Sioux Falls, SD— The Sioux Falls Stampede announced their schedule for the upcoming 2008-09 10th Anniversary season today. The Stampede will once again play a 60-game schedule with 30 home and 30 away games. The home schedule includes 18 weekend home games (10 Friday, 8 Saturday), 10 Wednesday’s, one (1) Tuesday and one (1) Thursday. All games will start at 7:05 PM this season. To view the entire 2008-09 schedule click here

“We believe the schedule gives our fans a great opportunity to see us play,” said Stampede CEO Gary Weckwerth. “We have 18 Friday and Saturday games and 10 Wednesday’s which gives everyone the opportunity to catch a game. Weekday games provide business and youth groups and anyone else who is busy on weekends to come to a game as a group and enjoy the entertainment of Stampede hockey.”

Head Coach/GM Kevin Hartzell returns behind the bench for a fourth season, making him the longest tenured and most successful coach in franchise history. Hartzell holds a 112-53-15 record with the Stampede and 307-136-23 overall in nine seasons in the USHL. He ranks first amongst USHL active coaches in winning percentage (.684) and third all-time in USHL.

The Stampede will open the 2008-09 season at home for the 10th straight year when they face the expansion Fargo Force on Saturday, October 4th at 7:05 PM at the Sioux Falls Arena. In honor of their 10th Anniversary season, the Stampede will be wearing throwback jerseys from their inaugural season (1999-200) on opening night. Those jersey’s will serve as 3rd jerseys and be worn at different times throughout the season.

The Force are coached by Dean Blais, the former legendary University of North Dakota head coach. Blais spent 10 years at UND winning two National championships in 1997 and 2000. The Fighting Sioux also won five regular season WCHA championships and two WCHA tournament championships during his tenure at UND. He most recently served as an associate head coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL.

The Stampede will travel to Fargo on October 30th for the Force’s inaugural home game in the brand-new UP Center, a $25 million, 5,000 seat arena. The Force will play in the West Division and be the Stampede’s common opponent during the season, meaning the two teams will face each other nine times (4 home, 5 road). The Herd will face the other West Division teams seven times and all East Division teams four times (2 home, 2 road). With the addition of Fargo, Des Moines moves to the East Division, keeping six teams in each Division. The West will consists of: Fargo, Lincoln, Omaha, Tri-City, Sioux City and Sioux Falls.

Other highlights from the home schedule include:

The Stampede host West Division rival and last years playoff opponent, Lincoln on Friday, November 21st.

The Stampede welcome I-29 rival Sioux City to town for the first time on December 3rd. Todd Knott takes over behind the bench for Dave Siciliano who retired at the end of last season. Knott served as an assistant with the Des Moines Buccaneers for the past three seasons.
The defending Anderson Cup and Clark Cup champion Omaha Lancers come to town for the first time on December 4th. The Lancers will also have a new, but familiar face behind the bench. Bliss Littler, who spent the last seven seasons as head coach/GM at Tri-City is the new head coach of the Lancers. Littler replaces Mike Hastings who stepped down to accept an assistant coaching job at the University of Minnesota.

The Stampede will hold their annual New Year’s Eve game on December 31st versus the Lincoln Stars at 7:05 PM.

The Stampede will host the 2009 USHL All-Star/Prospects game on Wednesday, February 5th at 7:05 PM at the Sioux Falls Arena. The game will be preceded by a banquet on Tuesday, February 4th at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. More details on the event, including ticket information will be made available in the coming months. This marks the second time in franchise history the Stampede will host the All-Star Game. The Herd hosted the event in 2002 when “Mr. Hockey” himself, Gordie Howe was the keynote speaker at the banquet.
For the first time ever the Stampede will play a home game on St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17th. Fans can enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day parade and then head down to the Sioux Falls Arena for a battle against the Waterloo Black Hawks. “There could be green beer and you may even see green ice that night,” said Weckwerth.

The Stampede will close out the home portion of their schedule on Friday, April 3rd against the Stars. It will also be the Sioux Falls Ford & Saturn of Sioux Falls “Take My Jersey Night” where the Stampede will raffle off their 10th Anniversary throwback game-worn jerseys to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Stampede “Foundation For Kids.”

Other Stampede Notes:

The Stampede are working with different sponsors and the Sioux Falls Arena for different promotional nights that the schedule has allowed the team to do this season. Stay tuned to the Stampede website (www.sfstampede.com) for a list of events during the season.

Season Tickets are now available and can be purchased through the Stampede office. Also available is the Stampede “Hockey Sampler” package. The package includes 10 undated ticket vouchers, good for any of the Stampede’s 30 regular season home games! Contact any member of the Stampede front office staff for more information.

The Stampede are currently working on finalizing their pre-season schedule. The Herd will travel to Fargo and Sioux City in exhibition play. Sioux Falls will also play a pre-season game in Luverne, MN on either September 20th or 21st. The date and opponent has not yet be finalized. All proceeds from the game will benefit the Luverne Youth Hockey Association. This will mark the third time the Stampede have played a pre-season game in Luverne.

The 2008 USHL Fall Classic will take place September 25-27 in Sioux City.