# 2003–04 USHL season

The 2003–04 USHL season is the 25th season of the United States Hockey League as an all-junior league. The regular season began on September 26, 2003, and concluded on March 28, 2004, with the regular season champion winning the Anderson Cup. The 2003–04 season was the first for the Danville Wings after transferring from the North American Hockey League and the only season for the St. Louis Heartland Eagles after moving from Topeka, Kansas. At the conclusion of the season, St. Louis voluntarily suspended operations and officially folded a year later.
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 |
| yChicago Steel | 60 | 34 | 22 | 4 | 72 | 190 | 165 |
| xCedar Rapids RoughRiders | 60 | 34 | 23 | 3 | 71 | 207 | 188 |
| xDanville Wings | 60 | 29 | 23 | 8 | 66 | 171 | 178 |
| xWaterloo Black Hawks | 60 | 30 | 27 | 3 | 63 | 174 | 162 |
| Green Bay Gamblers | 60 | 27 | 28 | 5 | 59 | 171 | 176 |
| St. Louis Heartland Eagles | 60 | 17 | 37 | 6 | 40 | 135 | 229 |

### West Division

| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA |
| zTri-City Storm | 60 | 43 | 12 | 5 | 91 | 225 | 138 |
| xSioux City Musketeers | 60 | 38 | 15 | 7 | 83 | 192 | 152 |
| xRiver City Lancers | 60 | 37 | 16 | 7 | 81 | 202 | 160 |
| xDes Moines Buccaneers | 60 | 29 | 26 | 5 | 63 | 202 | 200 |
| Lincoln Stars | 60 | 27 | 29 | 4 | 58 | 174 | 191 |
| Sioux Falls Stampede | 60 | 15 | 42 | 3 | 33 | 148 | 252 |

## 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 | Chicago | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Waterloo | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Waterloo | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | Waterloo | 3 | 6 | 9 | – | – | | | | | | | |
| East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | 4 | Waterloo | 3 | 6 | 9 | – | – | | | | | | | |
| East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | East Division | 3 | Danville | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Cedar Rapids | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 3 | Danville | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Danville | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Danville | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | – | | | | | | | | E | Waterloo | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | W | Tri-City | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – |
| 1 | Tri-City | 4 | 5 | 6 | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | W | Tri-City | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – |
| 4 | Des Moines | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Des Moines | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 1 | Tri-City | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | – | | | | | | | |
| West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | 1 | Tri-City | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | – | | | | | | | |
| West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | West Division | 2 | Sioux City | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Sioux City | 3 | 5 | 4 | – | – | 2 | Sioux City | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | | | | | | | |
| 3 | River City | 1 | 4 | 3 | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Players
### Scoring leaders

| | Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 1 | Mike Howe | River City Lancers | 56 | 36 | 42 | 78 | +27 | 30 |
| 2 | Paul Stastny | River City Lancers | 56 | 30 | 47 | 77 | +26 | 46 |
| 3 | Bill Thomas | Tri-City Storm | 60 | 31 | 38 | 69 | +43 | 30 |
| 4 | Matthew Ford | Sioux Falls Stampede | 60 | 37 | 31 | 68 | -4 | 60 |
| 5 | Jim McKenzie | Sioux Falls Stampede | 59 | 26 | 38 | 64 | +13 | 168 |
| | Mick Lawrence | River City Lancers | 58 | 26 | 38 | 64 | +11 | 127 |
| 7 | Bryan Marshall | Danville Wings | 60 | 28 | 35 | 63 | +1 | 52 |
| 8 | Mike Erickson | Des Moines Buccaneers | 58 | 37 | 24 | 61 | +5 | 23 |
| 9 | Joel Hanson | Waterloo Black Hawks | 60 | 17 | 42 | 59 | +3 | 85 |
| 10 | Danny Charleston | Chicago Steel | 59 | 24 | 34 | 58 | +7 | 92 |

### Leading goaltenders

| | Player | Team | GP | MIN | W | L | OTL | SO | GA | GAA | SV | SV% |
| 1 | Peter Mannino | Tri-City Storm | 38 | 1987 | 26 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 70 | 2.11 | 687 | .908 |
| 2 | Jeff Lerg | River City Lancers | 35 | 1962 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 72 | 2.20 | 800 | .917 |
| 3 | Eric Aarnio | Tri-City Storm | 30 | 1638 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 61 | 2.23 | 601 | .908 |
| 4 | Jimmy Spratt | Sioux City Musketeers | 34 | 1922 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 75 | 2.34 | 835 | .918 |
| 5 | Jeff Lantz | Sioux City Musketeers | 33 | 1737 | 19 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 68 | 2.35 | 779 | .920 |

## Awards

* Coach of the Year: Wil Nichol Chicago Steel
* Curt Hammer Award: Topher Scott Chicago Steel
* Defenseman of the Year: Mike Hodgson Sioux City Musketeers
* Forward of the Year: Mike Howe River City Lancers
* General Manager of the Year: Bliss Litter Tri-City Storm
* Goaltender of the Year: Phil Lamoureux Lincoln Stars
* Organization of the Year: Tri-City Storm
* Player of the Year: Mike Howe River City Lancers
* Rookie of the Year: Matthew Ford Sioux Falls Stampede