Wednesday at the USG Arena inside the Chicago Blackhawks training facility, the Green Bay Gamblers faced the Sioux City Musketeers. As the teams played, the arena was filled with a lot of quarter-zips and puffer vests with all kinds of college logos. 

It wasn't an average USHL crowd because it wasn't a normal USHL game. 

The Musketeers (8-3-0) and the Gamblers were playing in the USHL's Fall Classic, which brings all of the teams to one city for two games apiece. Now in its 25th year, the Classic also is a way for scouts to get an early look at USHL players. There are other youth teams in town playing a tournament in nearby rinks, too. "It draws a lot of attention from the highest levels of the game. 

You have every NHL team here. 

You have every college team here at the Division I level, so that really matters for us," USHL commissioner Glenn Hefferan said. "When the youth players come through this building and they see all of this, they realize, 'Oh wow, the USHL is really about advancing us as players.'" This is the first time Chicago has hosted the event. 

The Blackhawks recently expanded their facility by adding rinks, lounges, concessions and the 2,000-capacity USG Arena. The Fall Classic is the first major event in the four-rink complex. Every USHL player gets a chance to compete just down the hall from where Patrick Kane trains and walk past all the memorabilia celebrating Chicago's six Stanley Cup titles. 

"It gets me fired up seeing all the [Stanley Cup] stuff and all that. 

Especially growing up watching them, just cool to be around the stadium and all see all that," said Drew Fox, a Muskegon Lumberjack forward from Hickory Creek, Texas. Since all USHL teams are spread out in the Midwest, Chicago also is easier to travel to. The scouts told Hefferan that the size of the facility also makes their job easier. "There's a lot more scouts here because they know there's room," Hefferan said. 

"That matters to them. 

They want to be comfortable when they do their work. They want to be able to leave their seat and come back and have a seat to go to when they come back. Having the capacity here makes a big difference." 

Having a place where scouts can get a good look at emerging players is one reason the USHL exists, as the league's goal is to develop players for the next level of play, whether that is college or the NHL. The league has done just that, with 185 alumni on NHL rosters to open the 2025-26 season. Hefferan said he hears from collegiate and NHL coaches that USHL alumni come to the next level ready to play. 

"This is hard what we do here, but it's very methodical. 

You play Friday, Saturday, you're off Sunday. You train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Friday, you're back at it," Hefferan said. "There's no junior league that practices more than we do in their home building. 

We get them ready."

Playing in front of an arena full of scouts is another way the USHL pushes its players to be ready for the more pressure-filled games they hope to play in as their hockey careers go along. "From a pressure situation, every NHL team is here," Hefferan said. "Every college team is here, in some cases two or three times over, and they see every guy or gal with a piece of paper and a pen. 

They're taking notes, and they're taking notes about them. 

That is pressure."

But for players who have college and professional hockey dreams for their futures, this situation is giving them exactly what they want. 

"It's a dream come true. 

Honestly, just getting the notice from everyone and just like being a part of a team here. It's really cool," said Aiden Janz, a Muskegon forward from Northville, Michigan. "Culture is definitely a really important part of the league. There's a lot of teams with good culture, and so Muskegon's got a great culture here. 

It's just having fun with the game as well. 

It's a very important part of it."

Written by

Lakshya