The 2024 Clark Cup Playoffs will begin on Monday, April 15
Following a grueling 62-game USHL regular season, the 2024 Clark Cup Playoffs bracket is set. Six of the eight teams from the Eastern and Western conferences have clinched postseason berths.
Cedar Rapids, Team USA's NTDP U17s, Des Moines, and Omaha were the four teams that did not qualify for postseason play.
The No. 6 seed from each conference will face the No. 3 seed in a best-of-three series, all on the higher seeds home ice in the first round. Likewise, the No. 5 seed will face the No. 4 seed in the same format.
Here are the matchups in the first round of the Clark Cup Playoffs:
Eastern Conference
No. 6 Chicago Steel Vs. No. 3 Green Bay Gamblers
The Madison Capitols topped the Gamblers in the shootout on Saturday, allowing Muskegon, who beat Chicago, to grab the No. 2 seed. Green Bay will host the Steel on Monday.
The Steel have played well against the Gamblers this season, taking six of the nine meetings and going 6-2-0-1 overall.
Chicago has dropped three straight going into the playoffs, while Green Bay has lost its last four.
Top-5 Scorers
Chicago
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Green Bay
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No. 5 Madison Capitols Vs. No. 4 Youngstown Phantoms
After missing the playoffs last year, the Caps are back this year as the No. 5 seed. Madison and Youngstown have played each other evenly this year, splitting their six games right down the middle at 3-3-0-0.
Added, five of the six meetings have been decided by one goal, with the only exception being a 4-2 Madison win on February 17.
Youngstown is the defending Clark Cup champions and enter the postseason on a seven-game point streak.
Top-5 Scorers
Madison
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Youngstown
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Teams that earned first-round byes: No. 1 Dubuque, No. 2 Muskegon
Western Conference
No. 6 Lincoln Stars Vs. No. 3 Waterloo Black Hawks
The Stars and Black Hawks meet in the postseason for the third consecutive year. Last season, No. 3-seed Lincoln topped No. 2-Waterloo in a decisive Game 3 at Young Arena to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
During the 2023–24 regular season, the Black Hawks took three of four matchups against the Stars, with the only blemish coming in a 5-3 game on January 6.
Thirteen points separate the two teams in the regular-season standings, but each team has five wins in their last 10 contests.
Top-5 Scorers
Lincoln
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Waterloo
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No. 5 Sioux Falls Vs. No. 4 Tri-City Storm
The Herd are back in the postseason for the first time since 2019 and will go up against Trevor Connelly and the Tri-City Storm.
Sioux Falls won three of the seven meetings during the regular season, with two of those coming in overtime or a shootout. Five games were decided by one goal.
The Stampede enter the postseason having gone 4-6-0-0 over its final ten games. Meanwhile, Tri-City won just three of its last ten going in.
Top-5 Scorers
Sioux Falls
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Tri-City
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Teams that earned first-round byes: No. 1 Fargo, No. 2 Sioux City
First-Round Schedule
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