By Jim den Hollander
Editor/Publisher
Saukhockey.info
While the coaching staff of the Dells Ducks has been traveling and working hard to close in on a final roster for the 2023/24 USPHL Premier League season, team owner Shaun Falzone has looked after a host of behind the scenes fronts.
While sponsorship, paperwork and other chores keep him busy, one of the more exciting moments of the off season is previewing a new team schedule.
This season will be different for local fans as the team which in recnent seasons has been front-loaded with home games will keep hometown fans in suspense a little longer.
In previous seasons, USPHL Premier teams have hit the ice as early as the Labor Day weekend, this season will see an earliest start of Sept. 22. The Ducks will not play a game until Sept. 22 and the Ducks will be in action that weekend, heading to Blaine, MN to take on the always tough Minnesota Moose.
The following weekend will see the team back in the Twin Cities to take on the Minnesota Mullets, another team, like the Ducks, looking to move higher in the Midwest-West Division standings this year.
First home games will be Oct. 7-8 at the Lake Delton Ice Arena against the Isanti Outlaws with a new coach this season.
Those will be the only two home games of the first nine and the Ducks will have a more balanced schedule, in particular after Christmas.
Gone this season is the always popular Chicago Showcase tournament held annually as the last event before the Christmas Break. Teams will attend just two Showcases instead of the usual three and the Ducks will make up the four games with home and away inter-division sets against the Nashville Spartans, a second-year franchise playing this season in the Great Lakes Division.
The schedule features two six-game homestands. The first will be Dec. 14-Jan. 6 with two-game sets against the Hudson Havoc, Minnesota Blue Ox and Wisconsin Rapids Riverkinsgs. The other will be Jan. 26-Feb. 10 with visits from the MInnesota Squatch, Mullets and Nashville Spartans.
Listed is a tentative schedule for the Ducks with home games in Bold and the eight Showcase Challenges in italic.
September
22-23 — @ Fogerty Ice Arena (Blaine, MN) vs. Minnesota Moose,
29-30 — @ Augsburg University Ice Arena (Minneapolis, MN) vs. Minnesota Mullets
October
7-8 — @ Lake Delton Ice Arena vs. Isanti Outlaws
13-14 –@ Furniture-and-Things Community Event Center (Elk River, MN) vs. Minnesota Squatch
15 — Hudson Sports and Civic Center (Hudson, WI) vs. Hudson Havoc
20-21 @ Lake Delton Ice Arena vs. Minnesota Moose
26-29 @ Fogerty Ice Arena (Blaine, MN) Showcase Tournament — 4 games (2 home, 2 away)
November
4-5 — @ Lake Delton Ice Arena vs. Steele County Blades
10-11 @ South Wood County Recreation Center (Wisconsin Rapids, WI) vs. Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings
17-20 — @ Mount Clemens Ice Arena (Mount Clemens, MI) Showcase Tournament — 4 games (2 home, 2 away)
26 — @ Four Seasons Center (Owatonna, MN) vs. Steele County Blades
December
1-2 — @ Gary Force Acura Ice Arena (Nolensville, TN) vs. Nashville Spartans
14-15 — @ Lake Delton Ice Arena vs. Hudson Havoc
16-17 — @ Lake Delton Ice Arena vs. MInnesota Blue Ox
January 2024
5-6 — @ Lake Delton Ice Arena vs. Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings
12-13 @ Coon Rapids Ice Center (Coon Rapids, MN) vs. Minnesota Blue Ox
14 — @ Hudson Sports and Civic Center (Hudson, WI) vs. Hudson Havoc
20-21 — @ Isanti Ice Arena (Isanti, MN) vs. Isanti Outlaws
26-27 — @ Lake Delton Ice Arena vs. Nashville Spartans
February
2-3 — @ Lake Delton Ice Arena vs. Minnesota Squatch
9-10 — @Lake Delton Ice Arena vs. Minnesota Mullets
22 — @ Four Seasons Center (Owatonna, MN) vs. Steele County Bladesash
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