1996–97 USHL season

March 2026 1996–97 USHL season #FFFFFF; border-top:#C6093B 3px solid; border-bottom:#000000 3px solid #000000 150px United States Hockey League Ice hockey Regular seasonSeptember 1996 – March 1997PostseasonMarch 19 – April 22, 1997 54 12 Regular season Anderson Cup Green Bay Gamblers Karl Goehring (Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks) Mike Lephart (Omaha Lancers) Playoffs Lincoln Stars Green Bay Gamblers List of USHL seasons USHL 1995–96 USHL season 1995–96 1997–98 USHL season 1997–98 The 1996–97 USHL season was the 18th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season began in September 1996 and concluded in March 1997. The Green Bay Gamblers won the Anderson Cup as regular season champions. The Lincoln Stars also defeated the Green Bay Gamblers 4 games to 0 for the Clark Cup. Member changes The previous season, the Fargo-Moorhead Bears failed to pay their league dues after the regular season and were immediately suspended from play. Afterwards, the team folded and the Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks joined as an expansion team in their place.Leitner Jim USHL gets 'new' franchise https://books.google.com/books?id=XlZFAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Fargo-Moorhead%20Bears%22&pg=PA6 10 June 2025 The Telegraph-Herald May 8, 1996 Dubuque, Iowa 3B enLeitner Jim Nothing short of ice capades https://books.google.com/books?id=sURFAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Fargo-Moorhead+Bears%22&pg=PA8 10 June 2025 The Telegraph-Herald September 29, 1996 Dubuque, Iowa 1B en The Lincoln Stars also joined the league as an expansion franchise. Regular season Final standingshttp://ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com/standings.html?leagueid=49&seasonid=258 USHL Standings Ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com 2013-09-04 Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched league title North Division Team GP Games played W Wins L Losses OTL Overtime losses Pts Points GF Goals For GA Goals Against xyz – Green Bay Gamblers 544111284260187 x – Rochester Mustangs 542821561217193 x – North Iowa Huskies 542821561210190 x – Twin City Vulcans 542526353190211 x – Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks 542428250160154 Thunder Bay Flyers 541933240186251 South Division Team GP Games played W Wins L Losses OTL Overtime losses Pts Points GF Goals For GA Goals Against xy – Omaha Lancers 544012282252152 x – Lincoln Stars 544013181244168 x – Des Moines Buccaneers 543713478245168 Dubuque Fighting Saints 541734337157211 Waterloo Black Hawks 541634436182273 Sioux City Musketeers 54943220162307 Statistics Scoring leaders The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games.https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/ushl/stats/1996-1997 USHL - 1996-1997 Elite Prospects June 17, 2025 Player Team GP Games played G Goals A Assists Pts Points PIM Penalties in minutes Mike Lephart Omaha Lancers 54 40 50 90 76 Jeff Turner Rochester Mustangs 54 32 56 88 42 Kevin Granato Green Bay Gamblers 54 41 41 82 72 Kevin Swider Omaha Lancers 52 37 44 81 16 Scott Matzka Omaha Lancers 53 38 40 78 112 Andrew Tortorella Waterloo/Omaha 49 22 56 78 113 Derek Robertson Des Moines Buccaneers 54 31 43 73 26 Chad Stauffacher Green Bay Gamblers 51 35 36 71 316 Jeff Panzer Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks 49 30 40 70 52 Jason Cupp Green Bay Gamblers 54 17 50 67 47 Leading goaltenders Minimum 1000 minutes played. Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage Player Team GP Mins W L OTL SO GA SV SV% GAA Karl Goehring Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks 32 1909 13 18 1 4 79 954 .924 2.48 Jayme Platt Des Moines Buccaneers 22 1224 15 4 2 2 51 628 .925 2.50 Dean Weasler Rochester Mustangs 37 2159 20 12 2 3 99 962 .907 2.75 Graham Melanson Omaha Lancers 29 1565 19 5 1 4 74 600 .890 2.84 Jason Braun Lincoln Stars 40 2249 28 11 1 2 109 955 .898 2.91 Clark Cup playoffs The regular season division champions received the top two seeds.Teams were reseeded after the quarterfinal round. 7 220 high 0 Quarterfinal(Best-of-7) Semifinal(Best-of-7) Championship(Best-of-7) S1 Green Bay Gamblers 0 6 7 4 2 3 - 8 Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks 3 3 4 3 4 2 - N1 Omaha Lancers 5 7 2 2 6 - - 7 Twin City Vulcans 0 5 0 3* 4 - - 3 Lincoln Stars 3 4 2 3 9 - - 6 Rochester Mustangs 2 1 5 2 2 - - 4 Des Moines Buccaneers 4 1 4 2 2 - - 5 North Iowa Huskies 7 0 5 5 3 - - S1 Green Bay Gamblers 5 5 4 5 5 5 1 5 North Iowa Huskies 7 2 5* 6 4 2 0 N1 Omaha Lancers 3 1 4 0 5 - - 3 Lincoln Stars 5 5 1 4 6* - - S1 Green Bay Gamblers 3 3 0 2 - - - 3 Lincoln Stars 5 4 7 3 - - - Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Awards Award Recipient Team Player of the Year Karl Goehring Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks Forward of the Year Mike Lephart Omaha Lancers Defenseman of the Year Doug Schmidt Waterloo Black Hawks Goaltender of the Year Karl Goehring Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks Rookie of the Year Karl Goehring Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks Coach of the Year Mike Hastings Omaha LancersGeneral Manager of the Year Mike Hastings Omaha Lancers https://ushl.1rmg.com/ 2024-25 USHL Media Guide USHL June 18, 2025 References 50em External links Hockey DB Elite Prospects USHL Category:United States Hockey League seasons