United States Hockey League

The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league in the United States. The USHL has 17 member teams located in the Midwestern United States, consisting of players who are 20 years of age and younger. The USHL is strictly amateur, allowing former players to compete in NCAA college hockey.

The Sioux Falls Stampede won the 2014–2015 Clark Cup Championship, defeating the Eastern Conference Champion Muskegon Lumberjacks 3 games to 0.

The Youngstown Phantoms won the Anderson Cup as the 2014-15 regular season champions.

Operations

The USHL is the country's top junior hockey league, classified as Tier I. Like comparable entities such as the Canadian Hockey League (CHL)'s three member leagues, the USHL offers a schedule of high-level, competitive games for top players aged 16 to 20. Unlike the CHL, it does not pay a stipend to its players, who thus retain amateur status and are eligible to play in the NCAA.

USHL teams, which are typically located in mid-sized cities (see map of team locations), pay for all uniforms and equipment. Players live with local families, who receive a small stipend for food expenses, and either continue school or work part-time jobs. Due to their schedules, more than 90% of games are on weekends, which many NHL and college scouts attend. Average attendance at regular season games for the 2014-15 season was 2,715 with 1,384,820 fans attending games during the season.

United States Hockey League (1945–51)

The United States Hockey League was a minor professional ice hockey league that operated from 1945 to 1951. It was a post-World War II revival of the American Hockey Association, which shut down in the fall of 1942 . The league playoff champion was awarded the Paul W. Loudon Trophy while the regular season champions were awarded the Directors' Cup.

Going into the league meetings in June 1951, there were rumors that half of the teams in the league were ready to pull out of the USHL. League vice-president, Harry Fowler of the Omaha Knights, said that a group in Wichita, Kansas was expected to apply for membership, and Sioux City, Iowa had also been mentioned as a potential addition to the league. The league ended up folding.

Teams