Questions to be answered as USHL enters fourth weekend of play

 What I’m looking for in week four of the USHL:

• Tri-City to stay undefeated at 5-0-0-0 (the last two columns are overtime wins and overtime losses). Pretty safe bet, since they don’t play. And yet we hear there isn’t ability to move one week of the regular season so we can have best-of-five in the first round - and two teams - the Storm and Youngstown - don’t play this weekend.

• Lincoln is off to a 3-1-0-1 start and looks much improved with five points in their first seven games. But they haven’t played the hard-nosed, physical hockey new coach Rocky Russo talked about prior to the season when he said he wanted to bring back traditional Lincoln hockey and have the visiting team leaving with ice bags. To an extent, it’s come easy to Lincoln so far, but that will all change with a pair of games in Fargo. More physicality and an intense game will be required to leave North Dakota with points this weekend.

• Sioux City is just 2-2-0-0, but they have looked like the type of team you don’t want to play in the playoffs - physical, intense, hard working, and never say quit. They play in Sioux Falls tonight (more on that later) and then at traditional rival Omaha Saturday night. If you’re looking for a good, hard nosed, physical game this weekend, don’t miss the Sioux City at Omaha game. It’s your best bet. 

• It’s rare for Chicago to play back to back nights in Muskegon, since it’s the second closest team to the Fox Valley, but that’s what’s on the card Friday and Saturday. Chicago has continued where they left off last season with a 5-0-0-1 record, while last year’s East runners-up Muskegon sit in last at 0-2-1-1. This is as close as either team has to a true rivalry, so these games will still be interesting. 

• Nobody has noticed, so don’t say this too loud, but Tri-City is not the only unbeaten team in the west, as Des Moines is also 4-0-0-0. If they win in Cedar Rapids Saturday night in their lone game of the weekend, they will be tied for first with the Storm…unless Lincoln sweeps Fargo.

• With a 2-0-1-1 record and some impressive goal totals, Dubuque looks like they’re for real. This weekend, they host Green Bay before traveling to Waterloo Saturday. With two wins, they’ll be right on Chicago’s heels. 

• Sioux Falls sits at 1-4-0-0 and hasn’t looked impressive at times, so it will be interesting to see if what promises to be a physical game against Sioux City knocks them out of their funk tonight. If the Muskies win this easily, Sioux Falls may need some changes or it could be a long year. If the Stampede respond in front of a big crowd, it would go a long ways to answering questions after a slide that saw them lose 17 of their last 19 games last year 

• Madison is 3-1-1-0, but is the league’s most unknown team. After sitting out last season, they drew over 2,300 to the 2,800 seat Bob Suter Arena opening night, but followed it up with two crowds that total less than the first one. On the ice, they’ve been anywhere from pretty good to great, with the later coming when they scored two goals late and then defeated Chicago 3-2 in overtime in their home opener, giving the Steel their only loss.

• Attendance. There’s been a lot of concern about some of the numbers, with only two crowds over 2,400. However, those are in Sioux Falls (who host closest rival Sioux City tonight) and Fargo (who have two home games against Lincoln this weekend). The league’s average should get a bump this weekend.

• Speaking of attendance, “home” games in Pittsburgh should not count towards a team’s home attendance total. They should be in a “neutral site” category. Hopefully the stats people fix this as the year goes on.

• Enjoy the games, see you at the rinks!