# Green Bay Gamblers

The Green Bay Gamblers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). They play in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, at the Resch Center.

## History
### Professional hockey in Green Bay

The first professional hockey team to be based in Green Bay was the Green Bay Bobcats who started playing in 1958 when the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena was built. There is some confusion over what league the team played in during its early years or if the team played in multiple leagues. Some sources cite that the Bobcats played in the U.S. Central Hockey League, a predecessor to the current United States Hockey League (USHL). Other sources claim that the Bobcats did not start playing in the USCHL until 1961. The Green Bay Bobcats franchise folded after the 1980-1981 season and 23 years of play. However, since the 2008-2009 season, the Green Bay Gamblers have used a yellow bobcat prominently in the team's logo as well as having a bobcat by the name of "Ace" as the team's mascot.

### Green Bay Gamblers

Since their inception into the United States Hockey League in 1994, the Green Bay Gamblers have been one of the premiere junior "A" hockey franchises in all of North America. To their credit the Gamblers have won two Junior A, Tier 2 National Championships (Gold Cups in 1996 and 1997), five Anderson Cups (1996, 1997, 2009, 2010, and 2012), four Clark Cups (1996, 2000, 2010, and 2012), four USHL Eastern Division titles, and one USHL Northern Division title. Since the USHL became Tier 1 in 2002, the Clark Cup also represents that level's national championship.

## Home rinks

From when the Gamblers entered the league at the start of the 1994-1995 season through the 2001-2002 season, the team's primary venue was at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena. For the start of the 2002-2003 season, the Gamblers moved into the Resch Center, an 8,800 seat arena which was built on the opposite side of Shopko Hall. The team played at the Memorial Arena a few times each season due to scheduling conflicts with the Resch Center until the arena was scheduled for demolition in 2019.
During the years at the Arena, other venues were sometimes used due to scheduling conflicts. These include the De Pere Ice & Recreation Center, the Brown County Youth Hockey Arena, the Cornerstone Community Center, Fond du Lac's Blue Line Ice Center, Beaver Dam Ice Arena, Greenheck Ice Center in Schofield.
Since 1994 the average attendance of a Gamblers Game is 3,353 people, which is among the top in the USHL. In 2010, the Green Bay Gamblers set a USHL record for the highest attended playoff game when 8,487 fans showed up to see game five of the USHL Playoff championship, a game the Gamblers won resulting in franchise's third Clark Cup. The record has since been broken multiple times.

## Season-by-season record

Reference
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | SOL | PTS | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Playoffs |
| 1994–95 | 48 | 9 | 34 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 147 | 264 | — | 11th of 11 | did not qualify |
| 1995–96 | 46 | 32 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 219 | 137 | — | 1st of 11 | Won Clark Cup |
| 1996–97 | 54 | 41 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 84 | 260 | 187 | 1882 | 1st of 6, North | Won quarterfinals, 4–2 vs. Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks Won semifinals, 4–3 vs. North Iowa Huskies Lost championship, 4–0 vs. Lincoln Stars |
| 1997–98 | 56 | 31 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 51 | 157 | 183 | 1576 | 3rd of 6, North | Lost quarterfinals, 4–0 vs. Des Moines Buccaneers |
| 1998–99 | 56 | 41 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 86 | 213 | 143 | 1568 | 1st of 4, East | Won quarterfinals, 3–0 vs. Thunder Bay Flyers Lost semifinals, 3–0 vs. Omaha Lancers |
| 1999–00 | 58 | 35 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 75 | 232 | 174 | 1318 | 2nd of 7, East | Won quarterfinals, 3–1 vs. Waterloo Black Hawks Won semifinals, 3–2 vs. Des Moines Buccaneers Won championship, 4–1 vs. Twin City Vulcans |
| 2000–01 | 56 | 32 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 75 | 177 | 153 | 994 | 1st of 6, East | Lost quarterfinals, 3–1 vs. Tri-City Storm |
| 2001–02 | 61 | 35 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 76 | 184 | 179 | 1257 | 1st of 6, East | Won quarterfinals, 3–0 vs. Des Moines Buccaneers Lost semifinals, 3–1 vs. Sioux City Musketeers |
| 2002–03 | 60 | 16 | 36 | — | 3 | 5 | 40 | 139 | 215 | 1341 | 5th of 5, East | did not qualify |
| 2003–04 | 60 | 27 | 28 | — | 4 | 1 | 59 | 171 | 176 | 1144 | 5th of 6, East | did not qualify |
| 2004–05 | 60 | 21 | 37 | — | 2 | 0 | 44 | 141 | 220 | 971 | 5th of 6, East | did not qualify |
| 2005–06 | 60 | 30 | 26 | — | 1 | 3 | 64 | 182 | 183 | 1127 | 3rd of 6, East | Lost quarterfinals, 3–0 vs. Des Moines Buccaneers |
| 2006–07 | 60 | 24 | 30 | — | 1 | 5 | 54 | 176 | 198 | 1317 | 4th of 6, East | Lost first round, 4–0 vs. Indiana Ice |
| 2007–08 | 60 | 13 | 41 | — | 2 | 4 | 32 | 130 | 224 | 1346 | 6th of 6, East | did not qualify |
| 2008–09 | 60 | 39 | 17 | — | 0 | 4 | 82 | 237 | 165 | 1363 | 1st of 6, East | Won qquarterfinals, 3–0 vs. Waterloo Black Hawks Lost semifinals, 3–1 vs. Indiana Ice |
| 2009–10 | 60 | 45 | 10 | — | 2 | 3 | 95 | 212 | 140 | 1394 | 1st of 8, East | Won quarterfinals, 3–0 vs. Waterloo Black Hawks Won semifinals, 3–1 vs. Indiana Ice Won championship, 3–2 vs. Fargo Force |
| 2010–11 | 60 | 41 | 15 | — | 2 | 2 | 86 | 189 | 131 | 790 | 2nd of 8, Eastern | Won quarterfinals, 3–0 vs. Indiana Ice Won semifinals, 3–1 vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Lost championship, 3–1 vs. Dubuque Fighting Saints |
| 2011–12 | 60 | 47 | 9 | — | 2 | 2 | 98 | 250 | 138 | 882 | 1st of 8, Eastern | Won quarterfinals, 3–1 vs. Youngstown Phantoms Won semifinals, 3–0 vs. Indiana Ice Won championship, 3–2 vs. Waterloo Black Hawks |
| 2012–13 | 64 | 37 | 23 | — | 3 | 1 | 78 | 234 | 207 | 1069 | 2nd of 8, Eastern | Lost quarterfinals, 3–1 vs. Youngstown Phantoms |
| 2013–14 | 60 | 30 | 24 | — | 3 | 3 | 66 | 183 | 176 | 887 | 4th of 8, Eastern | Lost quarterfinals, 3–1 vs. Indiana Ice |
| 2014–15 | 60 | 18 | 34 | — | 3 | 5 | 44 | 156 | 213 | 1010 | 9th of 9, Eastern | did not qualify |
| 2015–16 | 60 | 37 | 16 | — | 4 | 3 | 81 | 191 | 135 | 881 | 2nd of 9, Eastern | Lost quarterfinals, 3–1 vs. Dubuque Fighting Saints |
| 2016–17 | 60 | 34 | 22 | — | 2 | 2 | 72 | 173 | 145 | — | 5th of 9, Eastern | did not qualify |
| 2017–18 | 60 | 30 | 24 | — | 4 | 2 | 66 | 172 | 170 | — | 3rd of 9, Eastern | Lost quarterfinals, 2–0 vs. Dubuque Fighting Saints |
| 2018–19 | 62 | 19 | 34 | — | 6 | 3 | 47 | 173 | 250 | 967 | 8th of 9, Eastern | did not qualify |
| 2019–20 | 48 | 24 | 19 | — | 2 | 3 | 53 | 168 | 147 | 840 | 3rd of 8, Eastern | Season cancelled |
| 2020–21 | 51 | 30 | 17 | — | 2 | 2 | 64 | 190 | 182 | 821 | 3rd of 6, Eastern | Lost conference semifinals, 0–2 vs. Muskegon Lumberjacks |
| 2021–22 | 62 | 23 | 34 | — | 3 | 2 | 51 | 195 | 266 | 837 | 8th of 8, Eastern | did not qualify |
| 2022–23 | 62 | 32 | 23 | — | 3 | 4 | 71 | 204 | 204 | 829 | 4th of 8, Eastern | Lost quarterfinals, 1–2 vs. Dubuque Fighting Saints |
| 2023–24 | 62 | 34 | 18 | - | 7 | 3 | 78 | 233 | 214 | 1046 | 3rd of 8, Eastern | Lost quarterfinals 3–2 vs. Muskegon Lumberjacks |

## Players
### Team captains

* Ryan Petersen (2004–05)
* Ryan Little (2007–08)
* Patrick McCadden (2009-10)
* Max Hartner (2011–12)
* Grant Arnold (2011–12)
* Ryan Lough (2013–14)
* Sam Saliba (2015–16)
* Jared Spooner (2016–17)
* Jackson Charlesworth (2017–18)
* Nick Leitner (2018–19)
* McKade Webster (2019–20)
* Jesse Tucker (2020–21)
* Jarod Crespo (2021–22)
* Jabob Martin (2022–23)
* Michael DeAngelo (2023–24)
* Brady O'Malley (2024–25)

### Notable alumni
#### NHL

On March 25, 2013, former Gamblers head coach Jon Cooper was named the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He is the first USHL coaching alumnus to lead an NHL team. Former Gamblers head coach Derek Lalonde was hired by the Lightning as an assistant coach on July 12, 2018, joining Cooper's staff.
On June 30, 2022, the Detroit Red Wings hired LaLonde as head coach.
* Sean Backman
* Stu Bickel
* Justin Braun
* Alex Brooks
* Adam Burish
* Ryan Carter
* Ty Conklin
* Joey Crabb
* Austin Czarnik
* Sheldon Dries
* Jeff Finger
* Michael Forney
* Matt Greene
* Eric Gryba
* Nate Guenin
* Adam Huska
* Matt Jones
* Anders Lee
* Brendan Lemieux
* Artyom Levshunov
* Mason Lohrei
* Connor Mackey
* Dakota Mermis
* Casey Mittelstadt
* Wes O'Neill
* Gustav Olofsson
* Victor Oreskovich
* Tom Preissing
* Vili Saarijärvi
* Jordan Schmaltz
* Nick Schmaltz
* Mike Sislo
* Tim Stapleton
* Andy Welinski
* Blake Wheeler
* Christian Wolanin

### Notable NHL draft picks

Green Bay Gamblers have had the following players selected in the NHL draft.
| Year | Player | Drafted team | Pick |
| 1999 | Jeff Finger | Colorado Avalanche | 8th round |
| 2002 | Matt Greene | Edmonton Oilers | 2nd round |
| 2002 | Matt Jones | Phoenix Coyotes | 3rd round |
| 2002 | Nate Guenin | New York Rangers | 4th round |
| 2002 | Joey Crabb | New York Rangers | 7th round |
| 2002 | Adam Burish | Chicago Blackhawks | 9th round |
| 2004 | Blake Wheeler | Phoenix Coyotes | 1st round |
| 2004 | Victor Oreskovich | Colorado Avalanche | 2nd round |
| 2004 | Wes O'Neill | New York Islanders | 4th round |
| 2006 | Michael Forney | Atlanta Thrashers | 3rd round |
| 2006 | Eric Gryba | Ottawa Senators | 3rd round |
| 2007 | Justin Braun | San Jose Sharks | 7th round |
| 2009 | Nick Jensen | Phoenix Coyotes | 5th round |
| 2009 | Anders Lee | New York Islanders | 7th round |
| 2011 | Andy Welinski | Anaheim Ducks | 3rd round |
| 2012 | Jordan Schmaltz | St. Louis Blues | 1st round |
| 2013 | Gustav Olofsson | Minnesota Wild | 2nd round |
| 2014 | Nick Schmaltz | Chicago Blackhawks | 1st round |
| 2014 | Brendan Lemieux | Buffalo Sabres | 2nd round |
| 2015 | Vili Saarijärvi | Detroit Red Wings | 3rd round |
| 2015 | Christian Wolanin | Ottawa Senators | 4th round |
| 2015 | Adam Húska | New York Rangers | 7th round |
| 2016 | Andrew Peeke | Columbus Blue Jackets | 2nd round |
| 2016 | Rhett Gardner | Dallas Stars | 4th round |
| 2017 | Casey Mittelstadt | Buffalo Sabres | 1st round |
| 2018 | John Leonard | San Jose Sharks | 6th round |
| 2020 | Mason Lohrei | Boston Bruins | 2nd round |
| 2024 | Artyom Levshunov | Chicago Blackhawks | 1st round |

### Olympics

| Year | Player | Country | Finish |
| 2006 | Māris Ziediņš | Latvia | 12th |
| 2014 | Blake Wheeler | United States | 4th |
| 2022 | Markus Lauridsen | Denmark | 7th |

### NCAA champions

Gamblers alumni have played on multiple NCAA men's hockey national champions teams:
| Year | Player | School | Division |
| 2006 | Adam Burish | Wisconsin | Division I |
| 2006 | Josh Engel | Wisconsin | Division I |
| 2006 | Kyle Klubertanz | Wisconsin | Division I |
| 2009 | Eric Gryba | Boston | Division I |
| 2016 | Christian Wolanin | North Dakota | Division I |
| 2016 | Nick Schmaltz | North Dakota | Division I |
| 2022 | David Carle | Denver | Division I |
* ↑ Gamblers assistant coach, Denver head coach

### Statistical leaders

Points :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | P/G |
| Chad Stauffacher | F | 135 | 73 | 67 | 140 | 1.04 |
| Kyle Novak | RW | 126 | 44 | 84 | 128 | 1.02 |
| Nick Schmaltz | C | 130 | 37 | 82 | 119 | 0.92 |
| Billy Pugliese | F | 91 | 54 | 62 | 116 | 1.27 |
| Luke Stauffacher | RW | 189 | 39 | 77 | 116 | 0.61 |
| Matthew Weis | C | 141 | 42 | 70 | 112 | 0.79 |
| Reed Seckel | C/LW | 114 | 35 | 75 | 110 | 0.96 |
| Nick Schilkey | RW | 118 | 48 | 59 | 107 | 0.91 |
| Alex Broadhurst | C | 108 | 39 | 67 | 106 | 0.98 |
| Kevin Granato | C | 98 | 45 | 57 | 102 | 1.04 |
Goals :
| Player | Pos | G |
| Chad Stauffacher | F | 73 |
| Billy Pugliese | F | 54 |
| Sergio Somma | LW | 52 |
| C.J. Lee | F | 50 |
| Nick Schilkey | RW | 48 |
| Alex Kile | LW | 47 |
| Kevin Granato | C | 45 |
| Nolan LaPorte | RW | 45 |
| Kyle Novak | RW | 44 |
| Matt Johnson | RW | 43 |
Assists :
| Player | Pos | A |
| Kyle Novak | RW | 84 |
| Nick Schmaltz | C | 82 |
| Luke Stauffacher | RW | 77 |
| Reed Seckel | C/LW | 75 |
| Jeff Finger | D | 72 |
| Matthew Weis | C | 70 |
| Dan Calzada | D | 68 |
| Chad Stauffacher | F | 67 |
| Alex Broadhurst | C | 67 |
| Billy Pugliese | F | 62 |
Points per game :
| Player | Pos | P/G |
| John Eichelberger | C | 1.408 |
| Aaron Smith | F | 1.364 |
| Ryan Forbes | F | 1.277 |
| Billy Pugliese | F | 1.275 |
| Casey Mittelstadt | C/LW | 1.250 |
| Jason Cupp | C | 1.241 |
| Mario LeBlanc | F | 1.200 |
| Anders Lee | LW | 1.119 |
| Brian McDonald | LW | 1.053 |
| Chris Line | RW | 1.050 |
Games played :
| Player | Pos | GP |
| Luke Stauffacher | RW | 189 |
| Dallas Steward | F | 164 |
| Corey Couturier | LW | 164 |
| Dan Calzada | D | 162 |
| Jeff Finger | D | 161 |
| Anthony Hayes | F | 160 |
| Ryan Little | F/D | 155 |
| C.J. Lee | F | 152 |
| Brandon Longley | D | 148 |
| Matthew Weis | C | 141 |

## Head coaches

* Don Granato (1994–97)
* Mark Osiecki (1997–2004)
* Mark Mazzoleni (2004-2008)
* Dave Insalaco (2008) (interim)
* Jon Cooper (2008–2010)
* Eric Rud (2010–11)
* Derek Lalonde (2011–2014)
* Pat Mikesch (2014–2022)
* Michael Leone (2022–2024)
* Patrick McCadden (2024–present)