Next Season = Three Divisions

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."

Promotional Ideas

Those of us in the office are excited that the 2009 - 2010 schedule has finally been set - and we're beginning to look at the promotional side of things and plan out what we're going to do each game night to make the experience more exciting and to add to the already promising product on the ice.

This is where you come in, we're looking for some great new ideas for promotions. We've been doing this for a couple of seasons and it's getting a bit harder to come up with something new, something exciting and something that you want to see.

We're of course looking at having Buc Beer Nights again, despite some misgivings from fans these are the nights that bring the most people to the arena and the nights that the Arena itself thrives on - but we want to fill the schedule with other nights that bring those Buc Beer Night crowds back for more.

What are some ideas that you have? Remember they have to be financially feasible and work in the arena! We've done trivia contests, giveaways, appearances - but we want more specifics. What do you want us to give away? Who do you want to see at the arena? Should we do a Pink in the Rink or Armed Forces night? Let us know!