The 2025–26 USHL season was the 47th season of the United States Hockey League (USHL) as an all-junior league. The regular season extended from September 17, 2025, to April 4, 2026, with each member club playing a 62-game schedule.
As has become tradition, all 16 teams opened their respective campaigns in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex during the annual DICK'S Sporting Goods USHL Fall Classic. The season concluded with the Clark Cup playoffs, which culminated in a best-of-five finals rematch between the Sioux Falls Stampede and the defending champions, the Muskegon Lumberjacks.
League changes and offseason The league held its annual 2025 USHL Draft on May 5–6, 2025. In Phase I of the selection process, the Omaha Lancers held the first overall selection and utilized it to draft defenseman Thaddeus McMahon.
The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders acquired goaltender Ryan Cameron, who had previously been recognized as the USA Hockey Goaltender of the Year. Cedar Rapids also signed high-scoring youth forward Braiden Scuderi. Other major junior tender contracts signed ahead of the season included forwards Gunnar Conboy and Oliver McKinney with the Green Bay Gamblers, as well as Michael Tang and Stephen Cover with the Madison Capitols.
Inter-league showcase games The 2025–26 schedule featured marquee neutral-site properties: The American Cup powered by Wegmans took place on December 4–5, 2025, in Rochester, New York, featuring a multi-game series between the Tri-City Storm and the Youngstown Phantoms. The Frosty Cup was hosted in Frisco, Texas, on January 22–23, 2026, matching the Des Moines Buccaneers against the Fargo Force. The annual Chipotle All-American Game showcased top NHL Draft-eligible prospects from the league in mid-season exhibition play.
Regular season The Youngstown Phantoms clinched the Anderson Cup as the USHL regular-season champions, pacing the overall league standings and locking up the top seed in the Eastern Conference. In the Western Conference, the Sioux Falls Stampede captured the regular-season conference crown, comfortably ahead of the second-place Fargo Force.
Eastern Conference Team z – Youngstown Phantoms 62 43 14 3 2 91 x – Dubuque Fighting Saints 62 40 18 4 0 84 x – Green Bay Gamblers 62 38 18 4 2 82 x – Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 62 36 17 3 6 81 x – Muskegon Lumberjacks 62 36 24 1 1 74 x – Madison Capitols 62 32 27 0 3 67 Chicago Steel 62 27 27 6 2 62 Team USA 62 17 40 3 2 39
Western Conference Team y – Sioux Falls Stampede 62 43 16 3 0 89 x – Fargo Force 62 38 19 3 2 81 x – Sioux City Musketeers 62 30 27 3 2 65 x – Des Moines Buccaneers 62 30 27 3 2 65 x – Lincoln Stars 62 27 27 4 4 61 x – Tri-City Storm 62 26 29 4 3 59 Omaha Lancers 62 19 38 3 2 43 Waterloo Black Hawks 62 16 42 2 2 36 Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched conference title; z = clinched regular season title
Individual statistics
Scoring leaders The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of games played on April 4, 2026.
Player Team Alex Pelletier Lincoln Stars 59 48 37 85 39 Cooper Simpson Youngstown Phantoms 61 34 40 74 68 Layne Loomer Lincoln Stars 59 30 42 72 29 Thomas Zocco Sioux Falls Stampede 60 22 37 68 50 Ryan Seelinger Des Moines Buccaneers 61 31 37 68 26 Michael Barron Dubuque Fighting Saints 62 18 50 68 20 Logan Renkowski Sioux Falls Stampede 60 43 20 63 38 Zach Wooten Green Bay Gamblers 61 35 27 62 86 Ryan Rucinski Youngstown Phantoms 59 27 35 62 88 Drew Stewart Muskegon Lumberjacks 56 30 31 61 33 Evan Jardine Youngstown Phantoms 53 27 34 61 70 Luke Garry Sioux City Musketeers 57 21 40 61 76
Leading goaltenders These are the goaltenders that lead the league in GAA that have played at least 1380 minutes.
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage
Player Team GP Mins W L OTL SOL SO GAA SV% Tobias Trejbal Youngstown Phantoms 42 2512 30 9 3 0 3 2.12 0.916 Leo Henriquez Green Bay Gamblers 37 2109 21 9 2 2 2 2.22 0.921 Caleb Heil Madison Capitols 31 1755 24 13 0 3 3 2.34 0.905 Alan Lenďák Des Moines Buccaneers 34 2441 21 11 1 0 3 2.41 0.909 Ajay White Fargo Force 42 2541 26 12 3 1 2 2.48 0.905 Carl Axelsson Muskegon Lumberjacks 44 2540 28 14 1 0 2 2.48 0.916
Clark Cup playoffs Following the completion of the regular season, the top six teams from each conference qualified for the postseason. The first round featured lower-seeded matchups in a best-of-three series, while subsequent conference rounds expanded to best-of-five series formats.
In the Eastern Conference, the No. 5 seed Muskegon Lumberjacks swept Cedar Rapids in the opening round, before overcoming the Dubuque Fighting Saints and the Madison Capitols in consecutive five-game series. In the Western Conference, the top-ranked Sioux Falls Stampede defeated the Lincoln Stars in five games, advancing to the Western Conference Final where they also defeated the Fargo Force in a full five-game series.
The resulting matchup set up a best-of-five showdown for the Clark Cup between Sioux Falls and Muskegon, a rematch of the 2015 championship series.
Finals summary Game 1 of the Clark Cup Finals took place on May 15, 2026, at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls. Drew Stewart opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal to give Muskegon a 1–0 advantage. Sioux Falls responded with two goals from Joey Macrina, followed by an empty-net tally from J.J. Monteiro to claim a 3–1 win and a 1–0 series advantage.
In Game 2, Stampede netminder Linards Feldbergs stopped all shots faced to secure a 3–0 shutout victory. Tobias Ohman scored the game-winner in the opening period, while Thomas Zocco and Logan Renkowski added insurance goals to give the Stampede a 2–0 series hold heading into Muskegon.
First Round
Eastern Conference
(E3) Green Bay Gamblers vs. (E6) Madison Capitols
(E4) Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. (E5) Muskegon Lumberjacks
Western Conference
(W3) Sioux City Musketeers vs. (W6) Tri-City Storm
(W4) Des Moines Buccaneers vs. (W5) Lincoln Stars
Conference Semifinals
Eastern Conference
(E1) Youngstown Phantoms vs. (E6) Madison Capitols
(E2) Dubuque Fighting Saints vs. (E5) Muskegon Lumberjacks
Western Conference
(W2) Fargo Force vs. (W3) Sioux City Musketeers
(W1) Sioux Falls Stampede vs. (W5) Lincoln Stars
Conference Finals
Eastern Conference
(E5) Muskegon Lumberjacks vs. (E6) Madison Capitols
Western Conference
(W1) Sioux Falls Stampede vs. (W2) Fargo Force
Clark Cup Finals
(W1) Sioux Falls Stampede vs. (E5) Muskegon Lumberjacks
Playoff scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player Team GP G A PTS PIM Drew Stewart Muskegon Lumberjacks 16971612 Melvin Novotny Muskegon Lumberjacks 165101510 J.J. Monteiro Sioux Falls Stampede 14861422 Thomas Zocco Sioux Falls Stampede 14581310 Layne Loomer Lincoln Stars 857128 Viktor Nörringer Muskegon Lumberjacks 1539126 Adam Beluško Muskegon Lumberjacks 16291110 Kade Kohanski Lincoln Stars 864104 Jack Christ Muskegon Lumberjacks 1655102 Nolen Geerdes Madison Capitols 11461012 Rūdolfs Bērzkalns Muskegon Lumberjacks 1646104 Graham Jones Fargo Force 9281010
Playoff leading goaltenders Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts; GA = Goals Allowed; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage
Player Team GP MIN W L SO GA GAA SV% Tobias Trejbal Youngstown Phantoms 4 254 1 3 0 7 1.66 0.896 Linards Feldbergs Sioux Falls Stampede 14 972 9 5 2 31 1.91 0.939 Caleb Heil Madison Capitols 11 675 7 4 1 22 1.95 0.944 Leo Henriquez Green Bay Gamblers 2 119 0 2 0 4 2.01 0.897 Carl Axelsson Muskegon Lumberjacks 16 993 9 7 0 36 2.17 0.912
League awards The USHL announced its annual end-of-season awards following evaluations by member general managers.
All-USHL First Team Forward: Alex Pelletier (Lincoln Stars) – Led the league with 48 goals and 85 points in 59 appearances, tying for the second-most single-season goals in Tier-1 USHL history. Forward: Cooper Simpson (Youngstown Phantoms) – Generated 74 points, including 38 on the power play, aiding Youngstown's run to the Anderson Cup. Forward: Zach Wooten (Green Bay Gamblers) – Finished with 35 goals and 62 points in 61 games. Defenseman: Jack Willson (Youngstown Phantoms) – Finished second among defensemen with 47 points, including 27 power-play points. Defenseman: Hawke Huff (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) – Recorded 39 points and led all team blueliners with a +17 rating. Goaltender: Tobias Trejbal (Youngstown Phantoms) – Posted a league-best 2.12 goals-against average alongside a 30–9–3 record.
Academic honors Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Ryan Poirier
References
External links – USHL official website