Sioux Falls, S.D. — Sioux Falls Stampede skaters Ryder Betzold and Matthew Grimes have earned United States Hockey League (USHL) Forward of the Week and Defenseman of the Week, respectively. 

For the first time in his USHL career, Arizona State commit Ryder Betzold has been named USHL Forward of the Week. He earned the honors after an impressive four-point game on Friday night against the Sioux City Musketeers. Betzold's scoring started with an assist to linemate Tobias Öhman, where he dropped the puck perfectly into the low slot. Just three-and-a-half minutes later, the Farmington, M.N., native netted a goal of his own by taking the puck into the zone and sniping a shot from the low point. Betzold went on to earn a secondary assist on Anthony Bongo's second period goal and an assist on Logan Renkowski's empty net goal. On Saturday night, at the IceBox, Betzold earned another secondary assist on Tobias Öhman's third period goal. Finishing the weekend with five points. 

Through 55 games this season, Betzold has a career high 36 points. He has netted 14 goals and tallied 22 assists. He also maintains a +23 rating, which ranks third among his teammates. Betzold has proved to be a great offseason pick up for the Stampede. 

Matthew Grimes earns the USHL Defenseman of the Week honors for the second time this season. He last earned the honors on February 9 after a four point weekend. In the Herd's two games this weekend, the University of Minnesota commit scored three points. On Friday night, he picked up two assists with the first coming on Ryder Betzold's goal. Grimes then picked up a secondary assist on Cooper Soller's empty-net goal late in the third period. On Saturday night, Grimes earned his eighth goal of the season on an unassisted play where the defenseman went coast to coast in front of the net and beat the Lincoln goaltender. 

Maybe the Locust Valley, N.Y., native's most impressive stat this weekend was his +5 rating. The accomplishment puts him at +32 this season, leading his teammates and all USHL defensemen. He also ranks second in all USHL skaters, just +6 behind Green Bay forward Elliot Gulley. 

Betzold, Grimes, and the Herd will face off in their most important game yet tomorrow night in Fargo. The 6:05pm St. Paddy's Day game will either push the Stampede to a 7-point lead atop the Western Conference or cut the Herd's lead to just three-point with the Force having a game in hand. The playoff level matchup will be available to watch on FloHockey, with a paid subscription, or fans can listen on KELO Radio. 

Following the game, the Stampede FINALLY make their return to the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center on Friday night for Nonprofit Night presented by Bluestone FCU plus Stomp's Birthday Bash presented by Dental Solutions on Saturday night. The full weekend rundown will be available on sfstampede.com tomorrow. Purchase your tickets for this weekend by giving our office a call at (605) 275-4625 or click here.