The USHL’s Clark Cup Final gets underway Friday, with the Fargo Force and Youngstown Phantoms featuring 38 NCAA recruits who are headed to 26 Division I schools.
Both teams are pursuing their first Clark Cup in the best-of-five series that opens in Fargo Friday and Saturday. They both reached the final series with 3-1 series victories in the conference finals against the top seed in their respective conferences, with Youngstown beating Team USA and Fargo winning three straight against Waterloo.
Clark Cup Playoffs Hub | Watch on HockeyTV
The 26 schools with commits in the final represent nearly half of the 60 teams in Division I and include teams from all six conferences (plus Arizona State).
Maine, Merrimack, Michigan and Omaha all have three commits in the final, and each will have future college teammates facing off against each other. Western Michigan also has commits on both teams, while Cornell, Minnesota and North Dakota all have two future college teammates playing together in the final.
Youngstown’s Chase Gresock (Merrimack) and Matthew Barry (Holy Cross) share the Clark Cup playoff scoring lead entering the final with 12 points apiece. Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup (Maine) leads Fargo with 10 points through 10 games, while teammate Robbie Stucker (Minnesota) is the top-scoring defenseman in the final with seven points in the playoffs.
Schmidt-Svejstrup and teammate Ty Farmer (Massachusetts) were second-team All-USHL selections. Barry and Fargo goaltender Strauss Mann (Michigan) were third-team honorees.
Each game in the Clark Cup Final will be broadcast on HockeyTV.
Clark Cup Final Schedule
Game 1: Friday, May 11, 7:05 p.m. CT in Fargo
Game 2: Saturday, May 12, 7:05 p.m. CT in Fargo
Game 3: Friday, May 18, 7:05 p.m. ET in Youngstown
Game 4 (if necessary): Saturday, May 19, 7:05 p.m. ET in Youngstown
Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, May 23, 7:05 p.m. CT in Fargo
Clark Cup Final Rosters
| Fargo Force | ||
| Evan Bell | D | Penn State |
| Ryan Bischel | G | Clarkson |
| Bartek Bison | F | |
| A.J. Drobot | F | Maine |
| Ty Farmer | D | Massachusetts |
| William Fallstrom | F | Quinnipiac |
| Xan Gurney | D | Western Michigan |
| Grant Hebert | F | Robert Morris |
| Griffin Loughran | F | Northern Michigan |
| Strauss Mann | G | Michigan |
| Jonathan McDonald | D | UMass Lowell |
| Spencer Meier | D | St. Cloud State |
| Ben Meyers | F | Minnesota |
| Ross Mitton | F | Northeastern |
| Calvin Pokorny | F | |
| Carter Randklev | F | North Dakota |
| Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup | F | Maine |
| John Schuldt | D | Omaha |
| Mark Senden | F | North Dakota |
| Jordan Seyfert | F | Merrimack |
| Sammy Steele | F | Arizona State |
| Robbie Stucker | D | Minnesota |
| Garrett Van Wyhe | F | Michigan |
Youngstown Phantoms |
||
| Joey Abate | F | Omaha |
| Matthew Barry | F | Holy Cross |
| Michael Callahan | D | Providence |
| Nicholas Cardelli | F | Bemidji State |
| Liam Dennison | D | Merrimack |
| Max Ellis | F | Notre Dame |
| Eric Esposito | F | New Hampshire |
| Jake Gingell | D | Michigan |
| Chase Gresock | F | Merrimack |
| Curtis Hall | F | Yale |
| Steve Holtz | D | |
| Michael Joyaux | D | Western Michigan |
| John Larkin | D | Ohio State |
| Jack Malone | F | Cornell |
| Dalton Messina | F | |
| Craig Needham | F | Maine |
| Tommy Parrottino | F | Michigan Tech |
| Wouter Peeters | G | |
| Ivan Prosvetov | G | |
| Mike Regush | F | Cornell |
| Samuel Salonen | F | |
| Jason Smallidge | D | Omaha |
All players who have appeared in the 2018 Clark Cup Playoffs listed