OMAHA vs. CHICAGO Saturday, Sept. 19 7:00 p.m. CDT USG Arena
OMAHA vs. MADISON Sunday, Sept. 20 3:30 p.m. CDT USG Arena
The Lancers: Went 4-1 in the preseason... Went 19-38-3-2 (43 points) to finish seventh in the Western Conference in 2025-26.... Won seven of their final 10 games last season... Return 16 players who appeared in at least one USHL game last season...
The Steel: Went 27-27-6-2 (62 points) to finish seventh in the Eastern Conference last season… Have missed the Clark Cup Playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since missing for eight consecutive springs from 2009-16... Play their first game of the 2026-27 season Friday night vs. Lincoln... Move to USG Arena this season after having spent the previous 11 seasons at Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Ill.... Have scored just 29 power-play goals to the Lancers' 62 head-to-head all-time… Defeated the Lancers in 10 of their last 13 meetings dating back to March 9, 2018… Have outscored Omaha 44-26 in that same span… Swept the three-game set against the Lancers last season...
The Capitols: Went 32-27-0-3 (67 points) to finish 6th in the Eastern Conference last season… Defeated the third-seeded Green Bay Gamblers in the first round and knocked off the top-seeded and Anderson Cup-Champion Youngstown Phantoms in four games in the second round before falling to the fifth-seeded Muskegon Lumberjacks in five games in the Western Conference Finals... Have not lost to Omaha in regulation time since Feb. 17, 2023… There has only been one fighting major between these two clubs since Madison rejoined the USHL in 2014… The only fight came in their first meeting back on Jan. 31, 2015… Have never defeated the Lancers in a shootout… Topped Omaha 5-2, Jan. 30, and 6-2, Jan. 31 at Bob Suter's Legacy20 Arena last season...
40th Anniversary: The 2026-27 season marks the Lancers' 40th Anniversary... Omaha has won five Anderson Cups as USHL regular-season champions (tied for the most in USHL history) and seven Clark Cups as USHL postseason champions (the most in USHL history)... The Lancers have made the Clark Cup Playoffs 28 times, including 23 consecutive seasons from 1990-2012... Eighty-five Lancers have been selected in the NHL Draft and 44 Lancers have played in the NHL.
Fall Classic Faceoff: This season marks the first that the USHL is holding its annual season-opening tournament in Chicago... Both games this weekend will take place at the new Blackhawks Ice Center Presented by Fifth Third Bank... The Fall Classic was previously held in Cranberry Township, Pa. at the Pittsburgh Penguins' practice facility for seven of the previous eight season... The Lancers went 4-10 at Fall Classic games in Pennsylvania... Omaha is 18-17-4-1 all-time in regular-season openers… The Lancers are 48-17-3-3 all-time against the Chicago Steel in regular-season play… Omaha is 28-29-3-0 all-time against the Madison Capitols in regular-season action… The Lancers are 21-28-3-1 all-time in September regular-season games…
2026-27 Captains: Charlie Vig returns for a second season as team captain and will be joined by four alternates... Cam Caron, Reese Lantz, Tanner Morgan and Ryder Reynolds will all be alternates for the season, with two players a night wearing the 'A' on their sweater... All five players played for the Lancers last season and have combined to appear in 393 career USHL games...
Prima Returns From Rookie Camp: Lancers forward Artem Prima missed both of the Lancers' final two preseason games last weekend... He was away at the Utah Mammoth's Rookie Camp and Former Lancer goaltender Michael Hrabal was also in Utah's Rookie Camp and received an invitation to their Training Camp Roster...
Lancers To Watch: Ryan Aaronson scored 9 points (8+1) last season against Eastern Conference opponents… Last season, the Lancers were 5-2-0-2 when forward Tanner Morgan scored a goal… The Madison, Ala. native has 45 career points (18+27) … Charlie Vig netted 11 goals last season, 10 of which came against Western Conference opponents… Of Vig's 36 career points (14+22), just 5 of those assists came against an Eastern Conference foe…
Steel Players To Watch: The Shorter twins are anything but that… Each twin stands at 6'7… The forward Nolan Shorter enters his first season as a member of the Steel, while his brother Trevor on the blue line is entering his second season in the 'Windy City'… Last season, Trevor Shorter had a shooting percentage of just under 14 percent…
Capitols To Watch: Forward Max Rider exploded offensively against Omaha last season in Madison… The third-year veteran racked up 3 points (2+1) on Jan. 30 earlier this year against the 'orange and black' … Forward Rio Treharne comes to Madison after playing for the Waterloo Black Hawks last season… Treharne amassed 4 points (2+2) against the Lancers last season…
