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512-game schedule opens on September 28th Chicago, IL - The United States Hockey League announced today the game schedule for the 2012-13 regular season. A total of 512 games will be played during the 2012-13 regular season as each of the 16 USHL Member Club play 64 games (32 home, 32 road) beginning on Friday, September 28th, 2012 and concluding on Saturday, April 13th, 2013. The creation of the USHL regular season schedule is accomplished through the collective efforts of personnel from the League office and managers from each Member Club and fulfills a balance of required games between conference opponents, team preferred dates, arena availability, and team travel demands. Extending the schedule to 64 games per team is the first time the USHL has changed the number of regular season games since the League became the nation's only Tier 1 junior hockey league in 2002 and utilized a 60-game schedule for the past decade. Even with the additional games, the League worked to develop a schedule that remained consistent with the guidelines set forth in previous seasons - that is, promoting education through limited absence by players from classroom time, continued player commitment to community involvement, and maintaining a proper balance of practice time, off-ice training, and games for the safety and health of players. The 16 USHL Member Clubs are divided equally into two conferences - Eastern and Western - representing a true geographic split of the League. Conference opponents will play each other a minimum of six times during the 2012-13 season while the schedule also continues to nurture rivalries with a number of matchups between USHL teams in close proximity regardless of conference alignment. Thirteen matchups take place on the opening weekend of the 2012-13 season, including seven contests on Friday, September 28th. Highlighting opening night of the season is a rematch of the last season's Clark Cup Final series as the Green Bay Gamblers begin their championship defense by hosting the Waterloo Black Hawks. A pair of coaches will make their USHL head coaching debut during the opening weekend as Jon Rogger leads the Des Moines Buccaneers on a trip to Michigan to face Team USA on September 28th and Ron Gaytakes the Indiana Ice on the road to meet Eastern Conference rival Chicago Steel the same evening. Cary Eades makes his return to the USHL as he begins his first season as head coach of the Sioux Falls Stampede and leads them to an opening night matchup against the Lincoln Stars. He last coached in the USHL during the 1992-93 season. Two USHL teams will have new places to call home for the 2012-13 season. The Omaha Lancers open the brand new Ralston Sports and Entertainment Complex with a game against Tri-City on Friday, October 26th and the Indiana Ice will play a majority of their home contests at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.
The Omaha Lancers and Lincoln Stars will also make history during the 2012-13 regular season when they play the first-ever USHL game outdoors as part of the Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice scheduled for Saturday, February 9th at the TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. The game is part of a hockey doubleheader that will be followed by a collegiate game between the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the University of North Dakota. 2012-13 USHL Home Openers Cedar Rapids RoughRiders - Friday, October 5th vs. Fargo Chicago Steel - Friday, September 28th vs. Indiana Des Moines Buccaneers - Saturday, October 6th vs. Sioux Falls Dubuque Fighting Saints - Friday, September 28th vs. Tri-City Fargo Force - Friday, September 28th vs. Sioux City Green Bay Gamblers - Friday, September 28th vs. Waterloo Indiana Ice - Saturday, September 29th vs. Omaha Lincoln Stars - Friday, September 28th vs. Sioux Falls Muskegon Lumberjacks - Saturday, September 29th vs. Team USA Omaha Lancers - Friday, October 26th vs. Tri-City Sioux City Musketeers - Saturday, October 6th vs. Omaha Sioux Falls Stampede - Friday, October 5th vs. Omaha Tri-City Storm - Friday, October 5th vs. Sioux City Team USA - Friday, September 28th vs. Des Moines Waterloo Black Hawks - Saturday, September 29th vs. Sioux Falls Youngstown Phantoms - Friday, September 28th vs. Omaha At the conclusion of the 512-game regular season, the USHL will utilize an eight-team playoff format with the top four teams in each conference qualifying for the Clark Cup Playoffs. All series in the 2013 playoffs will have a best-of-five games format.
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