Montreal Canadiens: Three Prospects To Start USHL Playoffs This Weekend

Montreal Canadiens prospects had to scramble a bit at the start of the year to find a place to play.

Once they did, many of them were able to have very successful seasons. None were as electric as Cole Caufield’s performance with the Wisconsin Badgers, scoring nearly a goal per game and winning the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey.

But there were three others playing in the United States Hockey League that have had fairly successful seasons. All three of them are about the begin playoff runs with solid teams this weekend.

The best of the three Habs prospects in the USHL is Sean Farrell. He thought he would be playing college hockey this season at Harvard, but when the Ivy Leagues chose to shut things down for the year, Farrell was left to return to play for the Chicago Steel of the USHL. He made the most of this situation be completely dominating the league all season.

Farrell finished the season as the league leader in points with 101 in 53 games. HIs 72 assists were almost double the next highest in the league and would have been enough to put him second in the league in points. His 29 goals were just the cherry on top of an already terrific campaign.

The Steel finished first in the USHL’s Eastern Conference and will take on the Dubuque Fighting Saints in round one. Chicago’s 38-11-5 record makes them a huge favourite in the opening round against Dubuque’s 24-23-5 record.

Look for Farrell to have a huge series. It’s only a Best of 3, but that shouldn’t stop Farrell from scoring five or six points. The first game is tonight at 8:05 EST.

Jakub Dobes played a big role in the Omaha Lancers getting home ice advantage in the Western Conference semifinals. He led the USHL in games played and wins among goaltenders, while putting up the fourth best goals against average (2.48) and third best save percentage (.908) in the USHL. Game 1 in that series is tomorrow night.

Omaha fell just one point shy of Rhett Pitlick’s Tri-City Storm for first in the conference. Pitlick scored 20 points in 26 games after a midseason trade. The Storm will face the Fargo Force in round one and the first is tonight at 8:05 EST.