NCAA tournament has distinct USHL flavor

March 27, 2007 - United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release

GRAND FORKS, ND: Last weekend, 16 NCAA Division I men's hockey teams took to the ice in the first two rounds of 2007 NCAA tournament. A total of 12 games were played and the field of 16 was whittled down to four teams who will advance to the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Louis April 6-8, 2007.

The 16 teams in the event featured 130 players with ties to the USHL and every team featured at least one USHL alumnus.

"I'm not sure what the records were in the past, but I would think that this has to be close to a record for our league in terms of players taking part in the NCAA tournament," said USHL president Gino Gasparini. "The number gives further credence into the belief that the USHL is the premier development ground for players that not only want to play Division I college hockey, but want to play it at a high level.

The Omaha Lancers lead the way with 21 former players playing in the NCAA tournament. Following the Lancers is Lincoln with 14 players. Cedar Rapids and Sioux Falls have 13 former players apiece playing in the tournament.

The following is a breakdown of USHL alumni on each team.

West Region

Air Force: Eric Ehn (Green Bay) University of Michigan: Billy Sauer (Chicago), Steve Jakiel (Indiana), Jason Dest, Tim Miller, Brandon Naurato, Tim Cook (Omaha), Steven Kampfer, Travis Turnbull (Sioux City) and Anthony Ciraulo (Sioux Falls)

University of Minnesota: Derek Peltier (Cedar Rapids), Kyle Okposo (Des Moines), Blake Wheeler (Green Bay), Ben Gordon (Lincoln), Mike Howe, Evan Kaufmann, Tony Lucia (Omaha), Justin Bostrom (Sioux City), Jay Barriball, Kellen Briggs, Alex Goligoski, Mike Vannelli (Sioux Falls) and Tom Pohl (Tri-City)

Region Champion - University of North Dakota: Mike Forney (Des Moines), Brad Miller (Green Bay), Philippe Lamoureux, Chris Porter, Brian Lee, Robbie Bina, Chris Vande Velde (Lincoln), Joe Finley, T.J. Oshie (Sioux Falls), Erik Fabian (Topeka) and Scott Foyt (Tri-City)

North Dakota's Porter was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Tournament team. Teammates Bina, Oshie and Lamoureux as well as Minnesota's Vannelli were also named to the team.

Midwest Region

University of Alabama-Huntsville: Matt Sweazey (St. Louis)

Boston University: John McCarthy, Tom Morrow (Des Moines), Eric Gryba (Green Bay), Zach Cohen (Tri-City) and Peter MacArthur (Waterloo)

University of Notre Dame: Stewart Carlin, Dan Kissel (Chicago), Noah Babin, Kevin Deeth, Wes O'Neill, Dan Venard (Green Bay), Erik Condra, Jordan Pearce, Evan Rankin, Tom Sawatske (Lincoln), T.J. Jindra, Ryan Thang (Omaha), Christian Minella (Sioux City), Justin White (Sioux Falls), Brian D'Arcy, Christian Hanson, Kyle Lawson, Mark Van Guilder (Tri-City) and Garrett Regan (Waterloo)

Region Champion - Michigan State University: Chris Snavely, Justin Abdelkader, Tyler Howells (Cedar Rapids), Jeff Dunne (Chicago), Dan Sturges (Green Bay), Jay Sprague (Indiana), Ethan Graham (Lincoln), Jeff Lerg, Ryan Turek, Matt Schepke, Bobby Jarosz (Omaha), Justin Johnson, Tim Kennedy (Sioux City) and Jim McKenzie (Sioux Falls)

Lerg was named the region's Most Outstanding Player and was also named to the All-Tournament Team. He was joined on the team by teammates Kennedy and Howells as wellas O'Neill and Thang from Notre Dame.

East Region

Clarkson University: Michael Grenzy (Chicago) University of Massachusetts: Justin Braun (Green Bay), Zech Klann (Omaha), Brett Watson (Tri-City) and Cory Quirk (Waterloo)

St. Cloud State University: Bobby Goepfert (Cedar Rapids), John Swanson (Chicago), Chris Anderson (Danville), Marty Mjelleli (Des Moines), Nate Dey (Green Bay), Jon Ammerman, Ryan Peckskamp, B.J. O'Brien (Indiana), Garrett Raboin, David Carlisle (Lincoln), Nate Raduns, Grant Clafton (Omaha), Matt Hartman, Gary Houseman, Justin Fletcher (Sioux City) and Andreas Nodl (Sioux Falls)

Region Champion - University of Maine: Teddy Purcell (Cedar Rapids)

Northeast Region

Miami University: Raymond Eichenlaub, Billy Loupee, Alec Martinez, Gary Steffes (Cedar Rapids), Kevin Roeder (Chicago), Nino Musitelli, Brad Robbins (Danville), Marty Guerin (Des Moines), Charlie Fetzer, Mitch Ganzak (Green Bay), Michael Findorff (Indiana), Jeff Zatkoff (Sioux City), Charlie Effinger, Justin Mercier (St. Louis), Jarod Palmer (Tri-City) and Andy Nelson (Waterloo)

St. Lawrence University: Zach Miskovic (Cedar Rapids), Casey Parenteau and Travis Vermuelen (Sioux Falls)

University of New Hampshire: Greg Collins, Shawn Vinz (Cedar Rapids), Alan Thompson (Chicago), Brian Foster (Des Moines), Nick Krates, Trevor Smith (Omaha), Joe Charlebois (Sioux City), Jacob Mikflikier (Sioux Falls), Thomas Fortney, Mike Radja, Kevin Regan and Matt Fornataro (Waterloo)

Region Champion - Boston College: Joe Pearce (Chicago), Carl Sneep (Lincoln), Brett Motherwell, Nathan Gerbe, Brock Bradford (Omaha) and Tim Filangieri (Waterloo)

Boston College's Bradford and Miami's Ganzak were named to the All-Tournament Team.

This year, 33 former USHLers will participate in the Frozen Four, matching the number from a year ago.

In addition to the players, three of the tournament teams have head coaches that at one time coached in the USHL. Air Force head coach Frank Serratore coached the Rochester Mustangs (1982-87) and the Omaha Lancers (1989-90) and going into this season had the highest all-time winning percentage in league history at .710. St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko coached the North Iowa Huskies (1987-91) and the Sioux Falls Stampede (1999-01). He won a national championship with the Huskies in 1989. University of North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol coached the Sioux City Musketeers (1997-2000) and was the USHL Coach of the Year in 1998.

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