ANTIQUES SHOPS

Grant Arnold never will forget May 12, 2010.

Then a first-year forward for the Green Bay Gamblers, it was that day Arnold stood before a deafening crowd at the Resch Center moments after the Gamblers defeated the Fargo Force 5-3 to capture their first USHL Clark Cup postseason championship in a decade.

All told, it took 72 games and every minute of the best-of-five championship series to put the Force away, but finally capturing that elusive championship made it every bit as memorable.

"I'll remember that night for the rest of my life," said Arnold, now a team captain in his third year with the Gamblers. "With 8,500 here and a sellout (crowd), the moment that buzzer hit zero was awesome. Hopefully, we'll do that again."

Arnold is one of three players left from the 2010 Clark Cup championship team, along with defenseman Max Hartner and goaltender Ryan McKay, who was named the league's co-goaltender of the year Tuesday.

The trio looks to go out the same way it came in today when the Gamblers host the Waterloo Black Hawks in Game 5 of the Clark Cup finals series at the Resch Center.

For the last three seasons, Arnold, Hartner and McKay have had front-row seats to one of the greatest runs in league history with three consecutive Clark Cup finals appearances, two Anderson Cup regular-season titles and one postseason crown.

The Gamblers split their home series with the Black Hawks last weekend before winning Game 3 in Waterloo Friday. They had a shot to close it out last Saturday, but fell 5-3 to force Game 5.

"If it was easy, anyone could do it," said Hartner, who's in his second year as team captain. "We knew it was going to be a battle coming into this series and I wouldn't have it any other way ending my career in Green Bay than with Game 5 here at the Resch."

Despite having one of the deepest defensive units in league history, Green Bay could be without one of its most consistent blue-liners with Markus Lauridsen listed as a game-time decision after sparing his ACL last Saturday.