Feature Story
USHL Fall Classic heading to Sioux City
For the United States Hockey League, the 2007-08
preseason will be out with the old and in with the new. Or should it be out
with the old and in with the older? Either way, the league’s preseason
tournament will be moving, from its home of 17 years in Des Moines to the place
where it all started – Sioux City.
Back in the late 1980’s, then-Musketeers coach Bob
Ferguson came up with the idea of a Jamboree-style tournament, where all teams
from the league would participate in games at one site. Originally tabbed the
“Corn Bowl,” the games were played in Sioux City until Ferguson took the head
coaching position in Des Moines in 1990. The Corn Bowl was renamed the Buc Bowl
and it stayed in Des Moines through 2006.
“We’d had a number of teams inquire about having
something in the pre-season. It’s a chance for them to showcase their
organization as well as bring revenue into their buildings, their corporate
sponsors and the community,” said USHL President Gino Gasparini. “The Board of
Governors discussed it and decided to allow teams to submit an application to
host the event, subsequently selecting Sioux City’s application.”
Upon being awarded the event for 2007, the first order
of business was a new name.
“We wanted something that was strong, something that
spoke of tradition and something that could be used for years to come.
Ultimately the name ‘USHL Fall Classic’ stood out,” said Sioux City President
Jim Kronschnabel. “Once we had the name it was time to make the formal
announcement and go about the business of getting the community excited to host
the event.
“The response has been extremely positive. We did the
announcement on the video board during one of our games and the fans
immediately got excited about it. Word started to spread throughout the
community and we’ve had a good response from the corporate community as well.”
The Fall Classic will see six games played each day
for three days at two facilities – the Tyson Events Center and the IBP Ice
Center. The latter is a Musketeers practice facility. Every team in the USHL
will be present and all will play three games during the event.
“It’s the most important scouting event for our
league, hands down,” said Gasparini. “All of the colleges and all of the NHL
teams come in and have the chance to see every player in our league over a
three-day period and that’s very important to them. It lays the groundwork as
to how they will scout the USHL for the year. Our all-star game gives them the
chance to see the players having the best years play against each other, but
this event allows them to have every player at their disposal.”
The Musketeers will also be the hosts to the event in
2008.
“People don’t realize how much work goes into the
planning of something like this, and I’m glad that our people will have the
chance to work on it for two years and really put together something special
for the community and the league,” Kronschnabel said. “Most leagues these days
have showcases, and we wanted to take this event and make it into the one where
people leave at the end and say ‘now that’s how it’s supposed to be done.’”
For more information on the USHL Fall Classic, visit
the official web site at www.ushlfallclassic.com.