Men’s Ice Hockey | 4/19/2026 11:00:00 AM


Story Links




Scholar-Athlete of the Year



Defenseman Ryan Poirier of the Sioux City Musketeers has been named the 2025-26 United States Hockey League (USHL) Scholar-Athlete of the Year, which recognizes a high school senior as the league’s most exemplary student-athlete.

Poirier‘s classwork at the University of Nebraska High School included entrepreneurship, statistics, physics, financial algebra, sociology, and civics. Demonstrating skills in independent learning, self-motivation, organization, and time management, the Salem, N.H. committed carried a 4.25 GPA. On the ice, Poirier played in 51 games with four goals, six assists, 18 penalty minutes, and a +4 rating.

2025-26 USHL All-Academic Team

Owen DeGraff, F, Waterloo Black Hawks

Caden Drabowski, F, Dubuque Fighting Saints

Luca Jarvis, F, Tri-City Storm

Timothy Kazda, F, Chicago Steel

Xavier Lieb, F, Dubuque Fighting Saints

Hudson Lohse, D, Dubuque Fighting Saints

Cruz Martin, F, Green Bay Gamblers

Ryan Pourier, D, Sioux City Musketeers

Casey Vandertop, F, Lincoln Stars

 

About the USHL

The United States Hockey League (USHL) and its 16 teams are committed to being the world’s leading junior hockey league. This season, more than 50% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players and nearly 25% of NHL players have USHL experience. The USHL has developed more than 285 direct NHL Draft picks since 2020, and nine of the last 10 Hobey Baker Award winners, including Macklin Celebrini (Chicago Steel).

Elevated through the recently announced Declaration of Excellence with the NHL and USA Hockey, the league’s player-first approach, including a 2:1 practice-to-game ratio and a schedule with 90% of games played on weekends, provides its players with the optimal environment for athletic and personal growth, creating pathways for the next generation of stars like Auston Matthews (NTDP), Kyle Connor (Youngstown Phantoms), Jeremy Swayman (Sioux Falls Stampede), and Johnny Gaudreau (Dubuque Fighting Saints).