Chicago Steel

The Chicago Steel is a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team formed in 2000. It plays all of its home games at the Fox Valley Ice Arena, located in the Geneva, Illinois. The Steel play in the Eastern Division of the United States Hockey League. The GM and Head Coach of the Steel is former NHL'er Steve Poapst.
==History==
The Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks moved to Chicago, Illinois and became
the Steel in 2000. For the most part, the team hovered around
the .500 mark, until 2003-04. Under the direction of rookie
Head Coach Wil Nichol, the Steel won their first-ever East Division
title, besting the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders by one point.
The feat was remarkable considering the Steel didn’t have a
scorer or a goaltender ranked among the league leaders. Danny
Charleston led the team in scoring and Curt Hammer award winner
Topher Scott also provided clutch goals. Shane Connolly and
Adam D’Alba split the goaltending duties and Nichol claimed
league coach of the year honors.
The division title didn’t bring post-season success, however, as
the Steel fell to eventual Clark Cup champion Waterloo Black Hawks in a
tight, five-game, first-round series.
In May 2015, the majority ownership of the Chicago Steel was purchased by Larry Robbins while current owners Bruce Liimatainen and Mike Greenberg remained involved but as minority owners. The announcement for change of owners was accompanied by the announcement for a change of leadership on ice as Ryan Bennett and Dan Muse were hired as the new General Manager and Coach respectively.http://www.juniorhockey.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=87114 On July 27, 2015 the team announced they were relocating to the Fox Valley Ice Arena in nearby Geneva, Illinois. The previous management had a strained relationship with the Edge Ice Arena and the city of Bensenville.
On May 22, 2017, the Steel defeated the Sioux City Musketeers 2–1 in overtime of game five, finishing a 3-games-to-2 series win to claim the franchise's first Clark Cup. Head coach Dan Muse would then be hired by the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators as an assistant coach and Mark Abalan would take over as head coach of the Steel. 
On January 2, 2018, Abalan was let go and Ryan Cruthers was named the interim head coach and assistant general manager of the Steel. During the 2018 Clark Cup playoffs, the interim tag was removed and Cruthers was named the permanent head coach; however, Cruthers would leave the team in May 2018 when the Steel hired Ryan Hardy as general manager.
Greg Moore was then hired as the head coach for the 2018–19 season after previously serving as an assistant with Team USA. In 2019, he left to become head coach of the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League and Brock Sheahan was promoted to head coach. 
The Steel then won the regular season championship, the Anderson Cup, in the pandemic-shortened 2019–20 season. They won a second-straight Anderson Cup in the shortened 2020–21 season and subsequently won their second Clark Cup as playoff champions.
==Season-by-season record==
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OL = Overtime Losses, SL = Shoot out Losses GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points
Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks 	Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OL 	SL 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	Finish 	Playoffs
1996-97 	54 	24 	28 	- 	2 	0 	160 	154 	50 	5th of 6 North 	Lost Quarterfinals 2-4 (Green Bay Gamblers)
1997-98 	56 	30 	19 	- 	0 	7 	207 	208 	59 	2nd of 6 North 	Lost Quarterfinals 0-4 (Omaha Lancers)
1998-99 	56 	14 	41 	- 	1 	0 	164 	275 	29 	4th of 4 West 	Did not qualify
1999-00 	58 	18 	34 	- 	0 	6 	181 	228 	42 	7th of 7 West 	Did not qualify
Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel 	Chicago Steel
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OTL 	SOL 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	Finish 	Playoffs
2000-01 	56 	21 	30 	- 	5 	0 	182 	232 	47 	4th of 6 East 	Did not qualify
2001-02 	61 	29 	24 	- 	8 	0 	191 	209 	66 	4th of 6 East 	Lost Quaterfinals 1-3 (Omaha Lancers)
2002-03 	60 	26 	28 	- 	5 	1 	178 	204 	58 	4th of 5 East 	Did not qualify
2003-04 	60 	34 	22 	- 	1 	3 	190 	165 	72 	1st of 6 East 	Lost Quarterfinals 2-3 (Waterloo Black Hawks)
2004-05 	60 	26 	29 	- 	3 	2 	165 	187 	57 	3rd of 6 East 	
Won Quarterfinals 3-2 (Waterloo Black Hawks)
Lost Semifinals 0-3 (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders)
2005-06 	60 	18 	36 	- 	3 	3 	163 	243 	42 	6th of 6 East 	Did not qualify
2006-07 	60 	12 	46 	- 	1 	1 	150 	253 	26 	6th of 6 East 	Lost Quarterfinals 1-4 (Waterloo Black Hawks)
2007-08 	60 	32 	22 	- 	1 	5 	218 	199 	70 	4th of 6 East 	
Won Quarterfinals 3-1 (Indiana Ice)
Lost Semifinals 0-3 (Waterloo Black Hawks)
2008-09 	60 	31 	27 	- 	2 	0 	194 	213 	64 	5th of 6 East 	Did not qualify
2009-10 	60 	24 	30 	- 	4 	2 	178 	212 	54 	5th of 6 East 	Did not qualify
2010-11 	60 	9 	43 	- 	4 	4 	103 	248 	26 	8th of 8 Eastern 	Did not qualify
2011-12 	60 	25 	31 	- 	2 	2 	177 	210 	54 	7th of 8 Eastern 	Did not qualify
2012-13 	64 	29 	31 	- 	2 	2 	179 	212 	62 	5th of 8 Eastern 	Did not qualify
2013-14 	60 	29 	27 	- 	3 	1 	179 	195 	62 	6th of 7 Eastern 	Did not qualify
2014-15 	60 	30 	27 	- 	3 	0 	199 	209 	63 	6th of 8 Eastern 	Did not qualify
2015-16 	60 	27 	26 	- 	4 	3 	168 	168 	61 	6th of 9 Eastern 	Did not qualify
2016-17 	60 	38 	17 	- 	2 	3 	196 	144 	81 	1st of 9 Eastern 	Won Quarterfinals 3-2 (Youngstown Phantoms)Won  Semifinals 3-1 (Dubuque Fighting Saints)Won Final 3-2 (Sioux City MusketeersClark Cup Champions
2017-18 	60 	28 	25 	- 	2 	5 	219 	218 	63 	6th of 9 Eastern 	Won First Round 2-1 (Muskegon Lumberjacks)Lost Conf Semifinals 1-3 (NTDP)
2018-19 	62 	37 	21 	- 	4 	0 	243 	207 	78 	2nd of 9 Eastern 	Won Conf. Semifinals 3-1 (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders)W, Conf. Final 3-1 (Muskegon Lumberjacks)Lost Final 0-3 (Sioux Falls Stampede)
2019-20 	49 	41 	7 	- 	1 	0 	242 	136 	83 	1st of 8  EasternAnderson Cup Champions	Playoffs cancelled along with balance of regular season due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020-21 	54 	38 	11 	- 	3 	2 	265 	185 	.750 	1st of 6 EasternAnderson Cup Champions 	Won Conf. Semifinals 2-0 (Dubuque Fighting Saints) Won Conf. Final 2-0 (Muskegon Lumberjacks)Won Final 3-1 Fargo ForceClark Cup Champions
2021-22 	62 	39 	13 	- 	9 	1 	254 	196 	88 	1st Eastern 	Lost Conf. Semifinals 1-3 (Madison Capitals
2022-23 	62 	39 	18 	- 	4 	1 	275 	227 	83 	1st Eastern 	Lost Conf. Final
2023-24 	62 	27 	28 	- 	3 	4 	209 	256 	61 	6th Eastern 	Lost Conf. Quarterfinals 1-2 (Green Bay Gamblers)
==Notable alumni==
* Matt Clackson, currently in the Washington Capitals organization, son of Kim Clackson
* Tom Gilbert, defenseman for the Florida Panthers
* Joe Loprieno, San Jose Sharks prospect
* John Moore, defenseman for the New York Rangers, and 2011 AHL All-Star
* Travis Morin, Dallas Stars prospect
* Danny Richmond, member of 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, defenseman for the Lahti Pelicans of the SM-liiga in Finland
* Lee Sweatt, retired
* Dean Chelios and Jake Chelios, currently playing for the Michigan State Spartans, sons of Chris Chelios
* Philip Samuelsson, Defenseman for the Boston College Eagles, prospect for the Pittsburgh Penguins, son of Ulf Samuelsson
* Drew LeBlanc, Forward for the 2012-2013 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks
==Team Spirit==
The team mascot is Rusty the Pooch.
==External links==
* Chicago Steel Hockey Team Official site
 
Category:American ice hockey teams
Category:United States Hockey League team
Category:Established in 2000