THE U REPORT Your Weekly USHL Briefing, Covering September 24 Through September 30

The USHL's first full weekend following the Fall Classic gave us something the opening games in Chicago could not, which was a second look at teams that made strong first impressions and a chance for a few others to change the conversation around their early performances. Cedar Rapids and Des Moines remain undefeated, though they took considerably different routes to get there, and Waterloo keeps putting distance between its current start and last season's struggles. Defending Clark Cup champion Sioux Falls suffered its first defeat before producing one of the young season's most remarkable comebacks, while Muskegon showed just how much can change in 24 hours.

 

Along the way there were standout individual efforts, a few unexpected results and enough penalty trouble to swing several important games. Four games cannot define a 62-game season, but the picture is starting to develop as teams settle into their regular routines.

 

 

The RoughRiders have done more than win their first four games, because they have started answering the questions that followed their showing at the Fall Classic, particularly the ones about special teams. After taking both of their games in Chicago, Cedar Rapids added consecutive 5-2 wins over Dubuque and Sioux City. Nathan Chorlton continued his remarkable opening stretch with two goals and four assists over the weekend, which lifts his season total to 10 points through four games, and Henry Lechner recorded his third consecutive multipoint performance to give the RoughRiders another dependable scoring option.

 

The most encouraging development may have come on the power play. Cedar Rapids failed to convert any of its 11 opportunities at the Fall Classic, yet it scored three times on five chances over the weekend, and the penalty kill was just as sharp in stopping all six opposing power plays.

 

Saturday's home opener against Dubuque offered another useful test. The RoughRiders built a 3-0 lead before the Fighting Saints scored twice early in the third period and turned a comfortable game into a one-goal game, but Cedar Rapids answered with two unanswered goals, including Chorlton's empty-netter, to secure the win. Four straight victories are encouraging on their own, though the more interesting part is how they have piled up. The offense keeps producing and the special teams have improved substantially, while the group has shown it can respond when an opponent threatens to change the direction of a game.

 

 

Des Moines left the Fall Classic with two impressive offensive performances, including a 7-3 victory over defending Anderson Cup champion Youngstown. Its first regular weekend away from Chicago presented a different kind of challenge, and the Buccaneers handled it with two much tighter wins over Omaha.

 

Friday's 4-2 result was anything but straightforward. Des Moines jumped ahead 2-0 before the Lancers erased the deficit with two second-period goals, and then Nash Paine restored the lead just 2:05 into the third period with his first USHL goal. Camden Zaporzan added the insurance marker. Saturday took even more effort, as Omaha twice held one-goal leads and forced Des Moines to chase the game until Riley Zupfer tied it midway through the third period. Becker Wenkus then scored with 3:05 remaining in regulation to secure a 3-2 victory and move the Buccaneers to 4-0-0.

 

What stands out about the weekend goes beyond the unbeaten record. Des Moines showed it can recover after giving up a lead and still win when an opponent forces it to play from behind, which is a welcome trait for a team whose finishing at the Fall Classic initially drew so much of the attention.

 

 

There may not be a more intriguing early development than the one unfolding in Waterloo. The Black Hawks are coming off a 16-win season, and they have opened Brett Olson's first campaign behind the bench with seven of a possible eight standings points. A weekend sweep in Fargo, built on consecutive 3-2 victories, was especially impressive because neither game came easily.

 

Friday's meeting included one of the weekend's most consequential sequences. With the game tied early in the second period, Fargo appeared to have taken the lead, but Waterloo successfully challenged the play because of an earlier head-contact major committed by Danny Hussa. The goal was disallowed, and Sal Viviano eventually gave the Black Hawks the advantage before Cody Sokol supplied an insurance goal in the third period. Charlie Menard stopped 40 of 42 shots to preserve the win and earned USHL Goaltender of the Week recognition for it.

 

Saturday followed a remarkably similar script. Fargo scored first and Waterloo answered with three consecutive goals, then the Force added a late marker of their own. This time it was Sebastian Charvat who made 35 saves to complete the sweep.

 

Waterloo's record deserves the attention it is getting, although so does the workload its goaltenders faced, since Fargo generated 79 shots across the two games and the Black Hawks clearly still have defensive questions to answer. Even so, seven points through four games is an encouraging beginning for an organization looking to move beyond last season's difficulties.

 

 

The defending Clark Cup champions experienced nearly every emotion imaginable during their weekend visit to Tri-City. Friday belonged to the Storm, who handed Sioux Falls its first defeat with a convincing 5-2 victory. Aleksandr Sokolov recorded a hat trick, Samuel Courtemanche scored the first two goals of his USHL career and added an assist, and goaltender Quinn Beumer finished the job with 34 saves.

 

Saturday looked as though it was headed in the same direction. The Storm carried a 3-1 lead into the third period and were 20 minutes away from sweeping the defending champions, but what followed was one of the most dramatic periods of the young season. Vojtech Svancar started the comeback with a power-play goal just 1:52 into the third, and Ryland Rooney tied the game at 8:30. The Stampede kept attacking from there and ultimately scored five unanswered goals to turn a two-goal deficit into a 6-3 victory.

 

That kind of response deserves recognition, especially after how convincingly Tri-City played the night before, though the weekend also exposed something Sioux Falls will need to address. The Stampede converted just one of their 18 power-play opportunities during the series, and while the third-period surge showed an ability to overcome adversity, leaning on five-goal comebacks is hardly a sustainable way to win hockey games. For Tri-City, the weekend brought a substantial victory over the defending champions along with the disappointment of watching another one slip away, so both teams have something useful to carry forward.

 

 

Muskegon's weekend against the NTDP Under-18 Team was another reminder that early-season records rarely tell the whole story. Friday's 5-3 defeat was particularly frustrating for the Lumberjacks, who held three separate leads and could not close out the game. After Aiden Janz put Muskegon ahead in the third period, the NTDP answered just 16 seconds later and went on to score three unanswered goals for the win.

 

Head coach Colten St. Clair challenged his team ahead of Saturday's rematch, and the response was emphatic. Muskegon overwhelmed the NTDP with 46 shots in a 6-1 victory, scoring twice in each period. Zaac Charbonneau played a central role by scoring twice and setting up Felix Färhammar's power-play goal, while Oscar Westman backed the effort by stopping 27 of 28 shots.

 

For a team coming off an appearance in the Clark Cup Final, these opening weeks are partly about building a new identity after roster turnover. Friday showed how quickly a promising situation can unravel, and Saturday offered an encouraging look at what this group is capable of. The next challenge is turning that response into consistent performances rather than alternating between impressive wins and frustrating losses.

 

 

Most of the attention went to what happened on the scoreboard, yet discipline played an important role in several games around the league. Des Moines and Omaha combined for 86 penalty minutes in Friday's matchup, with four players receiving at least 15 minutes apiece, and Sioux City piled up another 45 penalty minutes in Saturday's 2-0 loss to Lincoln. The effects reached beyond time in the box, as Hussa's head-contact major directly shaped Friday's game in Fargo by wiping out a goal that initially appeared to give the Force the lead.

 

One physical weekend is not enough evidence of a broader disciplinary problem across the USHL. Still, the opening weeks are a key period for setting expectations, and players cannot afford to jeopardize results with avoidable penalties or dangerous contact. As teams grow more comfortable with their systems and rivalries begin to take shape, staying disciplined will remain an important part of how they perform.

 

 

The coming weekend should give us another useful chance to evaluate the league's early developments. Cedar Rapids welcomes Chicago on October 2 in an intriguing matchup between two undefeated teams, and the Steel have not played since their two victories at the Fall Classic while the RoughRiders already have four games behind them. Waterloo returns home to face Dubuque the same evening, with its strong opening record creating expectations far different from those surrounding the organization just a few weeks ago.

 

Des Moines also returns home for another meeting with Omaha, and Muskegon hosts Madison for a two-game series that could help show whether Saturday's performance was the start of greater consistency. The USHL season is still young enough for a single weekend to change the conversation around almost any team, so the question now is whether the encouraging performances can survive another week and whether the teams still searching for answers can find the adjustments to turn things around.