SIOUX CITY, IA – Two of the top teams in the USHL face off in week 9 of the USHL regular season when the Muskegon Lumberjacks pay a visit to the Tyson Events Center for the first time in five years for a two-game series against the Sioux City Musketeers. It's been success by committee for the Jacks, especially in the crease while the Musketeers have been carried along by a handful of players through the start of the season.
The Match up
The start of the season has brought a tale of two teams for this week 9 match up. In Muskegon no one has stood out as "The Guy". On the offensive side of the puck
Davis Borozinskis (Liepaja, LAT) leads with 11 points, but is trailed by four players with 10 points each. Even in the crease
Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev (Makhachkala, RUS) started the season as the #1 guy, but a 4-game win streak from
Stephen Peck (New York, NY) showed that it is a share of the duties in the crease.
The Musketeers meanwhile have been led by a few players both on the offensive and defensive side of the puck. Their top unit of Giacomo Martino, Landon Gunderson, and Tate Pritchard are all at the top of the league in goals, assists, and points. Gunderson and Martino pace all of the USHL with 20 points. Gunderson is first in assists with 17 while Martino is fifth in goals with 8. In the crease Samuel Urban has played in 12 of the team's 15 games with a 7-4 record.
In the team statistical categories, the Lumberjacks have proven to be the #1 team in the USHL on the defensive side of the game. Gadzhiev and Peck have backstopped the Jacks to the least amount of goals against per game at 2.53, and the third best penalty kill at 84%. Sioux City enters the weekend as the third highest scoring team with 3.53 goals per game along with the second highest success rate on the power play at 27.3%.
About Last Week
The Jacks remained the hottest team in the USHL while the Muskies cooled off in a weekend of sweeps in week 8.
On home ice the Lumberjacks welcomed the Omaha Lancers to Trinity Health Arena for a pair of inter-conference games. Friday night the Jacks and Lancers played a tightly contested matchup eventually needing overtime to find a winner.
Drew Stewart (Minnetonka, MN) ended the game with just :11 seconds left in the extra period to send the fans home happy. Saturday night brought a different vibe. Again, the game was tight through the first period, but this time a :60 second scoring outburst from the Jacks saw them score a trio of goals including a pair from
Cooper Pierson (Zionsville, IN). In the end the Jacks won the game 5-3 enroute to the weekend sweep over Omaha.
Also at home, the Musketeers played in three games last week starting with a morning date against the Lincoln Stars. Martino, Murnieks, and Pritchard all scored in the 3-1 win to start the week off right, but from there it was all downhill. Over the weekend the Waterloo Black Hawks traveled to Sioux City, and left with all 4 possible points in the standings. Friday night was a back and forth contest finishing with the Hawks on top 6-4 while Saturday was tied all the way through a shootout where the Hawks picked up the 5-4 win. Overall the Musketeers picked up 3 out of 6 points on the week.
One of last season's acquisitions for the Lumberjacks,
Vaclav Nestrasil made the trip to the United States and the USHL by way of Czechia where he was a member of the HC Sparta Praha U17 team. After joining the Lumberjacks in late January Nestrasil appeared in 11 games through the end of the season as an under ager. Now in his NHL draft year he has taken the next step in his development and is a leader on the offensive end for the Jacks. In 15 games this season Vaclav has 7 points on 4 goals and 3 assists.
Following in the footsteps of his older brother Andrej, a 2009 third round selection of the Detroit Red Wings, Vaclav has been named a prospect for the 2025 NHL draft. It's not just his scoring capabilities that set him apart though. The fact that he can score and move around the ice with ease is impressive considering his 6'5, 187-pound frame.
Vaclav was a member of the Czechia National Under-17 team at the 2023 World Under-17 Challenge and is eligible to represent his nation at the 2025 World Junior Under-18 Championships in Frisco, Texas this upcoming April. Following his junior hockey career Vaclav will play NCAA Division I Ice Hockey at UMass Amherst in the Hockey East Conference.
Over the Airwaves
Every Lumberjacks game can be found on the official live stream partner of the USHL, FloHockey with Voice of the 'Jacks Ezra Gennello. Fans can also join Ezra on the free radio feed on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.
30 minutes to puck drop every game day the Lumberjacks Hockey Network Pregame Show takes place on Facebook Live.
Upcoming Games
Fri. November 15 | 8:05 pm ET | at Sioux City
Sat. November 16 | 7:05 pm ET | at Sioux City
Fri. November 22 | 7:00 pm ET | vs Sioux Falls
Sat. November 23 | 6:00 pm ET | vs Sioux Falls
Follow the Jacks
Be sure to follow the Muskegon Lumberjacks on social media!
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About the Muskegon Lumberjacks
The Muskegon Lumberjacks are proud and dedicated members of the United States Hockey League (USHL), the nation's only Tier I junior hockey league and leading producer of NCAA players and National Hockey League draft picks in the United States. The club's goal is to create an environment where student-athletes develop into successful young men both on and off the ice, which includes playing the game the right way while keeping up with their studies in the classroom and staying actively involved in the West Michigan community. The organization is committed to providing quality, affordable, and top-notch family entertainment while providing positive role models for the youth and the local community.
