1997–98 USHL season
Sports season
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The 1997–98 USHL season was the 19th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season began in September 1997 and concluded in March 1998. The Des Moines Buccaneers won the Anderson Cup as regular season champions. The Omaha Lancers defeated the Des Moines Buccaneers 4 games to 0 for the Clark Cup.
September 1997 – March 1998
Postseason
March 17 – April 21, 1998
| 1997–98 USHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | United States Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | Regular season September 1997 – March 1998 Postseason March 17 – April 21, 1998 |
| Games | 56, 24 |
| Teams | 13 |
| Regular season | |
| Anderson Cup | Des Moines Buccaneers |
| Season MVP | Nate DiCasmirro (North Iowa Huskies) |
| Top scorer | Tyler Arnason (Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks) |
| Clark Cup Playoffs | |
| Clark Cup Playoffs MVP | Nate Mauer (Lancers) |
| Finals champions | Omaha Lancers |
| Runners-up | Des Moines Buccaneers |
Member changes
- The USNTDP joined the league as an affiliate member.
Regular season
Final standings[1]
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched league title
North Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – North Iowa Huskies | 56 | 36 | 14 | 6 | 78 | 206 | 136 |
| x – Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks | 56 | 26 | 23 | 7 | 59 | 207 | 208 |
| x – Green Bay Gamblers | 56 | 23 | 28 | 5 | 51 | 157 | 183 |
| Rochester Mustangs | 56 | 21 | 31 | 4 | 46 | 148 | 180 |
| Thunder Bay Flyers | 56 | 20 | 31 | 5 | 45 | 165 | 227 |
| Twin City Vulcans | 56 | 19 | 32 | 5 | 43 | 162 | 242 |
South Division
| Team | GP | W | L | SOL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xyz – Des Moines Buccaneers | 56 | 40 | 14 | 2 | 82 | 226 | 148 |
| x – Omaha Lancers | 56 | 39 | 15 | 2 | 80 | 221 | 144 |
| x – Lincoln Stars | 56 | 38 | 17 | 1 | 77 | 229 | 160 |
| x – Sioux City Musketeers | 56 | 32 | 21 | 3 | 67 | 195 | 155 |
| x – Waterloo Black Hawks | 56 | 25 | 29 | 2 | 52 | 159 | 200 |
| Dubuque Fighting Saints | 56 | 19 | 36 | 1 | 39 | 159 | 238 |
USNTDP
| Team | GP | W | L | SOL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USNTDP | 24 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 24 | 77 | 90 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games.[2]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Arnason | Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks | 52 | 37 | 45 | 82 | 16 |
| Nate DiCasmirro | North Iowa Huskies | 52 | 29 | 45 | 74 | 118 |
| Chad Theuer | Omaha Lancers | 56 | 26 | 44 | 70 | 30 |
| Gregg Zaporzan | Thunder Bay Flyers | 56 | 32 | 35 | 67 | 53 |
| Neil Breen | Omaha Lancers | 56 | 27 | 38 | 65 | 48 |
| Trent Clark | Lincoln/Dubuque | 54 | 22 | 43 | 65 | 24 |
| Josh Kern | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 54 | 29 | 35 | 64 | 174 |
| Bryan Lundbohm | Lincoln Stars | 55 | 26 | 38 | 64 | 10 |
| Peter Fregoe | Des Moines Buccaneers | 54 | 31 | 32 | 63 | 51 |
| Jesse Heerema | Thunder Bay Flyers | 45 | 28 | 32 | 60 | 95 |
Leading goaltenders
Minimum 1000 minutes played.
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | OTL | SO | GA | SV | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Revermann | Des Moines Buccaneers | 20 | 1186 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 480 | .938 | 1.62 |
| Gregg Naumenko | North Iowa Huskies | 38 | 2172 | 23 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 80 | 823 | .911 | 2.21 |
| Tony Zasowski | Omaha Lancers | 26 | 1352 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 56 | 590 | .913 | 2.49 |
| Jeff Sanger | Sioux City Musketeers | 44 | 2556 | 25 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 108 | 1,224 | .919 | 2.54 |
| Dennis Bassett | Omaha Lancers | 30 | 1784 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 76 | 670 | .898 | 2.56 |
Clark Cup playoffs
The regular season division champions received the top two seeds.
Teams were reseeded after the quarterfinal round.
| Quarterfinal (Best-of-7) | Semifinal (Best-of-7) | Championship (Best-of-7) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Des Moines Buccaneers | 5 | 3 | 7 | 8 | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Green Bay Gamblers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Des Moines Buccaneers | 5* | 2 | 5 | 9 | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Lincoln Stars | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | North Iowa Huskies | 6 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Waterloo Black Hawks | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Des Moines Buccaneers | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Omaha Lancers | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Omaha Lancers | 3 | 5 | 9 | 4 | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | North Iowa Huskies | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Omaha Lancers | 3 | 0 | 3* | 8 | 1 | 4 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Lincoln Stars | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Sioux City Musketeers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)