# 2012–13 USHL season

The 2012–13 USHL season is the 34th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season began on September 28, 2012, and concluded on April 13, 2013, with the regular season champion winning the Anderson Cup.
The playoffs began on April 16, 2013, and completed on May 17, 2013. The top four teams from each conference competed for the Clark Cup, with all series played in a best-of-five format.
This season was the 21st season in which one team captured both the Anderson Cup and the Clark Cup in the same season. It was the first time the Dubuque Fighting Saints accomplished this feat.

## Regular season

Final standings reflect games played through April 14, 2013
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; PTS = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PIM = Penalties in minutes x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched conference title; z = clinched regular season title

### Eastern Conference

| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | PIM |
| z-Dubuque Fighting Saints | 64 | 45 | 11 | 8 | 98 | 247 | 154 | 1055 |
| x-Green Bay Gamblers | 64 | 37 | 23 | 4 | 78 | 234 | 207 | 1069 |
| x-Youngstown Phantoms | 64 | 37 | 27 | 0 | 74 | 215 | 199 | 1346 |
| x-Muskegon Lumberjacks | 64 | 31 | 23 | 10 | 72 | 183 | 175 | 924 |
| Chicago Steel | 64 | 29 | 31 | 4 | 62 | 179 | 212 | 1069 |
| Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | 64 | 25 | 30 | 9 | 59 | 188 | 221 | 970 |
| Team USA | 64 | 22 | 37 | 5 | 49 | 178 | 230 | 999 |
| Indiana Ice | 64 | 21 | 37 | 6 | 48 | 181 | 249 | 816 |

### Western Conference

| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | PIM |
| y-Sioux Falls Stampede | 64 | 45 | 17 | 2 | 92 | 241 | 187 | 1047 |
| x-Fargo Force | 64 | 38 | 19 | 7 | 83 | 229 | 201 | 981 |
| x-Waterloo Black Hawks | 64 | 39 | 21 | 4 | 82 | 273 | 217 | 923 |
| x-Lincoln Stars | 64 | 39 | 22 | 3 | 81 | 217 | 191 | 1538 |
| Omaha Lancers | 64 | 34 | 29 | 1 | 69 | 177 | 183 | 1038 |
| Sioux City Musketeers | 64 | 23 | 30 | 11 | 57 | 196 | 200 | 1376 |
| Des Moines Buccaneers | 64 | 25 | 35 | 4 | 54 | 189 | 245 | 1570 |
| Tri-City Storm | 64 | 22 | 35 | 7 | 51 | 189 | 245 | 931 |

## Players
### Scoring leaders

Final statistics reflect games played through April 14, 2013
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; PTS = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus Rating; PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM |
| Taylor Cammarata | Waterloo Black Hawks | 59 | 38 | 55 | 93 | +39 | 49 |
| Justin Kloos | Waterloo Black Hawks | 54 | 29 | 58 | 87 | +34 | 22 |
| Zach Stepan | Waterloo Black Hawks | 56 | 32 | 46 | 78 | +25 | 50 |
| Kyle Novak | Green Bay Gamblers | 64 | 27 | 50 | 77 | +23 | 19 |
| Mike Szmatula | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 63 | 37 | 39 | 76 | +49 | 40 |
| Jake Guentzel | Sioux City Musketeers | 60 | 29 | 44 | 73 | +13 | 24 |
| Nicholas Schilkey | Green Bay Gamblers | 59 | 32 | 39 | 71 | +10 | 27 |
| Peter Quenneville | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 63 | 33 | 37 | 70 | +29 | 18 |
| Dominic Toninato | Fargo Force | 64 | 29 | 41 | 70 | +29 | 50 |
| Brendan Harms | Fargo Force | 64 | 25 | 45 | 70 | +33 | 45 |

### Leading goaltenders

Final statistics reflect games played through April 14, 2013
Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses: OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; GA = Goals Allowed; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | W | L | OTL | SO | GA | GAA | SV% |
| Artt Brey | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 38 | 2084:24 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 77 | 2.22 | 0.904 |
| Kevin Lindskoug | Muskegon Lumberjacks | 46 | 2707:52 | 23 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 112 | 2.48 | 0.924 |
| Connor Girard | Sioux City Musketeers | 33 | 1854:40 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 77 | 2.49 | 0.904 |
| Alex Lyon | Omaha Lancers | 50 | 2894:00 | 26 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 128 | 2.65 | 0.916 |
| Kyle Hayton | Sioux City Musketeers | 25 | 1515:23 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 67 | 2.65 | 0.911 |

## Clark Cup Playoffs

| Conference Semi-Finals (Best of 5) | Conference Semi-Finals (Best of 5) | Conference Semi-Finals (Best of 5) | Conference Finals (Best of 5) | Conference Finals (Best of 5) | Conference Finals (Best of 5) | Clark Cup Championship (Best of 5) | Clark Cup Championship (Best of 5) | Clark Cup Championship (Best of 5) |
| 1 | Dubuque | 3 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Muskegon | 0 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Muskegon | 0 | 1 | Dubuque | 3 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | 1 | Dubuque | 3 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | 3 | Youngstown | 2 | | | |
| 3 | Youngstown | 3 | 3 | Youngstown | 2 | | | |
| 2 | Green Bay | 1 | | | | | | |
| 2 | Green Bay | 1 | | | | E1 | Dubuque | 3 |
| | | | | | | W2 | Fargo | 0 |
| 2 | Fargo | 3 | | | | | | | W2 | Fargo | 0 |
| 3 | Waterloo | 2 | | | | | | |
| 3 | Waterloo | 2 | 2 | Fargo | 3 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | 2 | Fargo | 3 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | 1 | Sioux Falls | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Lincoln | 2 | 1 | Sioux Falls | 2 | | | |
| 1 | Sioux Falls | 3 | | | | | | |

## Conference Semi-Finals

    Note 1: All times are local.
    Note 2: Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
    Note 3: Home team is listed first.

### Eastern Conference
#### (1) Dubuque Fighting Saints vs. (4) Muskegon Lumberjacks

* Dubuque wins series 3 – 0

#### (2) Green Bay Gamblers vs. (3) Youngstown Phantoms

* Youngstown wins series 3 – 1

### Western Conference
#### (1) Sioux Falls Stampede vs. (4) Lincoln Stars

* Sioux Falls wins series 3 – 2

#### (2) Fargo Force vs. (3) Waterloo Black Hawks

* Fargo wins series 3 – 2

## Conference Finals

    Note 1: All times are local.
    Note 2: Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
    Note 3: Home team is listed first.

### Eastern Conference
#### (1) Dubuque Fighting Saints vs. (3) Youngstown Phantoms

* Dubuque wins series 3 – 2

### Western Conference
#### (1) Sioux Falls Stampede vs. (2) Fargo Force

* Fargo wins series 3 – 2

## Clark Cup Finals

    Note 1: All times are local.
    Note 2: Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
    Note 3: Home team is listed first.

### (E1) Dubuque Fighting Saints vs. (W2) Fargo Force

* Dubuque wins series 3 – 0

## Playoff Statistics

Statistics reflect games played through May 17, 2013

### Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; PTS = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus Rating; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM |
| Alex Iafallo | Fargo Force | 13 | 6 | 10 | 16 | +1 | 4 |
| Dave Gust | Fargo Force | 13 | 3 | 12 | 15 | +6 | 4 |
| Austin Ortega | Fargo Force | 13 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 15 |
| Mike Szmatula | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 11 | 7 | 5 | 12 | +2 | 8 |
| Frank DiChiara | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 11 | 4 | 8 | 12 | +4 | 6 |
| Sam Anas | Youngstown Phantoms | 9 | 3 | 9 | 12 | -7 | 6 |
| Shane Sooth | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 11 | 2 | 10 | 12 | +2 | 0 |
| Gabe Guertler | Fargo Force | 13 | 6 | 4 | 10 | +3 | 21 |
| Brendan Harms | Fargo Force | 12 | 5 | 5 | 10 | +4 | 4 |
| Peter Quenneville | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 9 | 6 | 3 | 9 | +4 | 2 |

### Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts; GA = Goals Allowed; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | W | L | SO | GA | GAA | SV% |
| Michael Bitzer | Lincoln Stars | 4 | 238:19 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1.01 | 0.972 |
| Artt Brey | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 10 | 618:32 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 1.65 | 0.935 |
| Sean Romeo | Youngstown Phantoms | 9 | 534:46 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 2.36 | 0.905 |
| Cam Johnson | Fargo Force | 8 | 475:13 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 2.40 | 0.931 |
| Charlie Lindgren | Sioux Falls Stampede | 10 | 595:05 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 25 | 2.52 | 0.921 |

## USHL Awards

| Award | Name | Team |
| Rookie of the Year | Jake Guentzel | Sioux City Musketeers |
| Defenseman of the Year | Paul LaDue | Lincoln Stars |
| Forward of the Year | Taylor Cammarata | Waterloo Black Hawks |
| Goaltender of the Year | Kevin Lindskoug | Muskegon Lumberjacks |
| Player of the Year | Taylor Cammarata | Waterloo Black Hawks |
| Scholar-Athlete | Jake Horton Tyler Moy | Waterloo Black Hawks Omaha Lancers |
| Curt Hammer | Ryan Siiro | Sioux Falls Stampede |
| Coach of the Year | Cary Eades | Sioux Falls Stampede |
| General Manager of the Year | Jim Montgomery | Dubuque Fighting Saints |
| Executive of the Year | Dan Lehv | Dubuque Fighting Saints |
| Organization of the Year | | Fargo Force |

## All-USHL teams
### First Team

| Position | Player | Team |
| Goalie | Kevin Lindskoug | Muskegon Lumberjacks |
| Defense | Paul LaDue | Lincoln Stars |
| Defense | Ian McCoshen | Waterloo Black Hawks |
| Forward | Taylor Cammarata | Waterloo Black Hawks |
| Forward | Justin Kloos | Waterloo Black Hawks |
| Forward | Mike Szmatula | Dubuque Fighting Saints |

### Second Team

| Position | Player | Team |
| Goalie | Alex Lyon | Omaha Lancers |
| Defense | Michael Brodzinski | Muskegon Lumberjacks |
| Defense | Niklas Nevalainen | Dubuque Fighting Saints |
| Forward | Austin Cangelosi | Youngstown Phantoms |
| Forward | Jake Guentzel | Sioux City Musketeers |
| Forward | Kyle Novak | Green Bay Gamblers |
| Forward | Peter Quenneville | Dubuque Fighting Saints |
| Forward | Dominic Toninato | Fargo Force |

### All-Rookie Team

| Position | Player | Team |
| Goalie | Cal Petersen | Waterloo Black Hawks |
| Defense | Gavin Bayreuther | Fargo Force |
| Defense | Michael Brondzinski | Muskegon Lumberjacks |
| Defense | Gustav Olofsson | Green Bay Gamblers |
| Forward | Jake Guentzel | Sioux City Musketeers |
| Forward | Tony Calderone | Sioux Falls Stampede |
| Forward | Vinni Lettieri | Lincoln Stars |
| Forward | Nick Schmaltz | Green Bay Gamblers |