Green Bay Gamblers named USHL Organization of the Year again

Green Bay turned a 38-win season into its third USHL Organization of the Year trophy, with the USHL Board of Directors rewarding a franchise that finished third in the Eastern Conference and tied for the league’s best home winning percentage. The honor, announced for the 2025-26 season, was the Gamblers’ first since 2011-12 and their third overall, after previous wins in 1995-96 and 2011-12.

The on-ice case was simple to make. Green Bay went 38-18-4-2, and those 38 wins were its most since the 2011-12 season. The Gamblers averaged 3,840 fans at the Resch Center during the regular season and posted a .726 home winning percentage, numbers that show how often they controlled games in their own building while staying relevant in a crowded Eastern Conference race.

But the league’s nod went beyond the record. Green Bay said it donated more than $100,000 to local youth sports, charities and other Green Bay organizations, and it added $150,000 to the fourth rink project at Cornerstone Community Center. The club also said it set records in ticketing, merchandise and concession sales, then finished more than 60 percent above its budgeted profit. That is the kind of business execution that does not happen by accident in junior hockey. It comes from a franchise that knows how to fill the building, sell the nights and keep the operation moving.

The special-event business was just as telling. Wiener Dog Races drew more than 8,000 fans on one of the team’s biggest nights, while the Teddy Bear Toss collected 7,880 bears for charity. Green Bay also won a 2026 Clarky Award for Ticketing Initiative of the Year for its Dash for Cash promotion, which featured a rare goalie goal from 2026 Boston Bruins draft pick Leo Henriquez. That is not just atmosphere. It is the kind of inventory a league notices when it is judging the full organization, not only the box score.

Player development gave the season another layer. Zach Wooten, Landon Hafele and Henriquez were selected in the 2026 NHL Draft, and former Gambler Cooper Cleaves, now a Dartmouth freshman, was also drafted. Add that to Jeff Mitchell being named the USHL Dave Tyler Executive of the Year and Commissioner Glenn Hefferan’s praise for Brendan Bruss, PMI Entertainment Group, Mitchell, Pat McCadden and Greg Lynch, and the picture is clear: Green Bay did not win because of one hot month or one sales push. It won because the hockey, the front office, the fan base and the community pull all pointed the same direction.