With the addition of the Dubuque Fighting Saints and the Muskegeon Lumberjacks, the USHL will have three divisions next season. Shifting from two to three divisions will mean an unbalanced schedule. Unbalanced? The Bucs will be playing a lot more games within their division next season than ever before. Rivalries will be stronger because we'll see a lot more of the same teams.
Below is the breakdown of the three divisions:
Central Division: Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, Des Moines Buccaneers, Dubuque Fighting Siants, Green Bay Gamblers and the Waterloo Black Hawks.
East Division: Chicago Steel, Indiana Ice, Muskegon Lumberjacks, Team USA and the Youngstown Phantoms.
Western Division: Fargo Force, Lincoln Stars, Omaha Lancers, Sioux City Musketeers, Sioux Falls Stampede and Tri-City Storm.
"The divisional alignment is all set. The only question is how unbalanced the schedule will be," Prince said last week to Jim Leitner of the Dubuque Times Herald. "It makes sense from a business sense, because teams will be playing their biggest draws more often. It also means less travel and less school time missed for our student-athletes, who were a huge consideration when we decided this. We're not quite sure how the playoff qualifiers will be determined. But, it looks like we will be expanding the playoffs, too."
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