links

Official website of the United States Hockey League

[1] "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.

[2] "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.

[3] "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.

[4] "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.

[5] "USHL Standings". Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e United States Hockey League
Western Conference	Des Moines Buccaneers Fargo Force Lincoln Stars Omaha Lancers Sioux City Musketeers Sioux Falls Stampede Tri-City Storm Waterloo Black Hawks
Eastern Conference	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Chicago Steel Dubuque Fighting Saints Green Bay Gamblers Madison Capitols Muskegon Lumberjacks USA Hockey National Team Development Program Youngstown Phantoms
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