Welcome to THN USHL

Welcome. My name is Ryan Sikes. I am pleased to bring you into a new era of United States Hockey League coverage with The Hockey News.

Going back to 2018, after my twins were born, I craved a creative outlet. As you can imagine, the only time I left the house was for work, and I wanted something that was completely mine to pour my energy and passion into.

After dabbling in professional sports teams' coverage for a couple of seasons, I wanted to shift to covering a local team that I felt deserved more coverage. Living in the Chicago suburbs, the Chicago Steel was THE franchise in the USHL. Their rink is close to my house, so I made a concerted effort to provide coverage for a junior hockey team pumping out NHL talent.

Along the way, several established writers have influenced me throughout my writing. One afternoon, I found myself on the AHL’s website and noticed what Patrick Williams was doing for the entire league. I thought, "If he can cover all 32 teams, I can surely provide coverage for the 16 teams in the USHL."

In the Fall of 2022, I launched my personal Substack, USHL Prospecting, and began my journey. The subscriptions were free (although I was fortunate that several subscribers upgraded to a paid subscription. Words cannot describe what that means to me. For that, I thank all of you).

The purpose of my Substack was to get my voice out there and provide coverage for one of the best junior hockey leagues in the world. Covering Macklin Celebrini’s one and only year in the USHL was also a plus.

My USHL coverage for The Hockey News will replace my Substack, providing similar stories. This will include but is not limited to weekend watch previews, weekend rundowns (recaps for each gameday), previews and recaps of prospect tournaments and showcases, player interviews, and stock watch reports for draft-eligible prospects.

I am thrilled to bring my USHL coverage to The Hockey News, and I hope you will continue to follow me on this journey. Let’s get started.

- Ryan