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Weekly Update: November 21, 2005

Weekly Update: November 21, 2005

<DIV class=Section1> <H1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 2in; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in">Cedar Rapids RoughRiders <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></H1> <H1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 2in; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in">Weekly Update<o:p></o:p></H1> November 21, 2005<o:p></o:p> <H1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">                                                            <o:p></o:p></H1>  <o:p></o:p> THIS WEEK<o:p></o:p> Wednesday, November 23, 7:05PM @ Cedar Rapids Ice Arena<o:p></o:p> Waterloo Black Hawks vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Thursday, November 24, 7:05PM @ Young Arena, Waterloo<o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Waterloo Black Hawks<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Saturday, November 26, 7:05PM @ Kearney Events Center<o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Tri-City Storm<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> RECORDS <o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids<o:p></o:p> 12-4-0, 24 points, 1st place East Division <o:p></o:p> Waterloo<o:p></o:p> 6-8-0, 12 points, 6th place East Division<o:p></o:p> Tri-City<o:p></o:p> 7-9-4, 18 points, 3rd place West Division<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> COMING IN<o:p></o:p>             The RoughRiders took over first place in the United States Hockey League’s East Division with three wins in five days last week.  The Riders dropped the Indiana Ice 6-4 last Tuesday in Indianapolis and then dramatically swept a pair of games from the Des Moines Buccaneers over the weekend.  The Riders edged the Bucs 3-2 in overtime last Friday in Cedar Rapids and then slipped past the Bucs 4-3 in a shootout one night later in Urbandale.<o:p></o:p>             The Riders are now one point ahead of the Bucs in the race for the top spot in the East.<o:p></o:p>             The Riders have won six of their last seven games<o:p></o:p> With last Friday’s win, the Riders moved over .500 at home, improving their record at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena to 4-3.  Last Saturday’s victory was the Riders’ seventh in a row on the road.  On the season, the Riders have gone 8-1 away from home- the best road record in the USHL.<o:p></o:p> The Riders lead the league in goal scoring, averaging 3.9 goals per game.  Cedar Rapids ranks second on the power play (20.6 percent).<o:p></o:p> The Riders’ Ted Purcell (9-17-26) leads the league in points and assists.  Teammate Chad Costello (8-14-22) ranks third in points and assists.<o:p></o:p> The Black Hawks split a pair of home games last weekend.  The Hawks fell to Omaha 5-3 last Friday before bouncing back to defeat Green Bay 2-1 in a shootout the following evening.<o:p></o:p> The Black Hawks have gone just 2-5 in their last seven games.  The Hawks have gone 3-7 in ten games since starting the season with three wins in their first four contests.  Waterloo has not put together back-to-back victories since winning its first two games of the season.<o:p></o:p> While the Black Hawks are in last place overall in the USHL, the Hawks have played fewer games than any other club.  The Hawks are three points behind fifth place Green Bay in the East Division, but do have four games in hand on the Gamblers.  Waterloo, in fact, has a better winning percentage (.429) than both Green Bay (.417) and fourth place Chicago (.421).<o:p></o:p>             Wednesday’s game in Cedar Rapids marks the Black Hawks’ return to the road after five straight home games- a stretch that saw the Hawks go 2-3.  The Hawks have lost their last three away games.<o:p></o:p>             The Black Hawks average just 2.4 goals per game and have scored a total of just 34 goals- no other team has scored fewer than 52 goals.<o:p></o:p>             No Black Hawk has totaled more than 10 points.  Veterans Mike Testwuide (8-2-10) and Matt Arhontas (5-5-10) lead the Hawks offensively.<o:p></o:p>             Tri-City is winless in its last four games (0-1-3) and has won just one of its last ten games (1-5-4).<o:p></o:p>             The Storm dropped a pair of games in Indiana last weekend.  Tri-City’s 5-4 shootout loss last Friday was the Storm’s third straight shootout defeat.  Tri-City did earn one point for each of those shootout defeats.  Last Saturday, the Storm was shutout 4-0 by the Ice.<o:p></o:p>             The Storm will play its seventh straight road game this Wednesday in Sioux Falls before returning home to kick off a six game homestand Friday against Des Moines.  <o:p></o:p>             The Storm is winless in its last three home games (0-2-1) and has won just one game in Kearney all season.<o:p></o:p>             Tri-City’s Jaroslav Markovic (11-10-21) is tied for fourth in the league in goals and points.<o:p></o:p>             Storm goaltender Aaron Rock ranks fourth in the league in goals against average (2.34) and leads the league in shutouts (3).<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> LAST WEEK<o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids<o:p></o:p> Tuesday, November 15: Cedar Rapids 6  Indiana 4<o:p></o:p> Phil Axtell scored two goals and had one assist as the Riders built a 5-1 lead and held on for the win.  Ray Kaunisto, Chad Costello and Ted Purcell- who buried the clinching empty netter late in the third period- also scored for the Riders.  Pat McGann made 30 saves to earn the win in goal.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Friday, November 18: Cedar Rapids 3  Des Moines 2 (OT)<o:p></o:p> Dustin Cloutier scored with 30.2 seconds left in overtime to give the Riders the win.  Ryan Gunderson and Jacob Cepis (shorthanded) scored in regulation for the Riders.  Rider goaltender Al Stalock made 38 saves, including six in overtime.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Saturday, November 19: Cedar Rapids 4 Des Moines 3 (SO)<o:p></o:p> Gary Steffes converted the deciding penalty shot as the Riders won despite letting a 3-0 lead slip away.  Steffes scored on the Riders’ final shootout chance after Chad Costello also buried a penalty shot and the Riders took the shootout 2-1.  The Riders jumped on the Bucs in the first period with power play goals from David Strathman, Kevin Wehrs and Ted Purcell.  The Riders were outshot 35-6 over the second and third periods and overtime.  On the night, Rider goaltender Al Stalock stopped 48 Des Moines shots.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Waterloo          <o:p></o:p> Friday, November 17: Omaha 5  Waterloo 3<o:p></o:p> After Waterloo’s Isak Tranvik opened the scoring midway through the first period, the Lancers took control of the game with three straight goals.  The Black Hawks cut the gap to 3-2 on Joe Sova’s goal at 12:53 of the second period.  Just 48 seconds into the third period, the Lancers again extended the lead to two goals.  The Hawks once more narrowed the deficit to one when Mike Testwuide scored at 5:38 of the third, but the Lancers were able to put Waterloo away when Mark Olver scored just under six minutes later.  The Hawks fell despite outshooting Omaha 41-26.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Saturday, November 18: Waterloo 2  Green Bay 1 (SO)<o:p></o:p> Matt Arhontas gave the Black Hawks the win with the only goal of the shootout.  Mike Testwuide scored Waterloo’s regulation goal.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Tri-City<o:p></o:p> Friday, November 18: Indiana 5  Tri-City 4<o:p></o:p> The Storm was outscored 2-0 in the shootout after surrendering three separate one goal leads in regulation.  Matt Ambroz, Zach Cohen and Alex Hudson all scored power play goals for the Storm after Jaroslav Markovic scored Tri-City’s first of the night shorthanded.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Saturday, November 19: Indiana 4  Tri-City 0<o:p></o:p> The Storm gave up one goal in each of the first and second periods and two more in the third- one of them a late empty netter- and fell despite outshooting the Ice 28-24.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> TOP POINT SCORERS<o:p></o:p></DIV><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> <DIV class=Section2> Cedar Rapids                GP            G            A            PTS<o:p></o:p> Ted Purcell                    16            9            17            26<o:p></o:p> Chad Costello                16            8            14            22<o:p></o:p> Phil Axtell                     16            10            8            18<o:p></o:p> Jacob Cepis                  16            6            6            12<o:p></o:p> Nik Sellers                    16            5            6            11<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Waterloo                      GP            G            A            PTS<o:p></o:p> Mike Testwuide              11            8             2            10<o:p></o:p> Matt Arhontas                14            5            5            10<o:p></o:p> Andy Bombach              14            3            4            7<o:p></o:p> Drew Dobson                 12            0            7            7<o:p></o:p> (three players tied with five points)<o:p></o:p></DIV> <DIV class=Section3> Tri-City                         GP            G            A            PTS<o:p></o:p> Jaroslav Markovic            20            11            10            21<o:p></o:p> Jared Palmer                 18            4            12            16<o:p></o:p> Jake Obermeyer            20            4            8            12<o:p></o:p> Jordan Willert                20            1            11            12<o:p></o:p> (two players tied with ten points)<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p></DIV> <DIV class=Section4> LEADERS<o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids<o:p></o:p> Goals- Phil Axtell (10)<o:p></o:p> Assists- Ted Purcell (17)<o:p></o:p> Points- Ted Purcell (26)<o:p></o:p> Plus/Minus- Ted Purcell (+12)<o:p></o:p> Penalty Minutes- Phil Axtell (67)<o:p></o:p> Power Play Goals- Phil Axtell (6)<o:p></o:p> Shorthanded Goals- Jacob Cepis, Gary Steffes (1)<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Purcell leads the league in points and assists, is tied for second in plus/minus, is tied for seventh in goals (9) and is tied for fifth in power play goals (3)…Axtell ranks second in power play goals, is tied for fourth in plus/minus (+11), ranks sixth in goals, is tied for ninth in points (18) and ranks second in penalty minutes…Chad Costello ranks third in points (22), is tied for third in assists (14), is tied for seventh in plus/minus (+10) and tied for tenth in goals (8) … Nik Sellers is tied for second in game winning goals (3)…David Strathman is tied for third in power play goals (3) and, among defensemen, is tied for fifth in points (10), tied for seventh in goals (3) and tied for eighth in assists…Sergei Kolosov is tied for tenth in plus/minus (+8)…Kevin Wehrs is tied for third among defensemen in assists (8) and is tied for fifth among blue liners in points (10)<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Waterloo<o:p></o:p> Goals- Mike Testwuide (8)<o:p></o:p> Assists- Drew Dobson (7)<o:p></o:p> Points- Matt Arhontas, Mike Testwuide (10)<o:p></o:p> Plus/Minus- Mike Testwuide (+5)<o:p></o:p> Penalty Minutes- Mitch Ryan (62)<o:p></o:p> Power Play Goals- Matt Arhontas, Zach Bearson (2)<o:p></o:p> Shorthanded Goals- Mike Testwuide (1)<o:p></o:p>             <o:p></o:p> Testwuide is tied for tenth in goals…Ryan ranks fourth in penalty minutes…Dobson is tied for seventh among defensemen in assists<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Tri-City<o:p></o:p> Goals- Jaroslav Markovic (11)<o:p></o:p> Assists- Jarod Palmer (12)<o:p></o:p> Points- Jaroslav Markovic (21)<o:p></o:p> Plus/Minus- Greg Battani (+6)<o:p></o:p> Penalty Minutes- Matt Ambroz (40)<o:p></o:p> Power Play Goals- J.P. Platisha (8)<o:p></o:p> Shorthanded Goals- Jaroslav Markovic (3)<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Markovic leads the league in game winning goals (4), is tied for third in shorthanded goals and is tied for fourth in points and goals…Zach Cohen is tied for tenth in goals (10)…Palmer is tied for fifth in assists…Jordan Willert is tied for eighth in assists (11)…Jake Obermeyer is tied for third among defensemen in points (12) and assists (8) and tied for fifth in goals (4)…Mark Bernier is tied for fifth among defensemen in points (10), tied for seventh in goals (3) and tied for eighth in assists (7)…Battani is tied for seventh among defensemen in goals (3) and tied for ninth in points (9)…Kyle Lawson is tied for fifth among defensemen in goals (4)<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> GOALTENDERS<o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids                GP            MIN            GAA            W-L-SOL      SO            SPCT   <o:p></o:p> Alex Stalock                  13            785:54            2.52            9-4-0                 0            .927<o:p></o:p> Pat McGann                  3            180:00            3.00            3-0-0                 0            .910<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Stalock leads the league in wins, ranks second in saves (421), ranks fourth in save percentage and minutes played and ranks fifth in goals against average<o:p></o:p>                         <o:p></o:p> Waterloo                      GP            MIN            GAA            W-L-SOL      SO            SPCT<o:p></o:p> Joe Grossman               9            517:29            3.48            4-5-0                 0            .885<o:p></o:p> Kenneth Wochele            6            324:07            2.41            2-3-0                 0            .889<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Grossman ranks tenth in minutes played and saves (230) and is tied for tenth in wins<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Tri-City                         GP            MIN            GAA            W-L-SOL      SO            SPCT<o:p></o:p> Aaron Rock                   12            693:34            2.34            4-5-2                 3            .909<o:p></o:p> Derek Brennan               3            139:59            4.71            0-1-2                 0            .836<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Rock leads the league in shutouts, ranks fourth in goals against average, fifth in minutes played, sixth in saves (270) ninth in save percentage and is tied for ninth in wins<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p></DIV> <DIV class=Section5> WHO’S HOT<o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids<o:p></o:p> Chad Costello: 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his last nine games<o:p></o:p> Ted Purcell: 14 points (four goals, ten assists) in his last eight games…nine multiple point games<o:p></o:p> Alex Stalock: won four of his last five starts<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Waterloo<o:p></o:p> Mike Testwuide: seven goals in his last eight games<o:p></o:p> Ken Wochele: has given up three goals against or fewer in each of his first six games<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Tri-City<o:p></o:p> Alex Hudson: six points (two goals, four assists) in his last six games<o:p></o:p> Mario Lamoureux: seven points (two goals, five assists) in his last eight games<o:p></o:p> Aaron Rock: has allowed three goals or fewer in each of his last five games<o:p></o:p>                         <o:p></o:p> WIN-LOSS <o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids                Waterloo                      Tri-City<o:p></o:p> Home: 4-3-0                  Home: 4-5-0                 Home: 1-5-1<o:p></o:p> Away: 8-1-0                   Away: 2-3-0                 Away: 6-4-3<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> vs. East: 6-3-0               vs. East: 5-4-0                    vs. East: 2-5-3<o:p></o:p> vs. West: 6-1-0              vs. West: 1-4-0                   vs. West: 5-4-1<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> GOALS<o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids                Waterloo                      Tri-City<o:p></o:p> Goals For: 3.9 (1)        Goals For: 2.4 (11)            Goals For: 3.1 (7)<o:p></o:p> Goals Against: 2.69 (3) Goals Against: 3.07 (5)            Goals Against: 3.10 (6)<o:p></o:p></DIV> <DIV class=Section6>  <o:p></o:p> SPECIAL TEAMS <o:p></o:p> Cedar Rapids                                        Waterloo<o:p></o:p> Power Play:             20.6  21/102  (2)            Power Play:     14.7  11/75  (7)<o:p></o:p> Penalty Kill:             81.5  15/81  (10)            Penalty Kill:       81.8  14/77  (9)<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Shorthanded Goals For: 2                  Shorthanded Goals For: 1<o:p></o:p> Shorthanded Goals Against: 5                      Shorthanded Goals Against: 2<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Tri-City                         <o:p></o:p> Power Play:            18.4  21/114  (3)<o:p></o:p> Penalty Kill:             83.7  14/86  (5)          <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Shorthanded Goals For: 6                  <o:p></o:p> Shorthanded Goals Against: 4<o:p></o:p>             <o:p></o:p> SERIES<o:p></o:p> vs. Waterloo<o:p></o:p> 10/7/05             Cedar Rapids 4 at Waterloo 2                    1/7/06               Waterloo at Cedar Rapids<o:p></o:p> 11/23/05            Waterloo at Cedar Rapids              3/4/06               Cedar Rapids at Wat