# 2004–05 USHL season

The 2004–05 USHL season is the 26th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season began on September 24, 2004, and concluded on April 2, 2005, with the regular season champion winning the Anderson Cup. The 2004–05 season was the first for the Indiana Ice who moved from Danville, Illinois, after their first season in the USHL. Two years after being named the River City Lancers, the franchise in Omaha, Nebraska, returned to their original name of Omaha Lancers.
The Clark Cup playoffs features the top four teams from each division competing for the league title.

## Regular season

Final standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched league title

### East Division

| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA |
| zCedar Rapids RoughRiders | 60 | 42 | 13 | 5 | 89 | 229 | 157 |
| xWaterloo Black Hawks | 60 | 29 | 25 | 6 | 64 | 163 | 168 |
| xChicago Steel | 60 | 26 | 29 | 5 | 57 | 165 | 187 |
| xIndiana Ice | 60 | 20 | 33 | 7 | 47 | 169 | 209 |
| Green Bay Gamblers | 60 | 21 | 37 | 2 | 44 | 141 | 220 |
| Des Moines Buccaneers | 60 | 17 | 37 | 6 | 40 | 174 | 244 |

### West Division

| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA |
| zOmaha Lancers | 60 | 41 | 12 | 7 | 89 | 215 | 148 |
| xSioux City Musketeers | 60 | 37 | 17 | 6 | 80 | 222 | 173 |
| xLincoln Stars | 60 | 37 | 17 | 6 | 80 | 217 | 184 |
| xTri-City Storm | 60 | 33 | 21 | 6 | 72 | 189 | 172 |
| Sioux Falls Stampede | 60 | 27 | 28 | 5 | 59 | 178 | 200 |

## Clark Cup playoffs

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Clark Cup Championship | Clark Cup Championship | Clark Cup Championship | Clark Cup Championship | Clark Cup Championship | Clark Cup Championship | Clark Cup Championship |
| 1 | Cedar Rapids | 7 | 6 | 5 | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Indiana Ice | 3 | 2 | 4 | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Indiana Ice | 3 | 2 | 4 | – | – | 1 | Cedar Rapids | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | – | | | | | | | |
| East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | 1 | Cedar Rapids | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | – | | | | | | | |
| East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | 2 | Chicago | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Waterloo | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Chicago | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Chicago | 1 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Chicago | 1 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 2 | | | | | | | | E | Cedar Rapids | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | W | Sioux City | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 1 | Omaha | 1 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | W | Sioux City | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | Tri-City | 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Tri-City | 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Tri-City | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | – | | | | | | | |
| West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | 4 | Tri-City | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | – | | | | | | | |
| West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | 2 | Sioux City | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | – | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Sioux City | 7 | 5 | 1 | 7 | – | 2 | Sioux City | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | – | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Lincoln | 4 | 2 | 9 | 5 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Players
### Scoring leaders

| | Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 1 | Dan Riedel | Lincoln Stars | 60 | 30 | 51 | 81 | +4 | 74 |
| 2 | Chad Rau | Des Moines Buccaneers | 57 | 31 | 40 | 71 | -10 | 32 |
| 3 | Trevor Smith | Omaha Lancers | 60 | 29 | 39 | 68 | +18 | 78 |
| 4 | Teddy Purcell | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | 58 | 20 | 47 | 67 | +20 | 22 |
| 5 | Cory Carlson | Omaha Lancers | 60 | 25 | 41 | 66 | +9 | 78 |
| 6 | Tim Kennedy | Sioux City Musketeers | 54 | 30 | 31 | 61 | +26 | 112 |
| | Brian Bales | Sioux City Musketeers | 54 | 20 | 41 | 61 | +31 | 16 |
| 8 | Erik Condra | Lincoln Stars | 60 | 30 | 30 | 60 | +5 | 56 |
| | Rob Ricci | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | 59 | 26 | 34 | 60 | +20 | 38 |
| 10 | Sean Muncy | Waterloo Black Hawks | 60 | 26 | 33 | 59 | -5 | 26 |

### Leading goaltenders

| | Player | Team | GP | MIN | W | L | OTL | SO | GA | GAA | SV | SV% |
| 1 | Jeff Lerg | Omaha Lancers | 52 | 3105 | 36 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 112 | 2.16 | 1229 | .916 |
| 2 | Dan Tormey | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | 32 | 1839 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 69 | 2.25 | 869 | .926 |
| 3 | Drew O'Connell | Waterloo Black Hawks | 37 | 1946 | 15 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 82 | 2.53 | 791 | .906 |
| 4 | Steve Jakiel | Lincoln Stars | 26 | 1434 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 61 | 2.55 | 668 | .916 |
| | Jeff Zatkoff | Sioux City Musketeers | 24 | 1271 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 54 | 2.55 | 575 | .914 |

## Awards

* Coach of the Year: Mark Carlson Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
* Curt Hammer Award: Christian Hanson Tri-City Storm
* Defenseman of the Year: Brett Motherwell Omaha Lancers
* Forward of the Year: Dan Riedel Lincoln Stars
* General Manager of the Year: Mike Hastings Omaha Lancers
* Goaltender of the Year: Jeff Lerg Omaha Lancers
* Organization of the Year: Waterloo Black Hawks
* Player of the Year: Jeff Lerg Omaha Lancers
* Rookie of the Year: Chad Rau Des Moines Buccaneers