THE U REPORT Your Weekly USHL Briefing, Covering October 8 Through October 14

The USHL season is still young, yet the league looked considerably different by the end of this week than it did when the games began. Cedar Rapids, whose seven-game winning streak had been the early standard, dropped two home games in 24 hours, while Youngstown finally broke through after five consecutive losses and Fargo kept climbing by taking two games from defending Clark Cup champion Sioux Falls. Des Moines went from finding ways to win to struggling to generate chances against Lincoln, so the question now is how quickly teams adjust and whether those adjustments can last.

A week ago the RoughRiders had scored 31 goals, allowed 11 and won all seven of their games, and then Madison and Omaha arrived at ImOn Ice Arena and changed the conversation. Madison handed Cedar Rapids its first defeat Friday with a 6-2 victory after trailing 2-1 at the first intermission, scoring five unanswered goals and holding the RoughRiders to 18 shots. Defenseman Harper Frey scored twice in the third period and added an assist, and he finished the week with four goals and one assist, which earned him USHL Defenseman of the Week recognition and gave Madison a welcome lift after an 0-3 start.

Saturday unfolded differently. Cedar Rapids carried a 1-0 lead into the third period, but Jack Stanius tied the game and Adam Israilov, playing his first game of the season, scored the winner in a 2-1 Omaha victory. The Lancers also had to change goaltenders when Nils Maurins left injured during the first period, and Anthony Sciere came in to stop 20 of 21 shots, including every attempt he faced in the final period. The RoughRiders are still 7-2, and two defeats do not erase a strong opening, though the evidence did change, since Madison disrupted them with a sustained offensive response and Omaha took advantage of a close game when it mattered. Cedar Rapids now has to show that its first seven wins were more than an opening burst.

Youngstown entered the week without a victory, and Friday’s 5-3 loss to Dubuque stretched that frustration to five games. The Fighting Saints received four points from Caden Dabrowski, who was making his season debut, and the Phantoms were left to explain another result that had gone against them.

Saturday brought the first breakthrough. Oliver Raimovaara scored on Youngstown’s first shot just 1:49 into the game, and Owen Lepak made that lead stand with a 33-save shutout in a 2-0 victory. Dubuque had not been shut out at any point during the 2025-26 regular season, but five power plays and steady pressure were not enough to beat Lepak.

Tuesday’s 7-2 win over the NTDP Under-17 Team gave the Phantoms a different kind of encouragement. They scored three times in the first period, built a 6-1 lead through 40 minutes and received points from 15 players, with Malachi McKinnon and Jack Hair scoring twice apiece and Stephen Cover adding a goal and two assists. There was a family connection at the opening faceoff as well, because Malachi lined up against his brother Maverick, who plays for the NTDP, and Youngstown coach Nathan Paetsch watched his son Kellen skate for Team USA. The opposition and circumstances matter here, since Lepak had to be excellent in Dubuque and Tuesday’s opponent was the younger NTDP squad. Neither game proves that Youngstown has solved the problems behind its 0-5 start, but two straight victories with only two goals allowed give Paetsch something tangible to build upon.

Fargo has now won four consecutive games after opening the season 1-3, and its sweep of Sioux Falls provided the clearest evidence of that turnaround. Samuel Hrenak stopped 40 of 42 shots in Friday’s 3-2 road victory and then turned aside all 34 he faced in Saturday’s 5-0 shutout at home, which adds up to 74 saves on 76 shots, a .974 save percentage across two games against the defending champions. Bryce Mattern gave him more than enough support by scoring once Friday and then recording his first USHL hat trick and an assist Saturday, finishing the weekend with four goals and five points. Mattern and Hrenak were named the league’s Forward and Goaltender of the Week, respectively, and for Hrenak, a Winnipeg Jets draft pick, it was his second shutout in three appearances.

The results sharpened questions about Sioux Falls, whose power play stood at seven goals in 55 opportunities, or 12.7 percent, through October 14, even as its penalty kill remained perfect through 27 chances. The Stampede did answer Monday with a 6-2 win against Lincoln, with Vojtech Švancar scoring three times and Joey Macrina recording four assists, which is a reminder that Sioux Falls can respond even while its special teams remain uneven.

The Buccaneers won their first five games, but the last two weekends have offered a much less comfortable view. After Tri-City ended their perfect start, Lincoln took both games of a weekend series, first winning 4-3 in an 11-round shootout and then shutting out Des Moines 1-0. Friday’s loss was frustrating because the Buccaneers held leads they could not protect, and Saturday’s was more concerning because they managed only 12 shots, including three in the second period, while Lincoln finished with 32. William Prowse recorded the shutout and Casey Vandertop scored the only goal, leaving Des Moines without an answer despite four power-play opportunities.

The organization also made a roster move, announcing the acquisition of 2009-born defenseman Max Dessner from Chicago on October 14. Dessner appeared in 35 games for Tri-City last season, and Des Moines coach and president of hockey operations Derek Damon specifically highlighted his skating and his ability to move the puck. The timing invites attention given the recent trouble generating offense, although it would be premature to say the Lincoln games caused the trade. What is certain is that Des Moines is adding a player whose strengths could help the Buccaneers move the puck out of their own end and into the attack.

Chicago entered its series against Muskegon coming off consecutive losses and left with a sweep. Stepan Houdek made 32 saves in Friday’s 5-0 victory for his first USHL shutout, while captain Jason Millett scored twice and Matyas Svrcek found the net in his Steel debut, and the win was also Chicago’s first official regular-season home victory at USG Arena. Saturday required a comeback rather than a shutout, since Muskegon led 2-0 after one period before Chicago scored four times in the second and eventually won 5-4 on MJ Campbell’s third-period goal. Houdek left injured during the game and Alex Wang earned his first USHL victory in relief, while Muskegon added two more losses to an uneven start and another example of a promising lead slipping away.

Waterloo played only once this week but continued to collect points. Dylan Nolan scored twice, including the winner 1:02 into overtime, as the Black Hawks beat Madison 3-2 and improved to 5-0-1, and although Harper Frey scored both Madison goals just 48 seconds apart, Waterloo’s power play again made the difference. The Black Hawks have converted nine of 21 opportunities through six games, a 42.9 percent rate that deserves attention even with such a small sample.

Tri-City supplied another reminder that a productive offense does not always produce a comfortable weekend. The Storm defeated the NTDP Under-17 Team 7-4 Friday, with Cooper Ernewein and Joseph Hyten scoring twice each, but the next night Team USA built a 5-0 lead and survived a late Tri-City rally to win 8-5. The two teams combined for 24 goals over the weekend, which underscores how quickly defensive problems can overwhelm impressive scoring totals.

The next schedule offers immediate tests of these changing situations. Sioux Falls visits Cedar Rapids on October 16 and 17, with both clubs looking to show that their recent defeats have been addressed, and Youngstown heads to Muskegon on the same dates, giving the Phantoms a chance to build on their first two victories against a Lumberjacks team trying to stop its own slide. Waterloo and Des Moines meet in a home-and-home series October 16 and 17, which matches the Black Hawks’ productive power play against a Buccaneers club searching for more offense. Fargo’s October 15 game against Green Bay belongs to the next reporting period, regardless of its result.

Nothing about the season is settled, which is exactly why the last seven days were so revealing. The teams that looked untouchable have been beaten and those without answers have begun finding them, so the next challenge is proving that those changes will last.

---