PITTSBURGH — The first two days of the USHL 2021-22 regular season wrapped up at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township Thursday and Friday featuring ten of the league's 16 teams. Two more days of action will have the other six teams from the Tier 1 junior hockey league including the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 squad, competing Saturday and Sunday.
The Tri-City Storm and Des Moines Buccaneers went 2-0 of the pool of ten teams playing the first half of the event, and the games were competitive overall. Not surprisingly, those two clubs feature multiple players who stood out and impressed. There were also some pleasant surprises in the early going, including several noticeable performances from local products Joe Fleming (Wellesley, Mass.) and Mason Kucenski (Gill, Mass.).
The annual event, which brings hundreds of NHL scouts and D-1 college coaches to one location to see all of the teams over four days, was not held a year ago due to the ongoing COVID pandemic.
