Ice make another deal, acquire Delgadillo from Sioux City

As they push to make a run for the Anderson and Clark Cups in the second half of the year, the Indiana Ice have continued to make several roster moves.

This time, the Ice have dealt defenseman Alexander Kuqali -- a third-year Iceman and RIT commit -- to Sioux City in exchange for Jose Delgadillo, another third-year USHL player.

Delgadillo comes to the Ice having played in 30 games, with two goals and six assists. He had 36 penalty minutes and was a minus-3. He played on the Musketeers' PK unit, and had two shorthanded assists. He is committed to play collegiately at Bowling Green. Coach Kyle Wallack described him as a "strong defensive defenseman" in a release issued by the team.

He stands 6-foot-2, 191 pounds.

Kuqali leaves the Ice having played 112 games in blue and white, with three goals and 26 assists in that time. This year, he had two goals and nine assists. He was an integral part of the league's best power play, with six of his 11 points on the year coming with the man advantage. He is a 6-2, 220-pound defenseman.

It's the third trade the Ice have made since the season started. On Dec. 3, they traded another Ice veteran -- Cody Bradley -- to Dubuque for forward John Doherty. On Nov. 21, the Ice acquired forward Ryan Cole from Lincoln for future considrations. Both Doherty and Cole have two goals and two assists with the Ice -- Doherty in 11 games, Cole in 10.

Ice fall to Sioux City 4-2

Sean Kuraly scored twice for the Ice, but Brett Patterson's second goal of the night midway through the third broke a tie and gave Sioux City the lead for good in an eventual 4-2 victory over the Indiana Ice at Pepsi Coliseum.

The defeat was the Ice's third straight home loss, and drops their record to 9-5-2. They dropped into fourth place and are now seven points back of division leader Muskegon, and two back of third-place Youngstown.

Kuraly's first goal came on the power play with 13:40 left in the first period on assists from Jacob Fallon and Daniil Tarasov -- who each assisted on both goals. Five minutes later, Brett Patterson gave Sioux City the lead back at 2-1.

Kuraly knotted it up two minutes into the second -- scoring his sixth of the year -- but Patterson's second goal came 10 minutes later and gave the Musketeers the lead for good. The Ice, who had stayed out of the penalty box the entire night, took two penalties in the third and Sioux City made them pay for the first, as David Henry scored at 8:24 of the third period to make it a 4-2 game. The Ice only got six shots at the Sioux City net in the third period.

Sioux City's Matt Skoff made 27 saves in the victory. Dalton Izyk stopped 23 Sioux City shots in the loss.

Patterson's goals were his second and third of the season for the Dartmouth recruit.

The Ice next play at home Saturday against Fargo -- another team that comes into the Coliseum with five wins on the season. Fargo fell 3-1 to Youngstown tonight.

Three stars
1. Matt Skoff (SC). 27 saves, 2 GA, win
2. Brett Patterson (SC), 2 goals, +2, 6 shots
3. Sean Kuraly (Ice), 2 goals, +1, 4 shots
USHL boxscore

Game 16: Sioux City at Ice

Tonight, the Ice begin a seven-game homestand with the first of three straight games against Western Conference foes. This weekend provides a strong chance for the Ice to put some pressure on first-place Green Bay, as they play two five-win teams at home, starting with tonight's contest against Sioux City. Saturday night, Fargo comes to town in a rematch of the 2009 Clark Cup Finals.

The Musketeers have dropped two straight games, but have been a high-scoring team of late. However, they've also allowed the most goals in the USHL, while the Ice possess some of the league's top snipers. Daniil Tarasov is the league's second-leading scorer and Robbie Baillargeon is in the midst of a seven-game scoring streak.

Sioux City sports one of the league's stronger scorers in David Goodwin, who was acquired in a trade from Green Bay last week. Peeking ahead, when the Ice face Fargo on Saturday night, it will mark the return of former Checker and former IHL Indianapolis Ice coach John Marks to Indianapolis. Marks is now the head coach of the Force.


Tonight's matchup:
Tonight's game
Sioux City Musketeers (5-10-0)
at

Indiana Ice (9-4-2)
7:05 p.m., Pepsi Coliseum


Broadcast: ushl.fasthockey.com

Season series: First meeting


Tale of the Tape
Ice (9-4-2, t3rd USHL East)
Head coach: Kyle Wallack
GF: 57 (2nd). GA: 45 (6th)
PP: 34.6% (1st). PK: 88.0 % (3rd) PIM: 333 (15th)
OT record: 2-1 SO record: 1-1
Home record: 3-2-2
Leading scorers: Daniil Tarasov (9-11-20), Jacob Fallon (8-9-17), Robbie Baillargeon (7-8-15, 7-game scoring streak), Robert Polosello (5-7-12), Sean Kuraly (4-8-12).
Leading +/-: Daniil Tarasov (+8), Alex Barron (+7)
Leading PIM: Woody Hudson (51, will not dress), Daniil Tarasov (43), R.J. Boyd (43)
Leading goaltender: Jon Gillies (8-3-2, 2.48 GAA, .914sv%, 1 SHO), Dalton Izyk (1-1-0, 3.76 GAA, .881 sv%)
Last 5: 2-2-1. Last 10: 4-4-2
Last 5
11/23: at Green Bay (OTW 4-3)

11/19: at Waterloo (L 2-4)
11/18: at Cedar Rapids (SOW 3-2)
11/12: vs. Muskegon (L 4-5)
11/11: vs. Green Bay (OTL 4-5)

Musketeers (5-10-0, 8th USHL West)
Head coach: Brett Larson
GF: 45 (10th). GA: 59 (16th)
PP: 13.2% (10th). PK: 84.9% (6th). PIM: 213 (3rd)
OT record: 0-0 SO record: 0-0
Road record: 2-4-0
Leading scorers: David Goodwin (7-8-15; 3-2-5 in 5 games with SXC); Brad Robbins (8-6-14), Pontus Johannsen (6-4-10)

Leading +/-: Pontus Johannsen (+3), Jordan Boucher-Gould (+3)
Leading PIM: Dane Cooper (32), Josh Erickson (31).
Leading goaltender: Matt Skoff (3-6-0, 3.11, .913 sv%, 1 SHO); Austin Priebe (2-4-0, 4.40 GAA, .846 sv%)

Last 5: 2-3-0. Last 10: 4-6-0

Ice next 5 games
11/26: vs. Fargo 12/2: vs. Sioux Falls
12/3: vs. Green Bay
12/4: vs. Green Bay
12/10: vs. Dubuque

Huge USHL trade

It had been rumored for a few days, but on Monday, the Sioux City Musketeers and Green Bay Gamblers pulled off a HUGE trade, with the Gamblers dealing their leading scorer to SC and top defenseman Jordan Schmaltz coming to Green Bay.

What are the implications for the Ice? GB just added one of the best players in the league to bolster an already strong team in an already-crowded top of the Eastern Conference.

While Green Bay visits the Pepsi Coliseum this Friday night, Schmaltz will not be in uniform. He is representing the United States in the World Junior A Challenge through this weekend, as is Ice forward Sean Kuraly.

To Green Bay
D Jordan Schmaltz -- one of the top NHL draft prospects this year. A defenseman, he had three goals and three assists in nine games.
F Peter Maric (2-2-4, -5 in 10 games with the Musketeers).

To Sioux City
F David Goodwin (4-5-9 in 11 games with the Gamblers, had been Green Bay's leading scorer)
D Dan Molenaar (1 assist in 5 games)
D Andy Ryan (3 assists, 14 PIM in 11 games)
F Jacob Montgomery (affiliate list, HS player)

In addition, GB has added Jordan's younger brother Nick Schmaltz to its roster, as well as two other players.

Slightly Chilled has a nice analysis.

So does the United States of Hockey, which takes on a bigger-picture look.