Dubuque opens 2026-27 at home against Cedar Rapids in USHL schedule release

Dubuque will open its 2026-27 season at home against Cedar Rapids on Oct. 3, its first night at ImOn Arena.

On June 23, the USHL and the Saints released a 62-game slate that gives Dubuque 30 home dates, 30 road games and two more at the USHL Fall Classic.

The Saints do not have a road stretch longer than three straight games. Dubuque closes with a six-game homestand from March 17 through April 2.

Dubuque is set to play the RoughRiders eight times, the most of any opponent on the slate, while Youngstown comes in six times. The Saints will also see Madison five times and the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-17 group five times, along with four games each against Chicago, Green Bay and Muskegon. Waterloo and Des Moines each show up five times in Cowbell Cup play.

The USHL's 2026-27 season will be its 25th as USA Hockey's only Tier-I junior league, and all 16 teams will again play a 62-game cross-conference schedule. Every team finishes on Saturday, April 3, 2027, after a regular season that begins in mid-September in Chicago and runs through the first weekend of April.

Chicago will begin play in USG Arena inside the Blackhawks Ice Center, and Madison will open LEGACY20 Arena at DeForest Yards on Saturday, Oct. 17, against Chicago. Dubuque's first trip to Chicago's new home comes in the preseason on Sept. 4, and the Saints' first regular-season games there arrive during the Sept. 16-20 Fall Classic. The USHL expects that event to draw more than 400 professional, college and junior scouts. NHL Central Scouting's Dan Marr called the event an early evaluation opportunity for the 2027 NHL Draft class. The league will also stage the American Cup in Rochester, New York, on Dec. 3-4 and the Frosty Cup in Frisco, Texas, on Jan. 20-21.