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The 2002–03 USHL season is the 24th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season began on September 27, 2002, and concluded on March 30, 2003,[1] with the regular season champion winning the Anderson Cup. The 2002–03 season was the first for the River City Lancers after relocating to Council Bluffs, Iowa, from Omaha, Nebraska, and the last for the Topeka ScareCrows, which relocated to Chesterfield, Missouri, after the season concluded.
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (September 2013) |
| 2002-03 USHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | United States Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | September 2002 – April 29, 2003 |
| Number of games | 60 |
| Number of teams | 11 |
| Regular season | |
| Anderson Cup | Lincoln Stars |
| Season MVP | Ryan Potulny (Lincoln Stars) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Danny Irmen (Stars) |
| Finals champions | Lincoln Stars |
| Runners-up | River City Lancers |
The Clark Cup playoffs features the top eight team from the eleven-team league regardless of division competing for the league title.
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Final standings[2]
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched league title
East Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yWaterloo Black Hawks | 60 | 38 | 17 | 5 | 81 | 221 | 171 |
| xCedar Rapids RoughRiders | 60 | 27 | 26 | 7 | 61 | 157 | 180 |
| xDes Moines Buccaneers | 60 | 27 | 27 | 6 | 60 | 200 | 223 |
| Chicago Steel | 60 | 26 | 28 | 6 | 59 | 178 | 204 |
| Green Bay Gamblers | 60 | 16 | 36 | 8 | 40 | 139 | 215 |
West Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zLincoln Stars | 60 | 37 | 14 | 9 | 83 | 214 | 153 |
| xTopeka ScareCrows | 60 | 36 | 17 | 7 | 79 | 211 | 166 |
| xSioux City Musketeers | 60 | 36 | 18 | 6 | 78 | 210 | 186 |
| xRiver City Lancers | 60 | 36 | 19 | 5 | 77 | 178 | 149 |
| xTri-City Storm | 60 | 27 | 28 | 5 | 59 | 183 | 200 |
| Sioux Falls Stampede | 60 | 24 | 30 | 6 | 54 | 179 | 223 |
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| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Clark Cup Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Lincoln | 5 | 4 | 6 | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Tri-City | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Lincoln | 6 | 3 | 5 | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Cedar Rapids | 3 | 2 | 2 | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Topeka | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Cedar Rapids | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Lincoln | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | River City | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Waterloo | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Des Moines | 3 | 7 | 2 | 4 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | River City | 2 | 4 | 3 | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Waterloo | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Sioux City | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | River City | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) Lincoln Stars vs. (8) Tri-City Storm
| April 2 | Tri-City Storm | 3 – 5 | Lincoln Stars | Viaero Center | Recap | |||
| Scott Parse (1) - 16:29 Steve Wagner (1) - 19:59 |
First period | 10:42 - David Backes (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 15:30 - pp - Chris Porter (1) 17:33 - Danny Irmen (1) | ||||||
| Mark Agnew (1) - 4:55 | Third period | 12:29 - Danny Irmen (2) 19:10 - en - Ben Gordon (1) | ||||||
| Eric Aarnio (29 saves / 33 shots) | Goalie stats | Nate Ziegelman (23 saves / 26 shots) | ||||||
| April 4 | Lincoln Stars | 4 – 1 | Tri-City Storm | Ice Box | Recap | |||
| 13:20 - Jeff McFarland (1) | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 19:22 - Ryan Potulny (1) 19:51 - pp - Danny Irmen (3) |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| 16:09 - pp - Chris Porter (2) | Third period | Scott Parse (2) - 5:36 | ||||||
| Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (22 saves / 23 shots) | Goalie stats | Eric Aarnio (36 saves / 40 shots) | ||||||
| April 5 | Lincoln Stars | 6 – 0 | Tri-City Storm | Ice Box | Recap | |||
| Danny Irmen (4) - 0:26 Brent Borgen (1) - 1:55 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| John Snowden (1) - 2:13 Ben Gordon (2) - pp - 18:20 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ryan Potulny (2) - 1:25 Ben Gordon (3) - pp - 17:39 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nate Ziegelman (23 saves / 23 shots) | Goalie stats | Eric Aarnio (22 saves / 26 shots) Casey Mapes (9 saves / 11 shots) | ||||||
| Lincoln wins series 3 – 0 | |
(3) Topeka Scarecrows vs. (6) Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
| April 2 | Topeka Scarecrows | 2 – 3 | 2OT | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | Kansas Expocentre | Recap | ||
| 9:56 - Erik Fabian (1) | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | Mike Manley (1) - pp - 7:30 | ||||||
| 13:20 - pp - Rob Rankin (1) | Third period | Tyler Howells (1) - 16:55 | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | Matt Olinger (1) - 7:07 | ||||||
| Michael Zacharias (33 saves / 36 shots) | Goalie stats | Joe Fallon (31 saves / 33 shots) | ||||||
| April 3 | Topeka Scarecrows | 2 – 1 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | Kansas Expocentre | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | Tyler Howells (2) - 8:05 | ||||||
| 2:51 - James Unger (1) 10:22 - Eric Vesely (1) |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Michael Zacharias (15 saves / 16 shots) | Goalie stats | Joe Fallon (50 saves / 52 shots) | ||||||
| April 5 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | 3 – 2 | Topeka Scarecrows | Cedar Rapids Ice Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 19:08 - pp - Troy Brummett (1) | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| 0:47 - Jon Grabarek (1) 19:31 - pp - Matt Olinger (2) |
Third period | J.P. Platisha (1) - pp - 6:08 Eric Vesely (2) - 17:08 | ||||||
| Joe Fallon (35 saves / 37 shots) | Goalie stats | Michael Zacharias (29 saves / 32 shots) | ||||||
| April 6 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | 4 – 2 | Topeka Scarecrows | Cedar Rapids Ice Arena | Recap | |||
| 3:28 - Troy Brummett (2) | First period | Luke Erickson (1) - 9:02 | ||||||
| 2:44 - Chase Watson (1) | Second period | Eric Vesely (3) - sh - 7:40 | ||||||
| 4:43 - pp - Chase Watson (2) 18:56 - en - Zach Pearson (1) |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joe Fallon (19 saves / 21 shots) | Goalie stats | Michael Zacharias (16 saves / 19 shots) | ||||||
| Cedar Rapids wins series 3 – 1 | |
(2) Waterloo Black Hawks vs. (7) Des Moines Buccaneers
| April 2 | Waterloo Black Hawks | 6 – 3 | Des Moines Buccaneers | Young Arena | Recap | |||
| 5:34 - Derek Whitmore (1) 18:23 - pp - Jon Saunders (1) |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 0:56 - Joe Pavelski (1) | Second period | Marty Mjelleli (1) - 2:36 | ||||||
| 5:29 - Ross Carlson (1) 9:44 - Joel Hanson (1) |
Third period | Marty Mjelleli (2) - 2:26 Jamie Hoffmann (1) - 10:16 | ||||||
| Jordan Parise (20 saves / 23 shots) | Goalie stats | A.J. Bucchino (51 saves / 56 shots) | ||||||
| April 4 | Des Moines Buccaneers | 7 – 3 | Waterloo Black Hawks | Buccaneer Arena | Recap | |||
| Mike Erickson (1) 2:53 Kyle Bushee (1) - 3:53 Joe Campbell (1) - 16:15 Bryce Anderson (1) - 17:04 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tomáš Jasko (1) - 15:32 | Second period | 0:43 - Joe Pavelski (2) 13:57 - Igor Bobček (1) | ||||||
| Marty Mjelleli (3) - 4:33 Evan Stoflet (1) - 14:31 |
Third period | 15:03 - pp - Rob Lehtinen (1) | ||||||
| A.J. Bucchino (39 saves / 42 shots) | Goalie stats | Jeff Jakaitis (2 saves / 4 shots) Jordan Parise (32 saves / 37 shots) | ||||||
| April 5 | Waterloo Black Hawks | 5 – 2 | Des Moines Buccaneers | Young Arena | Recap | |||
| Joel Hanson (2) - 1:08 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Matt Fornataro (1) - 11:57 Joel Hanson (3) - 13:53 |
Second period | 4:41 - Joel Kitchen (1) | ||||||
| Joel Hanson (4) - pp - 11:37 Joe Pavelski (3) - sh - 19:43 |
Third period | 15:36 - Patrick Borgestad (1) | ||||||
| Jordan Parise (24 saves / 26 shots) | Goalie stats | A.J. Bucchino (43 saves / 48 shots) | ||||||
| April 8 | Des Moines Buccaneers | 4 – 5 | 2OT | Waterloo Black Hawks | Buccaneer Arena | Recap | ||
| 5:51 - Marty Guerin (1) 13:47 - Tomáš Jasko (2) |
First period | Rob Lehtinen (2) - 8:56 | ||||||
| 4:52 - pp - Joel Kitchen (2) | Second period | Ross Carlson (3) - pp - 2:09 Jon Saunders (2) - 3:06 Ross Carlson (4) - pp - 11:44 | ||||||
| 2:00 - Joel Kitchen (3) | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | Matt Fornataro (2) - 10:03 | ||||||
| A.J. Bucchino (57 saves / 62 shots) | Goalie stats | Jordan Parise (29 saves / 33 shots) | ||||||
| Waterloo wins series 3 – 1 | |
(4) Sioux City Musketeers vs. (5) River City Lancers
| April 1 | Sioux City Musketeers | 2 – 5 | River City Lancers | Tyson Events Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | Yale Lewis (1) - 18:51 | ||||||
| 7:25 - pp - Johann Kroll (1) | Second period | Mike Howe (1) - pp - 14:12 | ||||||
| 9:24 - Mike Ramirez (1) | Third period | Drew Miller (1) - sh - 3:20 Grant Clafton (1) - 6:13 Matt Carle (1) - en - 18:57 | ||||||
| Ján Chovan (35 saves / 39 shots) | Goalie stats | Dominic Vicari (32 saves / 34 shots) | ||||||
| April 3 | Sioux City Musketeers | 2 – 3 | OT | River City Lancers | Tyson Events Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 11:41 - Nathan Schwartzbauer (1) | Second period | Janne Jokila (1) - pp - 5:39 Nate Raduns (1) - 6:37 | ||||||
| 6:18 - pp - Mike Curry (1) | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | Grant Clafton (2) - 2:23 | ||||||
| Ján Chovan (45 saves / 48 shots) | Goalie stats | Dominic Vicari (17 saves / 19 shots) | ||||||
| April 5 | River City Lancers | 1 – 4 | Sioux City Musketeers | Omaha Civic Auditorium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | Brandon Polich (1) - 4:16 Mike Ramirez (2) - 7:46 Ryan Hawkins (1) - 14:38 | ||||||
| 10:57 - Corey Carlson (1) | Third period | B.J. Greaves (1) - en - 17:56 | ||||||
| Dominic Vicari (20 saves / 23 shots) | Goalie stats | Ján Chovan (34 saves / 35 shots) | ||||||
| April 6 | River City Lancers | 4 – 1 | Sioux City Musketeers | Omaha Civic Auditorium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | Bill Magnuson (1) - 15:47 | ||||||
| 3:40 - Charlie Kronschnabel (1) 11:00 - pp - Drew Miller (2) |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| 6:45 - Charlie Kronschnabel (2) 15:42 - Mike Howe (2) |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dominic Vicari (23 saves / 24 shots) | Goalie stats | Ján Chovan (39 saves / 43 shots) | ||||||
| River City wins series 3 – 1 | |
(1) Lincoln Stars vs. (6) Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
| April 11 | Lincoln Stars | 6 – 3 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | Ice Box | Recap | |||
| 3:47 - pp - Danny Irmen (5) 4:06 - Matt Hayek (1) 7:24 - Tyler Magura (1) 10:27 - sh - David Backes (2) 14:43 - Matt Hayek (2) |
First period | Jon Grabarek (2) - pp - 13:44 | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| 9:27 - pp - Ben Gordon (4) | Third period | Matt Olinger (3) - 3:33 Chris Snavely (1) - pp - 8:07 | ||||||
| Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (22 saves / 25 shots) Nate Ziegelmann (5 saves / 5 shots) |
Goalie stats | Joe Fallon (21 saves / 26 shots) Wes Russell (8 saves / 9 shots) | ||||||
| April 12 | Lincoln Stars | 3 – 2 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | Ice Box | Recap | |||
| 18:18 - pp - Per Mårs (1) | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 15:50 - Chris Porter (3) | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| 0:10 - Ryan Potulny (3) | Third period | Mike Manley (2) - 1:59 Mike Pasley (1) - 19:49 | ||||||
| Nate Ziegelmann (27 saves / 29 shots) | Goalie stats | Joe Fallon (23 saves / 26 shots) | ||||||
| April 15 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | 2 – 5 | Lincoln Stars | Cedar Rapids Ice Arena | Recap | |||
| 11:29 - Chris Snavely (2) | First period | Ryan Potulny (3) - pp - 17:06 | ||||||
| 0:36 - Chase Watson (3) | Second period | John Snowden (2) - 1:53 John Snowden (3) - 19:42 | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | Ben Gordon (5) - 1:58 David Backes (3) - pp - 16:38 | ||||||
| Joe Fallon (41 saves / 46 shots) | Goalie stats | Nate Ziegelmann (24 saves / 26 shots) | ||||||
| Lincoln wins series 3 – 0 | |
(2) River City Lancers vs. (5) Waterloo Black Hawks
| April 11 | Waterloo Black Hawks | 0 – 2 | River City Lancers | Young Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 1:49 - John Togiai (1) 4:12 - Drew Miller (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jordan Parise (28 saves / 30 shots) | Goalie stats | Dominic Vicari (29 saves / 29 shots) | ||||||
| April 12 | Waterloo Black Hawks | 3 – 4 | River City Lancers | Young Arena | Recap | |||
| Joe Pavelski (4) - 4:54 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Yale Lewis (2) - 8:52 Taylor Jindra (1) - 11:41 |
Second period | 7:35 - pp - Andy Nelson (1) 10:04 - pp - Janne Jokila (1) 15:05 - pp - Joel Hanson (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 16:45 - Nathan Gerbe (1) | ||||||
| Jeff Jakaitis (35 saves / 39 shots) | Goalie stats | Dominic Vicari (34 saves / 37 shots) | ||||||
| April 15 | River City Lancers | 3 – 1 | Waterloo Black Hawks | Omaha Civic Auditorium | Recap | |||
| Taylor Jindra (2) - 8:24 | First period | 1:21 - Joe Pavelski (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Phil Todd (1) - 6:25 Drew Miller (3) - en - 19:58 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dominic Vicari (19 saves / 20 shots) | Goalie stats | Jordan Parise (42 saves / 44 shots) | ||||||
| River City wins series 3 – 0 | |
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(1) Lincoln Stars vs. (2) River City Lancers
| April 22 | Lincoln Stars | 3 – 2 | OT | River City Lancers | Ice Box | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| 6:09 - Matt Hayek (3) 9:49 - Jeff McFarland (2) |
Third period | Taylor Jindra (3) - 14:44 Mike Howe (3) - pp - 16:34 | ||||||
| 0:25 - Ryan Potulny (4) | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nate Ziegelmann (31 saves / 33 shots) | Goalie stats | Dominic Vicari (36 saves / 39 shots) | ||||||
| April 25 | River City Lancers | 2 – 0 | Lincoln Stars | Omaha Civic Auditorium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mike Howe (4) - 1:22 Matt Carle (2) - pp - 4:00 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dominic Vicari (28 saves / 28 shots) | Goalie stats | Nate Ziegelmann (28 saves / 30 shots) | ||||||
| April 26 | Lincoln Stars | 4 – 1 | River City Lancers | Ice Box | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ryan Potulny (5) - pp - 1:05 Danny Irmen (6) - 16:32 Mike Eickman (1) - pp - 19:24 |
Second period | 11:07 - Jason Dest (1) | ||||||
| Ben Gordon (6) - en - 18:13 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (35 saves / 36 shots) | Goalie stats | Dominic Vicari (32 saves / 35 shots) | ||||||
| April 29 | River City Lancers | 1 – 5 | Lincoln Stars | Omaha Civic Auditorium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | Danny Irmen (7) - 16:58 | ||||||
| 8:29 - sh - Drew Miller (4) | Second period | David Backes (4) - sh - 12:22 Ethan Graham (1) - 14:03 | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | Chris Porter (3) - 7:04 Danny Irmen (8) - en - 17:21 | ||||||
| Dominic Vicari (24 saves / 28 shots) | Goalie stats | Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (35 saves / 36 shots) | ||||||
| Lincoln wins series 3 – 1 | |
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Scoring leaders
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Potulny | Lincoln Stars | 54 | 35 | 43 | 78 | +32 | 18 |
| 2 | Luke Erickson | Topeka ScareCrows | 64 | 31 | 40 | 71 | +21 | 72 |
| 3 | Joe Pavelski | Waterloo Black Hawks | 60 | 36 | 33 | 69 | +26 | 32 |
| David Backes | Lincoln Stars | 57 | 28 | 41 | 69 | +10 | 126 | |
| 5 | Jacob Micflikier | Sioux Falls Stampede | 59 | 31 | 36 | 67 | +5 | 26 |
| Tomáš Jasko | Des Moines Buccaneers | 60 | 30 | 37 | 67 | -3 | 33 | |
| 7 | Morod Radmacher | Sioux Falls Stampede | 60 | 26 | 38 | 64 | -3 | 50 |
| 8 | Marty Guerin | Des Moines Buccaneers | 60 | 27 | 33 | 60 | +14 | 30 |
| Grant Goeckner-Zoeller | Sioux City Musketeers | 60 | 27 | 33 | 60 | +19 | 60 | |
| Brandon Polich | Sioux City Musketeers | 60 | 17 | 43 | 60 | +20 | 79 |
Leading goaltenders
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | W | L | OTL | SO | GA | GAA | SV | SV% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominic Vicari | River City Lancers | 45 | 2507 | 28 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 85 | 2.03 | 902 | .914 |
| 2 | Jean-Philippe Lamoureux | Lincoln Stars | 34 | 1967 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 71 | 2.16 | 781 | .917 |
| 3 | Jordan Parise | Waterloo Black Hawks | 35 | 1927 | 21 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 82 | 2.55 | 878 | .915 |
| Michael Zacharias | Topeka ScareCrows | 27 | 1578 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 67 | 2.55 | 545 | .891 | |
| 5 | Nate Ziegelmann | Lincoln Stars | 28 | 1672 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 72 | 2.58 | 713 | .908 |
- Coach of the Year: P.K. O'Handley Waterloo Black Hawks
- Curt Hammer Award: Jake Taylor Green Bay Gamblers
- Defenseman of the Year: Matt Carle River City Lancers
- Forward of the Year: Ryan Potulny Lincoln Stars
- General Manager of the Year: P.K. O'Handley Waterloo Black Hawks
- Goaltender of the Year: Dominic Vicari River City Lancers
- Organization of the Year: Waterloo Black Hawks
- Player of the Year: Ryan Potulny Lincoln Stars
- Rookie of the Year: Joe Pavelski Waterloo Black Hawks
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