The 1996–97 USHL season was the 18th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season began in September 1996 and concluded in March 1997. The Green Bay Gamblers won the Anderson Cup as regular season champions. The Lincoln Stars also defeated the Green Bay Gamblers 4 games to 0 for the Clark Cup.
Member changes The previous season, the Fargo-Moorhead Bears failed to pay their league dues after the regular season and were immediately suspended from play. Afterwards, the team folded and the Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks joined as an expansion team in their place.
The Lincoln Stars also joined the league as an expansion franchise.
Regular season Final standings
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 xyz – Green Bay Gamblers 544111284260187 x – Rochester Mustangs 542821561217193 x – North Iowa Huskies 542821561210190 x – Twin City Vulcans 542526353190211 x – Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks 542428250160154 Thunder Bay Flyers 541933240186251
South Division Team xy – Omaha Lancers 544012282252152 x – Lincoln Stars 544013181244168 x – Des Moines Buccaneers 543713478245168 Dubuque Fighting Saints 541734337157211 Waterloo Black Hawks 541634436182273 Sioux City Musketeers 54943220162307
Statistics Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games.
Player Team Mike Lephart Omaha Lancers 54 40 50 90 76 Jeff Turner Rochester Mustangs 54 32 56 88 42 Kevin Granato Green Bay Gamblers 54 41 41 82 72 Kevin Swider Omaha Lancers 52 37 44 81 16 Scott Matzka Omaha Lancers 53 38 40 78 112 Andrew Tortorella Waterloo/Omaha 49 22 56 78 113 Derek Robertson Des Moines Buccaneers 54 31 43 73 26 Chad Stauffacher Green Bay Gamblers 51 35 36 71 316 Jeff Panzer Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks 49 30 40 70 52 Jason Cupp Green Bay Gamblers 54 17 50 67 47
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 Karl Goehring Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks 32 1909 13 18 1 4 79 954 .924 2.48 Jayme Platt Des Moines Buccaneers 22 1224 15 4 2 2 51 628 .925 2.50 Dean Weasler Rochester Mustangs 37 2159 20 12 2 3 99 962 .907 2.75 Graham Melanson Omaha Lancers 29 1565 19 5 1 4 74 600 .890 2.84 Jason Braun Lincoln Stars 40 2249 28 11 1 2 109 955 .898 2.91
Clark Cup playoffs The regular season division champions received the top two seeds.Teams were reseeded after the quarterfinal round.
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Awards Award Recipient Team Player of the Year Karl Goehring Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks Forward of the Year Mike Lephart Omaha Lancers Defenseman of the Year Doug Schmidt Waterloo Black Hawks Goaltender of the Year Karl Goehring Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks Rookie of the Year Karl Goehring Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks Coach of the Year Mike Hastings Omaha LancersGeneral Manager of the Year Mike Hastings Omaha Lancers
References
External links Hockey DB Elite Prospects