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Sioux City Musketeers (1973-74, USHL)

1973-74 Regular Season--Musketeers vs. Chicago Warriors
     Sioux City, Iowa, a town of approximately 86,000, has been home to the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) since 1951. After a single season in 1951-52, the Musketeers returned to Iowa in 1972-73 and have remained in town ever since.
     At the time of this program (1973-74), the USHL was a semi-pro circuit, a notch below the International Hockey League. It contained nine teams, mostly west of the Great Lakes and one team, Thunder Bay, in Canada. The Musketeers played their home games at the Sioux City Auditorium, which sat about 3,500.
     This was the second season of Musketeers hockey, and the team was coached by John Saville. Sioux City finished the year with a 23-24-1, missing the postseason. The Musketeers were middle-of-the-pack on offense, scoring 215 goals. Leading goal-scorer that year was Dave Kartio, who had 34 goals and 58 points. 
 
   On defense, Sioux City was fourth-worst in the USHL, surrendering 245 goals. They used four different goaltenders that season, including: Terry Mulroy, Pete Maxwell, Gord Woolnough, and Keith Hall. Stats are incomplete for the Musketeers that year, so no idea who was the starter or who played how many games.
     I found this program a few years back on eBay. It's 27 pages long, and all in black-and-white. The opponent for that night's game was the Chicago Warriors. To the left are the photos of each player on the Sioux City roster that season. On the right is the line-up of the Chicago Warriors. The Warriors' head coach was Gene Ubriaco, who went on to a long career coaching in the minor leagues and the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.


     There is a "Questions and Answers" section on page five, in which questions about attendance, the All-Star Game in Thunder Bay, and the possible renovations of the Sioux City Auditorium, that could have determined if the Musketeers would return the following season. Local advertisements include Schoeneman Building Materials Center, Cabney Auto Sales, Black Coach Restaurant, Olympia Beer and Denny Rehan's Sportswear.


References:
United States Hockey League Regular Season Statistics: 1973-74 (from hockeydb.com)



   
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