The Sioux City Musketeers are a junior ice hockey team based in Sioux City, Iowa. The Musketeers play their home games at Tyson Events Center, and are members of the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team was founded in 1972, and has won three Anderson Cups as the regular season champion, and four Clark Cups as the playoffs champion of the USHL.
History The first head coach and general manager of the Sioux City Musketeers was Rich Blanche.
Dave Siciliano served as head coach and general manager of the Musketeers from 2000 to 2008. Sioux City radio station KOOL 99.5 broadcast The Dave Siciliano Show on Mondays during the season, which included interviews with the coach and the team's players. He promised that his team would be in better physical condition and to outwork their opponents.;
In the 2001–02 season playoffs, the Musketeers defeated the Sioux Falls Stampede in three consecutive games in the first round, defeated the Green Bay Gamblers in four games in the second round, then defeated the Omaha Lancers three games to two in the playoffs finals to win the Clark Cup. At the start of the season, Siciliano had not expected to reach the finals nor win the cup, but credited the team for being tight-knit and "just great quality kids" who handled adversity.; During the fifth game of the finals, the Musketeers trailed by a 3–1 score in the third period, then tied up the game in the final six minutes and won in overtime. In a 2008 interview, Siciliano recalled that the Clark Cup victory in 2002 was his fondest memory with the team.
In the 2004–05 season playoffs, the Musketeers won the first round by three games to one versus the Lincoln Stars, and won the second round by three games to one versus the Tri-City Storm. The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders won the Clark Cup in the fifth and deciding game by a 4–1 score. Siciliano credited his team for not quitting despite the strong play of opposing goaltender Alex Stalock.;
When Siciliano resigned in 2008, he had the second most career victories for a coach in the USHL, and had the most wins for a Musketeers coach with 272 victories. He stated that he was proud of designing the team's circular dressing room at the Gateway Arena so that one could "look your teammates directly in the eye"; and was credited by the Sioux City Journal for having "etched a distinct signature on Musketeer ice success for eight seasons".
In August 2014, the Musketeers captured a Bronze Medal as the USHL representative at the Junior Club World Cup in Ufa, Russia. 2014–15 team captain Neal Pionk was named the tournament's best defenseman, while Adam Johnson led the tournament in scoring, with 9 points in 5 games. Both were named to the All-Tournament team. Pionk went on to win the 2014–15 USHL Defenseman of the Year. Both Pionk and Johnson were named to the 2014–15 All-USHL First Team. Ryan Zuhlsdorf was named to the USHL All-Rookie First Team, while Bobo Carpenter earned All-Rookie Second Team honors.
Players NHL alumni The Musketeers have had 40 players reach the National Hockey League (NHL). John Grahame (G), Brock Boeser (F), Billy Tibbetts (F), David Hale (D), Rostislav Klesla (D), Ruslan Fedotenko (F), John Zeiler (F), Sam Gagner (F), Chris Butler (D), Dieter Kochan (G), Max Pacioretty (F), Tim Kennedy (F), Corey Elkins (F), Stephane Da Costa (F), Steven Kampfer (D), Patrick Davis (F), Sean Collins (D), Travis Turnbull (F), Danny DeKeyser (D), Max McCormick (F), Ryan Carpenter (F), Kevin Gravel (D), Jake Guentzel (C), Neal Pionk (D), Seth Helgeson (D), Jeff Zatkoff (G), Michael Kapla (D), Eeli Tolvanen (F), Joel L'Esperance (F), Kyle Criscuolo (F), Adam Johnson (F), Jordan Schmaltz (D), Matiss Kivlenieks (G), Alex Steeves (F), Walker Duehr (F), Akira Schmid (G), Bobby Brink (F), Cole Koepke (F), Joe Snively (F) and Martin Pospisil (F).
NHL-drafted players Over 50 Sioux City Musketeer players have been selected by teams in the annual NHL Draft, including two members of the 2006–07 team (Max Pacioretty-1st Rd., Phil DeSimone-3rd Rd.) at the 2007 NHL draft. Selected in the 2008 NHL draft, Steve Quailer (F)-3rd Rd. 86th overall pick, and a member of the 2007–08 team. In the 2009 NHL draft, Seth Helgeson (D) was selected in the 4th round. Helgeson played two years in Sioux City ('07–'09). In the 2011 NHL draft, Max McCormick (F)was selected in the 6th round. McCormick won the "7th Man" award as a member of the 2010–11 Musketeers. In the 2012 NHL draft, Cliff Watson (D) was selected in the 6th round. In the 2013 NHL draft, 3 Musketeers were selected, including 2012–13 USHL Rookie of the Year, Jake Guentzel (F)-3rd Rd. Blake Heinrich (D) and Avery Peterson (F) were picked in the 5th and 6th Rd. respectively. In the 2015 NHL draft, Ryan Zuhlsdorf (D) was selected in the 5th Rd.
Season-by-season record The Sioux City Musketeers operated within the USHL as a senior ice hockey team 1972 to 1979.
Season Result Playoffs 1972–73 42 16 26 0 — — 142 257 32 4th, Southern did not qualify 1973–74 48 23 24 1 — — 215 245 47 4th, Southern did not qualify 1974–75 48 28 19 1 — — 300 236 57 2nd, Southern 1975–76 48 31 16 1 — — 312 233 63 1st, Southern 1976–77 48 22 26 0 — — 265 246 44 2nd, Southern 1977–78 51 34 17 0 — — 288 222 68 T-1st, U.S. 1978–79 49 24 25 0 — — 280 271 48 3rd, U.S. 1979–80 48 20 24 4 — — 256 267 44 3rd, South 1980–81 48 12 36 0 — — 200 308 24 4th, South did not qualify 1981–82 48 29 16 3 — — 281 226 61 1982–83 48 34 14 0 — — 271 199 68 2nd, USHL 1983–84 48 32 11 2 3 — 305 204 69 3rd, USHL 1984–85 48 27 14 1 6 — 268 209 61 5th, USHL 1985–86 48 42 6 0 0 — 358 184 84 1986–87 48 23 23 1 1 — 256 236 48 7th, USHL 1987–88 48 23 22 0 3 — 275 281 49 6th, USHL 1988–89 48 17 28 1 2 — 248 273 37 7th, USHL 1989–90 48 29 16 1 2 — 240 187 61 4th, USHL 1990–91 48 9 37 1 1 — 166 326 20 10th, USHL did not qualify 1991–92 48 19 26 1 2 — 217 256 41 7th, USHL 1992–93 48 15 25 4 4 — 212 237 38 8th, USHL 1993–94 48 27 14 1 6 — 209 173 61 T-4th, USHL 1994–95 48 26 15 4 3 — 230 188 59 4th, USHL 1995–96 46 17 24 1 4 — 150 190 39 9th, USHL 1996–97 54 9 43 — 2 — 162 307 20 6th, South did not qualify 1997–98 56 32 21 — 3 — 195 155 67 4th, South 1998–99 56 34 19 — 3 — 196 148 71 2nd, West 1999–00 58 27 26 — — 5 170 162 59 6th, West 2000–01 56 27 22 — 7 — 174 194 61 6th, West 2001–02 61 41 16 — 4 — 237 162 86 3rd, West 2002–03 60 36 18 — 4 2 210 186 78 3rd, West 2003–04 60 38 15 — 2 5 192 152 83 2nd, West 2004–05 60 37 17 — 1 5 222 173 80 2nd, West 2005–06 60 28 26 — 3 3 182 216 62 5th, West did not qualify 2006–07 60 34 21 — 1 4 219 178 73 T-4th, West 2007–08 60 32 25 — 2 1 194 185 67 4th, West 2008–09 60 24 30 — 4 2 194 210 54 5th, West did not qualify 2009–10 60 27 24 — 3 6 172 189 63 5th, West did not qualify 2010–11 60 31 23 — 4 2 174 164 68 2011–12 60 29 30 — 0 1 181 189 59 2012–13 64 23 30 — 3 8 196 200 57 did not qualify 2013–14 60 38 19 — 3 0 202 157 79 2014–15 60 38 17 — 1 4 225 170 81 2015–16 60 20 39 — 1 0 148 210 41 did not qualify 2016–17 60 40 13 — 5 2 179 125 87 2017–18 60 26 26 — 4 4 159 197 60 did not qualify 2018–19 62 30 25 — 5 2 187 197 67 2019–20 48 16 24 — 7 1 137 170 40 Season cancelled 2020–21 53 31 21 — 1 0 160 125 63 2021–22 62 41 16 — 4 1 238 169 87
Gold Cup tournament The Gold Cup was the USA Hockey Junior A National Championship that the USHL participated in at the end of the season against the regular season and playoff champions of the other Junior A leagues. The USHL stopped participation in the tournament after USA Hockey realigned its designations and the USHL became a Tier I league in 2001. The Gold Cup was discontinued after the 2003 tournament when the remaining Tier II Junior A leagues merged. Sioux City participated in several Gold Cup tournaments, but only won in 1986.
Year Round-Robin Record Semifinal Game Championship Game 1982 Not played 1983 2–1–1 Not played 1984 1–2–0 did not advance 1986 2–0–1 Not played 1994 2–1–0 1996 3–0–0
Team records
Most points, season: 87 (201617) Fewest points, season: 20 (199697) Most wins, season: 42 (198586) Fewest wins, season: 9 (199697) Most losses, season: 45 (199697) Fewest losses, season: 6 (198586) Most goals scored, season: 358 (198586) Fewest goals against, season: 125 (201617) Most penalty minutes, season: 1,905 (199798) Longest winning streak: 16 () Longest losing streak: 12 (197980) Longest home winning streak: 22 () Longest Road winning streak: 6 (198586; 200607) Longest home losing streak: 12 (199697) Longest road losing streak: 14 (199697) Single-game attendance record: 6,309 ( Clark Cup final game five vs. Chicago Steel) Single-season attendance record: 82,102 (200607)
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