2015-16 USPHL-Midwest Season

This is the 2015-16 USPHL Midwest Division season. This is the league's only season of operation.
The USPHL announced on December 18, 2014 the formation of a Midwest Division to begin in the 2015-16 season by adding several teams from the Minnesota Junior Hockey League. By the end of the season, the Midwest Division would add all but one active MnJHL team causing the MnJHL to disband for the following season. On March 10, 2014, the USPHL also added the entire Midwest Junior Hockey League to its new Midwest Division for the 2015-16 season.USPHL Midwest will mark the fourth Tier III division under the USPHL umbrella.  After the completion of the season the member teams were divided up into the USPHL Elite Division and the United States Premier 3 Hockey League.
The Wooster Oilers later withdrew from the league before playing after the organization also obtained a North American 3 Hockey League franchise when the organization purchased and relocated the Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks organization during the 2015 off-season.
The month of August was not kind to the membership of the league as the Ironwood Fighting Yoopers suspended operations on August 17th. On August 20, the Soo Firehawks announced they were suspending operations. The St. Louis Storm folded the next day and the Minnesota Owls suspended operations on August 25th. And then the Indiana Attack suspended operations on September 10th forcing the league to re-write the schedule.
On February 21, 2016, 20 year old Chicago Cougars captain Matt Olson caught an edge while reacing for a puck behind the net during a game and was seriously injured.  The fall resulted in very serious spinal injury and pemanant damage.  The team and family have a gofundme.com page set up to help with the expenses.
==USPHL Heritage Classic==
On December 23rd the league announced plans for the first ever outdoor game involving the USPHL.  The game is scheduled to be held January 29, 2016 at Clark Park Arena in Detroit.  The game will be between the Motor City Hawks and the Detroit Fighting Irish.
==Member Teams==
The USPHL-Midwest had 17 teams located in the Midwestern US spanning from Michigan to Minnesota. Due to losing several teams the league went with 2 conferences after originally planning on two divisions in each conference
Western Conference 	Western Conference 	Western Conference 	Western Conference
Team 	Location 	Arena(s) 	Comments
Blaine Energy 	Blaine, MN 	Fogerty Arena 	former Maple Grove Energy Franchise; join USPHL Elite Division
Chicago Cougars 	West Dundee, Illinois 	Leafs Centre and Sears Centre 	originally known as Crystal Lake Rampage in MJHL
; join USPHL Elite Division
Decatur Blaze 	Decatur, Illinois 	Decatur Civic Center 	formerly Bloomington Blaze; join USP3HL
Dells Ducks 	Lake Delton, Wisconsin 	Poppy Waterman Ice Arena 	 join USPHL Elite Division
Forest Lake Lakers 	Forest Lake, Minnesota 	Forest Lake Sports Center 	 join USPHL Elite Division
Illiana Blackbirds 	Dyer, Indiana 	Mid-West Training and Ice Center 	join USPHL Elite Division
SCV Magicians 	Hudson, Wisconsin 	Hudson Civic Center 	formerly Hudson Crusaders and briefly Hudson Magicians; join USPHL Elite Division
Steele County Blades 	Owatonna, MN 	Four Seasons Arena 	 join USPHL Elite Division
Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings 	Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin 	South Wood County Rec Center 	 join USPHL Elite Division
Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference
Alpena Flyers 	Alpena, Michigan 	Northern Lights Arena 	 join USP3HL
Detroit Fighting Irish 	Brownstown Township, Michigan 	Ice Box Sports Center 	formerly Tennyson Chevrolet; join USPHL Elite Division
Kalkaska Rhinos 	Kalkaska, Michigan 	The Kaliseum 	join after withdrew from Canadian International Hockey League; join USP3HL
Marquette Royales 	Marquette, Michigan 	Lakeview Arena 	 join USP3HL
Michigan Wild 	Farmington Hills, Michigan 	Farmington Hills Ice Arena 	known as Michigan Ice Dogs prior to 2015; join USP3HL
Motor City Hawks 	Fraser, Michigan 	Fraser Hockeyland 	formerly known as MC Monarchs in MWJHL; join USP3HL
Traverse City Hounds 	Traverse City, Michigan 	Centre Ice Arena 	join USP3HL
Tri-City Ice Hawks 	Bay City, Michigan 	Bay County Civic Arena 	 join USP3HL
Announced teams that later withdrew	Announced teams that later withdrew	Announced teams that later withdrew	Announced teams that later withdrew
Indiana Attack 	Fort Wayne, IN 	Lutheran Health Sports Center 	suspended operations September 10, 2015
Ironwood Fighting Yoopers 	Ironwood, Michigan 	Pat O'Donnell Center 	announced team was going inactive for 2015-16 season on August 17, 2015; return and join USP3HL for 2016-17 season
Minnesota Owls 	Isanti, Minnesota 	David Johnson Civic Arena 	suspend opereratons August 25, 2015 intend to return for 2016-17
St. Louis Storm 	St. Louis, Missouri 	FSI Shark Tank Arena 	formerly St. Louis Frontenacs; suspended operations August 21, 2015
Soo Firehawks 	Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan 	Big Bear Arena 	Suspended operations August 20, 2015
Wooster Oilers 	Wooster, Ohio 	Alice Noble Ice Arena 	later withdrew as organization already had a team in NA3HL
==Standings==
Western Conference 	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference
Team 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OL 	SL 	GF 	GA 	PIM 	P
Forest Lake Lakers 	48 	39 	7 	- 	2 	- 	257 	91 	- 	80
Chicago Cougars 	48 	39 	8 	- 	1 	- 	269 	107 	- 	79
Dells Ducks 	48 	38 	8 	- 	2 	- 	214 	80 	- 	78
SCV Magicians 	48 	35 	11 	- 	2 	- 	221 	145 	- 	72
Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings	48 	33 	10 	- 	5 	- 	239 	115 	- 	71
Illiana Blackbirds 	47 	23 	22 	- 	2 	- 	166 	180 	- 	48
Steele County Blades 	48 	20 	24 	- 	4 	- 	188 	202 	- 	44
Decatur Blaze 	47 	13 	34 	- 	0 	- 	145 	236 	- 	26
Blaine Energy 	48 	8 	38 	- 	2 	- 	99 	303 	- 	18
Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference
Team 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OL 	SL 	GF 	GA 	PIM 	P
Tri-City Ice Hawks 	48 	40 	5 	- 	3 	- 	225 	82 	- 	83
Traverse City Hounds 	48 	37 	9 	- 	2 	- 	237 	130 	- 	76
Detroit Fighting Irish 	48 	24 	22 	- 	2 	- 	186 	189 	- 	50
Kalkaska Rhinos 	48 	20 	23 	- 	5 	- 	180 	229 	- 	45
Marquette Royales 	48 	16 	24 	- 	8 	- 	142 	201 	- 	40
Motor City Hawks 	48 	15 	29 	- 	4 	- 	157 	247 	- 	34
Alpena Flyers 	48 	15 	32 	- 	1 	- 	162 	208 	- 	31
Michigan Wild 	48 	3 	43 	- 	2 	- 	94 	322 	- 	8
note: One game between Illiana and Decatur was cancelled late in the season and not made up as it had not affect on the final standings.
==Playoffs==
Prior to the season when the league had over twenty teams the league planned on having the top 8 teams in each division qualify for the playoffs.  The league decided to keep the format so the only team that did not qualify for the playoffs was the 9th place team in the Western Conference.
===Format===
Top 8 teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.  The conference quarterfinals and semifinals are best-of-three.  The four Division Semifinal round winners advance to the 8 team championship tournament also involving  the remaining 2 teams from both the USP3HL's North and South Divisions.
===Western Division Quarterfinals===
*Forest Lake Lakers defeated Decatur Blaze 2 games to none (7-1, 11-1)
*Chicago Cougars defeated Steele County Blades 2 games to none (3-1, 8-4)
*Dells Ducks defeated Illiana Blackbirds 2 games to 1 (3-0, 1-2, 3-2 (ot))
*Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings defeated SCV Magicians 2 games to 1 (3-5, 4-3, 5-1)
===Eastern Division Quarterfinals===
*Tri-City Ice Hawks defeated Michigan Wild 2 games to none (5-1, 10-2)
*Traverse City Hounds defeated Alpena Flyers 2 games to none (5-4 (ot), 5-1)
*Detroit Fighting Irish defeated Motor City Hawks 2 games to none (5-2, 5-4)
*Marquette Royales defeated Kalkaska Rhinos 2 games to none (1-2, 0-4) the first game was turned into a forfeit loss for the Rhinos as the team dressed an ineligible player
===Western Division Semifinals===
*Forest Lake Lakers defeated Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings 2 games to 1 (3-4 (ot), 5-1, 3-2 (ot))
*Dells Ducks defeated Chicago Cougars 2 games to 1 (2-1 (ot), 1-2 (ot), 3-2)
===Eastern Division Semifinals===
*Tri-City Hawks defeated Marquette Royales 2 games to none (7-1, 7-1)
*Traverse City Hounds defeated Detroit Fighting Irish 2 games to none (3-2, 3-2)
The four division semifinal winners advance to the USP3HL Championship tournament held March 9-12, 2016 at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
==USP3HL Championship==
===Format===
The four remaining teams from the USP3HL playoffs and the four remaining teams from the USPHL Midwest playoffs were put into a tournament held March 9-11, 2016 at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts.  The teams were placed in two pools of four teams (2 from each league per pool).  The teams played a single round robin over two days with the top two teams moving the semifinal round with the top team from one pool playing the second place team in the other pool in the single game semifinal round, the semifinal winners met for the championship later that day.
===Round Robin Games===
*Dells defeated Hampton Roads 3-0
*Jersey Shore defeated Tri-City 5-2
*Jersey tied Traverse City 2-2
*Florida defeated Forest Lake 3-1
*Hampton Roads defeated Jersey Shore 3-1
*Dells defeated Jersey Shore 6 to 1
*Hampton Roads defeated Tri-City 5-3
*Jersey defeated Florida 5-4
*Jersey tied Forest Lake 2-2
*Florida defeated Traverse City 3-0
The game between the two Midwest teams in each pool were not played.
===Round Robin Standings===
Team 	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	P
Dells Ducks 	2 	2	0	0	9 	1 	4
Hampton Roads Whalers	3 	2	1	0	8 	7 	4
Jersey Shore Whalers 	3 	1	2	0	7 	11	2
Tri-City Ice Hawks 	2 	0	2	0	5 	10	0
Team 	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	P
Florida Eels 	3 	2	0	1	10	6 	5
Jersey Hitmen 	3 	1	0	2	9 	8 	4
Forest Lake Lakers 	2 	1	0	1	3 	5 	3
Traverse City Hounds 	2 	0	1	1	2 	5 	1
===Semifinals===
*Dells defeated Florida 5-2
*Hampton Roads defeated Jersey 4-3 (ot)
===Final===
*Dells defeated Hampton Roads 5-0
Category:2016 in hockey
Category:USPHL Seasons