Muskegon Lumberjacks

This article is about the USHL franchise founded in 2010. For the defunct CoHL/UHL/IHL franchise, see Muskegon Lumberjacks (1992–2010). For the original IHL franchise, see Muskegon Lumberjacks (1984–1992).

Muskegon Lumberjacks
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City	Muskegon, Michigan
League	USHL
Conference	Eastern
Founded	2010
Home arena	L. C. Walker Arena
Colors	Black, Vegas Gold, Red, White
Owner(s)	Chris Ferraro, Peter Ferraro, Ron Friedman, Joel Friedman
General manager	John Vanbiesbrouck
Head coach	Todd Krygier
Franchise history
2010–present	Muskegon Lumberjacks

The Muskegon Lumberjacks are a Tier 1 junior hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League. They play in Muskegon, Michigan, at L.C. Walker Arena. The Lumberjacks replaced the IHL franchise of the same name, which relocated to Evansville at the end of the 2009–10 IHL season. The team was owned by Lou and Josh Mervis under a company named Blue Ox Hockey. but was sold to 3 former NHL players: brothers Chris and Peter Ferraro and John Vanbiesbrouck in June 2013.

Inaugural season

The Jacks won three straight games from November 5 through November 9, the night on which Matt Berry registered the first hat trick in team history in a 5–3 win over the Chicago Steel in Bensenville, Illinois. The Lumberjacks clinched a Clark Cup Playoff berth with a victory over the Steel at the L.C. Walker Arena on April 8.

Lumberjacks forwards Ryan Misiak and Matt Berry and defenseman Alexx Privitera were named to the CCM Eastern Conference All-Star team. Ryan Misiak led the Jacks in both points and assists with 58 and 43, respectively. Berry led the club wiith 25 goals. Micki Mihailovich set the team mark for penalty minutes with 264 and fellow defenseman Carter Foguth led the club with a +10 plus/minus rating.

In the playoffs, the fifth-seeded Muskegon Lumberjacks swept Team USA in the first round best-of-three series, then lost a best-of-five series 1–3 to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. After missing significant time in the regular season because of injury, Matt DeBlouw led the team with eight points (3 goals and 5 assists) during the Jacks' six playoff games and also led the club with a +6 plus/minus rating. Matt Berry led the team with four goals.

The Jacks were one of the last five teams standing during the 2010–11 Clark Cup Playoffs. After sweeping Team USA on the road in a best-of-three first-round series, the Jacks pressed the top-seeded Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, but fell in four games in a best-of-five second-round series.

2011–12 season

Muskegon rebounded from an 0–3–0 start by winning six out of seven games from October 30 through November 18. The run put the Lumberjacks at 7–6–0 but a pair of losses to eventual Anderson Cup champion Green Bay started a 2–9–2 slump, which led to the dismissal of head coach/GM Kevin Patrick on January 13. Patrick was replaced by 15-year NHL veteran and 2003 Stanley Cup winner Jim McKenzie, who previously was part of the player development staff with TPH Thunder AAA Hockey.

In late January the Lumberjacks hosted the inaugural USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game at L.C. Walker Arena, featuring the league's best talent eligible for the 2012 NHL Draft. Muskegon was represented by Matt DeBlouw, Mark Yanis and Czech winger Adam Chlapik. Team East beat Team West 5–3 in a game that set a record for event viewership on FastHockey.com; it was called by Lumberjacks broadcaster Matt Gajtka and Youngstown Phantoms play-by-play man Bart Logan.

On February 25 the Jacks rallied from 3–0 down in the first period to beat second-place Indiana 6–5 in a shootout at home. Dakota Klecha scored the franchise's first hat trick in nearly a year in a 6–1 win over the National Under-17 Team on March 17. Klecha's first goal tied a USHL record for fastest goal from the start of a game, as it came just seven seconds into the first period.

Muskegon capped a three-game homestand with a 4–3 shootout victory over Green Bay on March 24, handing the Gamblers just their fourth road loss of the season. Defenseman Rasmus Bengtsson, a second round pick of the Florida Panthers in the 2011 NHL Draft, scored the shootout winner, and goalie John Keeney, acquired from the Omaha Lancers in an October trade, stopped all four Green Bay attempts in the tiebreaker after making 36 saves through regulation and overtime.

Although the team finished last in the Eastern Conference with a 17-35-8 record, the offseason began on a very positive note as five players with Lumberjacks ties were taken in the 2012 NHL Draft in Pittsburgh. Michigan State recruit Matt DeBlouw was the Jacks' only active player to be drafted; he went to the Calgary Flames in the seventh round. Two Lumberjacks from the team's inaugural USHL season also heard their names called (Brendan Woods - Carolina, Jaycob Megna - Anaheim), as did two of Muskegon's future prospects (Adam Gilmour - Minnesota, Doyle Somerby - New York Islanders).

2014-2015 Season The best season of the franchise, most call it. Captain Christian Wolanin was impecably charming on the ice, with Griffen Molino, Jack Rowe(later traded to the Des Moines Buccaneers), and Matheson Iacopelli(Drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks). The season went well, claiming Eastern Conference Champs.

Roster

As of January 9, 2016.

#	S/P/C	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	College commitment
2		Mitch Eliot	D	6' 0"	190 lb	1998-02-06	Grosse Pointe, Michigan	HoneyBaked U18 (Midget AAA)	Michigan State
3		Nate Kallen	D	6' 0"	185 lb	1997-11-05	San Diego, California	Belle Tire U18 (Midget AAA)	Ferris State
4		Graham Lillibridge	D	5' 8"	145 lb	1999-01-29	Geneva, Illinois	Chicago Mission U16 (Midget AAA)	Yale
5		Christian Hausinger	D	6' 0"	194 lb	1996-12-09	Anchorage, Alaska	Lincoln (USHL)	Sacred Heart
8		Zach Berzolla	D	6' 2"	185 lb	1998-05-28	Howell, New Jersey	New Jersey Junior Titans U18 (Midget AAA)	Colorado College
9		Bo Hanson	D	6' 2"	198 lb	1997-11-13	Boise, Idaho	Colorado Rampage U16 (Midget AAA)	None
10		Derek Daschke	D	6' 2"	190 lb	1998-01-06	Troy, Michigan	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	Western Michigan
11		Trevor Hamilton	D	6' 0"	195 lb	1995-03-17	Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan	Miami (NCHC)	Penn State
12		Dominick Sacco	F	5' 8"	159 lb	1995-06-08	Brooklyn, New York	Lincoln (USHL)	None
13		Collin Adams	F	5' 9"	179 lb	1998-04-24	Brighton, Michigan	HoneyBaked U16 (Midget AAA)	North Dakota
14		Bobby Kaiser	F	6' 1"	183 lb	1997-05-09	Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan	Tri-City (USHL)	Western Michigan
15		Dante Palecco	F	5' 11"	185 lb	1998-04-18	Whippany, New Jersey	Long Island Gulls 16U (Midget AAA)	Yale
16		Rem Pitlick	F	5' 10"	195 lb	1997-04-02	Plymouth, Minnesota	Waterloo (USHL)	Minnesota
17		Jake Coleman	F	5' 7"	168 lb	1997-04-29	Moon Township, Pennsylvania	Keystone (NAHL)	Robert Morris
18		Daniel DiGrande	F	5' 11"	185 lb	1997-08-05	Macomb, Michigan	Springfield (NAHL)	None
19		Robbie DeMontis	F	5' 10"	165 lb	1996-02-17	Kleinburg, Ontario	The Hill Academy U16 (Midget AAA)	Yale
22		Logan Drevitch	F	5' 10"	165 lb	1998-04-14	Middleborough, Massachusetts	Boston Bandits (EHL)	Merrimack
23		Hayden Rowan	F	5' 9"	171 lb	1999-01-22	Pemberville, Ohio	Little Caesars U16 (Midget AAA)	None
25		Anthony Del Gaizo	F	5' 10"	185 lb	1998-01-31	Basking Ridge, New Jersey	New Jersey (EHL)	None
26		Chris Klack	F	5' 11"	160 lb	1997-06-03	Georgetown, Ontario	Lincoln (USHL)	None
27		Max Humitz	F	5' 9"	160 lb	1995-07-08	Livonia, Michigan	Lincoln (USHL)	Lake Superior State
28		Will Graber	F	6' 5"	188 lb	1996-06-03	Longmont, Colorado	Sioux Falls (USHL)	Dartmouth
29		Joey Daccord	G	6' 3"	205 lb	1996-08-18	North Andover, Massachusetts	Boston Junior Bruins (USPHL)	Arizona State
30		Devin Cooley	G	6' 5"	178 lb	1997-05-25	Los Gatos, California	San Jose Jr. Sharks (Midget AAA)	None

External links

• Muskegon Lumberjacks
• United States Hockey League
• Pointstreak