USHL Notes | April 11, 2023
USHL Notes April 11, 2023 | Notes in PDF format
Players of the Week: Ryan St. Louis (Dubuque/USHL Forward of the Week) led the USHL in assists with five and points with eight last week. The Burlington, Vt., native scored twice and had the game-winning goal while adding an assist in a 5-3 road win at Madison last Friday. The Brown commit has upped his season totals to 28-40—68 in 53 USHL games played in the process.
Bodie Nobes (Green Bay/USHL Defenseman of the Week) had 3-0--3 and was +2 with three shots on goal last week. Nobes scored three times and was +4 in an 8-3 win over Muskegon last Saturday. The Sainte-Therese, P.Q., native is a Maine commit and as 10-5—15 with and is +7 in 57 games on the season.
Clarkson commit
Emmett Croteau (Waterloo/USHL Goaltender of the Week) went 2-0-0 with 58 saves, a 2.88 goals against average and 0.906 save percentage in two appearances last week. In a performance that included a save on a penalty shot and three overtime saves, the Bonnyville, Alta., native registered 39 stops in a 2-1 overtime home win over league-leading Fargo last Saturday. Now a two-team USHL Goaltender of the Week this year, Croteau stands 15-10-0-0 on the season with a 2.60 goals against average and .914 save percentage.
13 former USHL Players Capture National Championship with Quinnpiac at 2023 Frozen Four: 13 former USHL players became national champions when Quinnipiac beat Minnesota in overtime at the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four last Saturday (see accompanying box). A couple of Quinnipiac staff members in assistant coach
Mike Corbett (Sioux Falls associate HC 2001-02, played for Madison 1990-92) and goaltending coach
Justin Eddy (played for Lincoln 1999-00) also have USHL connections.
Go here to view more information on the USHL’s Frozen Four connections.
Adam Fantilli Wins Hobey Baker: Forward
Adam Fantilli, who played for the USHL’s Chicago Steel In 2020-21 and 2021-22, was named the recipient of the 2023 Hobey Baker Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men’s college hockey. Fantilli, a freshman forward with the University of Michigan who was also named the recipient of the Tim Taylor Award as the National Rookie of the Year, led the country in scoring this year with 64 points on 29 goals and 35 assists in 35 games. Eligible for the NHL Draft this summer where he’s projected as one of the top prospects, the Toronto, Ont., native had 55-55—110 in 103 games in his two campaigns in Chicago. 14 former USHL players have been Hobey Baker Award recipients since the award was inaugurated in 1981.
17 former USHL players were named All-Americans and former USHL coach/GM Bob Motzko was named the NCAA men’s hockey coach of the year.
Ahead by a Century: Since the turn of this century, only five players in the USHL have scored more than
Mack Celebrini’s 46 goals this year:
Kevin Roy (54 in 2011-12 with Lincoln),
Matt Coronato (48 with Chicago in 2020-21),
Daniil Tarasov (47 with Indiana in 2022-12) and
Brandon Bochenski (47 with Lincoln in 2000-01). Two other players also reached 46 during this time in
Rem Pitlick (46 with Muskegon in 2015-16) and
Thomas Vanek (46 with Sioux Falls in 2001-02). The USHL record for goals in a season is 67 (
Rod Taylor with Sioux City in 1986-87).
Locking it Up: Five of the six play-off positions in the Eastern Conference have been determined with Chicago (37-16-4-1), NTDP (35-18-3-2), Youngstown (35-18-4-1), Green Bay (30-21-2-4) and Dubuque (29-22-5-1) all punching their tickets. In the Western Conference, it’s Fargo (38-13-3-4), Waterloo (37-20-1-0), Lincoln (35-19-3-1) and Tri-City (32-19-3-4) who have reached the play-off plateau. The 2023 USHL regular season concludes April 22 and the league play-offs begin April 24.
USHL NHL Alumni Spotlight: Drafted in the fourth round (98th overall) by the Nashville Predators in 2009, former Waterloo forward
Craig Smith is in his 12th season playing the National Hockey League. The Madison, Wis., native who was a USHL First Team All-Star in 2008-09, tallied 49-68--117 in 157 games with the Black Hawks during the course of his three-years in the USHL, Smith, who spent two seasons at the University of Wisconsin before turning pro, has posted 199-214--413 in 851 games with three different teams (Nashville, Boston, Washington) in the NHL.