in his first year with the team, hartzell led the club to a 41–13–4 record, its only anderson cup title, awarded to the team with the league's highest regular-season win percentage, and first division championship. the team was led by future nhl players andreas nödl, nate prosser and ryan thang; and the goaltender tandem of john murray and alex kangas. the stampede defense finished first overall in the ushl and set a franchise record for fewest goals allowed in a season with 135. seven players were selected for the 2006 ushl all-star/prospects game in sioux city, iowa, and the team swept the tri-city storm and defeated the lincoln stars before advancing to their first clark cup championship appearance. the club was defeated by the des moines buccaneers in a best-of-five series, 3–2. the team ended the 2005–06 season with a franchise best 21–7–2 home record and 20–6–2 away record, including a franchise-high win streak of 16 games.