THIS WEEK
Friday, October 27, 7:05PM @ 95 KGGO
Arena
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Des
Moines Buccaneers
Saturday, October 28, 7:05PM @ Cedar Rapids Ice Arena
Des Moines Buccaneers vs. Cedar
Rapids RoughRiders
RECORDS
Cedar Rapids
3-2-0, 6
points, tied 2nd place East Division
Des Moines
6-0-0, 12
points, 1st place West Division
COMING IN
The RoughRiders split a pair of games last weekend. The Riders defeated the Stampede 3-2 last Friday
in Sioux Falls. One night later on home ice, the Riders fell
to the Tri-City Storm 5-3. That defeat
ended the Riders’ three game winning streak.
Forward Jacob Cepis continued his
strong start last weekend. Cepis, who
scored one goal last Friday and provided a goal and an assist last Saturday
night, has scored at least once in each of the Riders’ first five games and has
notched at least two points in four of the first five. Cepis leads the league in goals (7) and ranks
third in points (11).
Cepis is one game shy of tying Phil
Axtell’s RoughRider record for longest goal scoring streak. Axtell scored in six straight games between
October 8 and October 29, 2005.
The Riders have won their first two
road games of the season but have lost two of their first three home
games.
The Riders have won eight straight regular season road games
against the Bucs and, beginning with the 2000-01 season, have gone 15-1-2 in
their last 18 regular season games in Urbandale.
Friday night’s game will be the
first meeting between the Riders and Bucs since Des Moines
eliminated Cedar Rapids
three games to none in the East Division finals last spring. The Buccaneers did win game two of that
series on home ice.
The defending Clark Cup Champion Buccaneers extended their
season-opening winning streak to six games with a pair of dramatic victories
last weekend. The Bucs defeated Waterloo 5-4 in a shootout last Friday in Urbandale
and scored a 3-2 overtime win last Saturday in Sioux Falls.
Des Moines
possesses the league’s only perfect record.
The Bucs have surrendered just 12
goals this season, second fewest in the league.
Goaltender Matt Dalton leads the league in wins (5) and ranks second in
goals against average (1.94) and save percentage (.937). He is also the only netminder to have already
posted two shutouts. A strong corps of
defensemen that includes veterans Jeff Petry, Shane Sims and Bobby Reiners has
also been a key factor in the Bucs’ early success.
Aaron Palushaj (5-3-8) leads the Des Moines attack. All five of Palushaj’s goals have come on the
power play. Palushaj has keyed a power
play unit that ranks second in the league (27.7 percent). The Bucs also boast the league’s second best
penalty kill (91.5 percent).
LAST WEEK
Cedar Rapids
Friday, October 20: Cedar Rapids 3 Sioux Falls 2
Jacob Cepis
scored on the power play with less than a second left in the second period to
tie the game at two and David Boehm scored what proved to be the game winner
5:23 into the third period. Andy Miele
also scored for the Riders.
Saturday, October 21: Tri-City 5
Cedar Rapids
3
Robin
Bergman brought the Riders within one with 55 seconds left, but a Tri-City
empty net goal finished off Cedar
Rapids just ten seconds later. Kevin Wehrs and Jacob Cepis scored in the first
period for the Riders.
Des Moines
Friday, October 20: Des Moines
5 Waterloo
4 (so)
The Bucs
squandered a 4-2 third period lead, but bounced back to win the shootout 3-2 as
Michael Dorr, Andrew Olson and Richard Purslow converted penalty shots. Travis Paeth led the Buccaneer attack with
one goal and two assists.
Saturday, October 21: Des
Moines 3 Sioux
Falls 2 (ot)
Ben Ryan
scored the game winner at 3:12 of overtime after Aaron Palushaj and Michael
Dorr scored in regulation for Des
Moines.
TOP POINT SCORERS
| Cedar Rapids |
GP |
G |
A |
PTS |
| Jacob Cepis |
5 |
7 |
4 |
11 |
| Andy Miele |
5 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
|
| Rob Bordson |
5 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
| David Boehm |
5 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
| Evan Stephens |
5 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
| |
| Des Moines |
GP |
G |
A |
PTS |
| Aaron Palushaj |
6 |
5 |
3 |
8 |
| Matt Read |
6 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
| Ben Ryan |
6 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
| Travis Paeth |
6 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
| Richard Purslow |
6 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
LEADERS
Cedar Rapids
Goals- Jacob Cepis (7)
Assists- Rob Bordson (5)
Points- Jacob Cepis (11)
Plus/Minus- Brett Dickinson (+4)
Penalty Minutes- Aaron Bogosian, Ian Slater, Evan
Stephens, Kevin Wehrs (8)
Power Play Goals- Jacob Cepis (2)
Shorthanded Goals- Aaron Bogosian (1)
Des Moines
Goals- Aaron Palushaj (5)
Assists- Matt Read (5)
Points- Aaron Palushaj (8)
Plus/Minus- Bobby Reiners, Ben Rosen (+3)
Penalty Minutes- Shane Sims (27)
Power Play Goals- Aaron Palushaj (5)
Shorthanded Goals- none
WHO’S HOT
Cedar Rapids
David Boehm: four game point scoring streak
(2-3-5) ended last Saturday
Rob Bordson: six points (one goal, five assists)
in his last four games
Jacob Cepis: five game goal scoring streak
(seven goals)…two or more points in four of his first five games
Andy Miele: four game point scoring streak
(3-3-6)
Des Moines
Travis Paeth: four points (one goal, three
assists) in two games last weekend
Aaron Palushaj: eight points (five goals, three
assists) in his last five games
Matt Read: six points (one goal, five assists)
in his first six games
Matt Dalton: five game winning streak (1.94,
.937)
GOALTENDERS
| Cedar Rapids |
GP |
MIN |
GAA |
W-L-SOL |
SO |
SPCT |
| Pat McGann |
3 |
178:24 |
3.36 |
1-2-0 |
0 |
.902 |
| Kent Patterson |
2 |
120 |
2.50 |
2-0-0 |
0 |
.902 |
| |
| Des Moines |
GP |
MIN |
GAA |
W-L-SOL |
SO |
SPCT |
| Matt Dalton |
5 |
310 |
1.94 |
5-0-0 |
2 |
9.37 |
| Bryan Mountain |
1 |
63:12 |
1.90 |
1-0-0 |
0 |
.920 |
WIN-LOSS
Cedar Rapids Des Moines
Home: 1-2-0 Home: 3-0-0
Away: 2-0-0 Away: 3-0-0
vs. East: 2-1-0 vs. East: 1-0-0
vs. West: 1-1-0 vs. West: 5-0-0
GOALS
Cedar Rapids Des Moines
Goals For: 4.80 Goals For: 2.00
Goals Against: 3.20 Goals Against: 4.00
SPECIAL TEAMS
Cedar Rapids Des Moines
Power Play: 20.0 8/40 (6) Power Play: 27.7
12/47 (2)
Penalty Kill: 87.5 4/32
(4) Penalty Kill: 91.5 5/59 (2)
Shorthanded Goals For: 1 Shorthanded Goals For: 0
Shorthanded Goals Against: 2 Shorthanded
Goals Against: 1
SERIES
vs. Des Moines
10/27/06 Cedar Rapids
at Des Moines
10/28/06 Des Moines
at Cedar Rapids
2/2/07 Cedar Rapids
at Des Moines
2/16/07 Des Moines
at Cedar Rapids
| |
GP |
W-L-SOL |
PTS |
H |
A |
OPP REC |
OPP PTS |
| 2005-06 |
7 |
5-2-0 |
10 |
1-2-0 |
4-0-0 |
2-3-2 |
6 |
| All-Time |
39 |
26-10-3 |
55 |
11-7-1 |
15-3-2 |
13-18-8 |
34 |
Top Point
Scorers/Season Series
Cedar Rapids vs. Des Moines
(2005-06)
Cedar Rapids GP G A PTS
Ted Purcell 6 3 7 10
Chad Costello 6 2 7 9
David
Strathman 7 2 5 7
Des Moines GP G A PTS
Trevor
Lewis 7 3 5 8
Kyle Okposo 7 2 4 6
Richard
Purslow 7 1 5 6
Goaltenders/Season
Series
Cedar Rapids vs. Des Moines
(2005-06)
Cedar Rapids GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Alex
Stalock 6 368:32 2.77 5-1-0 1 .934
Pat McGann 1 60 5.00 0-1-0 0 .833
Des Moines GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Troy Davenport 5 255:49 3.99 1-3-1 0 .883
Brian
Foster 3 170:45 3.16 1-0-1 0 .893
COACHES
Cedar Rapids
Mark Carlson, 8th year (221-161-38)
Mark Carlson has
been the RoughRiders’ coach since the team arrived in Cedar Rapids in 1999. In 2005-06 he led the Riders to their second
straight East Division title.
He has also piloted the Riders to six straight winning
seasons and six straight Clark Cup playoff berths. The Riders are one of just two USHL teams to
have reached the postseason each of the last six years.
The Riders are the only team to have advanced at least as
far as the Clark Cup semi-finals/East Division finals each of the last two
springs and four of the last five years.
On December 3, 2005 Carlson
picked up his two hundredth career coaching win as the Riders defeated Omaha 2-1 in a
shootout. Carlson’s
RoughRiders went 218-159-38 in his first seven seasons with the club.
The high point of his tenure was leading the
RoughRiders to the first Clark Cup (playoff) title in team history along with a
share of the Anderson Cup regular season title and the East Division title in
2004-05. The Riders went 42-13-5 during
the regular season- the best record in club history- and swept through the
first two rounds of the playoffs before defeating Sioux City three games to two in the finals.
For his efforts, Carlson was named
the 2004-05 USHL Coach of the Year.
Carlson, a native of Lawrenceville, New
Jersey, is a graduate of the University of
Massachusetts-Lowell where he earned a B.S. in Business Administration and
Marketing. Also while at Lowell,
Carlson skated in the highly
competitive Hockey East conference as a forward on the River Hawks’ hockey
team. His on-ice talent was recognized even before he arrived in Lowell when he was taken
in the 1987 National Hockey League draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After graduating from UML, Carlson
spent one season as an assistant coach at Lawrenceville
School before returning to Lowell to serve as an
assistant to head coach Bruce Crowder. After helping the River Hawks to a berth
in the 1996 NCAA tournament, Carlson
spent another three seasons beside Crowder as an assistant at Northeastern University
in Boston,
where he also acted as recruiting coordinator. He earned a master’s degree in
education from N.U.
During his time at N.U. Carlson
also acted as recruiting coordinator.
Among those he recruited for the Huskies were Jim Fahey, who now skates
for the National Hockey League’s San Jose Sharks, and Mike Ryan, who would
later be the top draft pick of the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
Des
Moines
Regg
Simon, 3rd year (72-60-10); 2nd year Des Moines (53-45-8)
Last year,
in his first full season behind the Des
Moines bench, Regg Simon piloted the Bucs to the Clark
Cup title.
Simon took over as
Des Moines coach following the December 1, 2004 resignation of Bob
Ferguson. Simon originally joined the
Buccaneers in 2003-04 as an assistant coach.
This is Simon’s
second USHL head coaching stint. In
2002-03, he piloted the Tri-City Storm to a 19-15-2 record and a berth in the
Clark Cup playoffs as interim coach after replacing Jim Hillman 24 games into
the season.
Simon played college
hockey at the University of Alaska-Anchorage after skating for the Bucs from
1994 to 1996.
HISTORY
Having scored in each of the Riders’ first five games, Jacob
Cepis is one game shy of tying Phil Axtell’s RoughRider record for longest goal
scoring streak. Axtell scored in six
straight games between October 8 and October 29, 2005.
The Riders have won eight straight regular season road games
against the Bucs. The Riders last lost
in Urbandale on
December 28, 2003 when they fell 4-1.
Beginning with the 2000-01 season, the Riders have gone 15-1-2 in their
last 18 regular season games in Urbandale.
Last season was the Riders’ third straight 30-win campaign
and also the fifth time in the last six years that the Riders have picked up at
least 30 victories.
The Riders went 42-13-5 on the road over the last two
seasons combined. The Riders’ road
record was superior to their home record both last season season and in
2004-05.
The Riders are, along with the Omaha Lancers, one of just
two teams who have reached the playoffs each of the last six years. As all 12 USHL teams will qualify for the
postseason this year, that streak will be stretch to seven consecutive playoff
berths in April.
The Riders are the only USHL team to advance at least as far
as the division finals each of the last two years. Furthermore, Cedar Rapids is also the
only team to reach the league’s final four in four of the last five
years. Only one team (Sioux City)
has even reached the second round three times in the last five years.
Last year’s Clark Cup title was the fourth in
Buccaneer history. Des Moines also claimed the Clark Cup in
1992, 1995 and 1999. The Bucs have also
won four Anderson
Cup (regular season) championships (1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999) and three junior
A national tournaments (1992, 1995 and 1998).
The Bucs won the title last year after finishing last
overall and missing the post-season in 2004-05.
Prior to going all the way last
spring, the Bucs had not reached the second round of the Clark Cup playoffs
since winning the title in 1999.
ROUGHRIDER COLLEGE COMMITMENTS
Jacob Cepis
(Bowling Green), David Grun (Minnesota-Duluth), Doug Jones (Princeton), Andy
Miele (Miami of Ohio), Matt Tommassoni (Miami of Ohio), Kevin Wehrs (Minnesota),
Tommy Wingels (Miami of Ohio)
ROUGHRIDER NHL DRAFT PICKS
Year Round Overall Team
Sergei
Kolosov 2004 5th 151 Detroit
Pat McGann 2005 7th 223 Dallas
ROUGHRIDER ALUMNI
| Division I | GP | G | A | PTS |
| Justin Abdelkader (Michigan State/sophomore) | 2
| 1
| 1
| 2
|
| Phil Axtell
(Michigan
Tech/freshman) | 4
| 1
| 1
| 2
|
| Casey Bickley (Army/senior) | 4
| 1
| 2
| 3
|
| James Brannigan (Colorado College/junior) | 6
| 0
| 1
| 1
|
| Jamie Carroll (Providence/senior) | 4
| 0
| 0
| 0
|
| Greg Collins (New Hampshire/sophomore) | 2
| 0
| 0
| 0
|
| Chad Costello (Northeastern/freshman) | 4
| 0
| 2
| 2
|
| Ray Eichenlaub (Miami of Ohio/sophomore) | 6
| 1
| 3
| 4
|
| Jon Grabarek (Wayne State/sophomore) | 4
| 0
| 1
| 1
|
| Jordy Hart (Merrimack/junior) | 2
| 0
| 0
| 0
|
| Bryan Horan (Providence/senior) | 4
| 0
| 1
| 1
|
| Tyler Howells (Michigan State/senior) | 2
| 0
| 0
| 0
|
| Ray Kaunisto (Northern Michigan/freshman) | 6
| 0
| 0
| 0
|
| Steven Kaunisto (Lake Superior State/freshman) | 4
| 0
| 2
| 2
|
| Billy Loupee (Miami of Ohio/sophomore) | 3
| 1
| 0
| 1
|
| Shane Lovdahl (Alaska-Anchorage/sophomore) | 3
| 0
| 2
| 2
|
| Alec Martinez (Miami of Ohio/sophomore) | 6
| 2
| 3
| 5
|
| Zach Miskovic (St. Lawrence/sophomore) | 3
| 2
| 2
| 4
|
| Brandon Naurato (Michigan/sophomore) | 3
| 0
| 2
| 2
|
| Matt Olinger (Wisconsin/senior) | 6
| 0
| 0
| 0
|
| Zach Pearson (Ferris State/senior) | 4
| 2
| 1
| 3
|
| Derek Peltier (Minnesota/junior) | 5
| 0
| 1
| 1
|
| Nate Perkovich (Lake Superior State/freshman) | 4
| 3
| 1
| 4
|
| Ted Purcell (Maine/freshman) | 5
| 5
| 2
| 7
|
| Nick Sellers (Lake Superior State/freshman) | 3
| 1
| 1
| 2
|
| Gary Steffes (Miami of Ohio/freshman) | 6
| 2
| 1
| 3
|
| David Strathman (Northeastern/freshman) | 4
| 1
| 0
| 1
|
| Brandon Svendsen (Bowling Green/sophomore) | 4
| 0
| 3
| 3
|
| Shawn Vinz (New Hampshire/senior) | 2
| 0
| 0
| 0
|
| Chase Watson (Providence/senior) | 3
| 0
| 0
| 0
|
| |
GP |
W-L-T |
GAA |
SV% |
SO |
|
Joe Fallon (Vermont/junior)
|
4 |
2-1-1 |
1.71 |
.926 |
1 |
| Bobby Goepfert (St. Cloud State/senior) |
3 |
1-2-0 |
3.33 |
.881 |
0 |
| Alex Stalock (Minnesota-Duluth/freshman) |
4 |
1-1-2 |
3.12 |
.862 |
| Dan Tormey (Minnesota State-Mankato/sophomore) |
4 |
2-2-0 |
3.45 |
.864 |
0 |
| |
|
Professional | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- |
| P.J. Atherton (Johnstown/ECHL) |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
-1 |
| Todd Bentley (Huntsville/SPHL) |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
-1 |
| Rico Fatticci (Port Huron/UHL) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
E |
| Dave Moss (Omaha/AHL) |
5 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
-- |
| Danny O’Brien (Fresno/ECHL) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
E |
| Alexander Valentin (Kalamazoo/UHL) |
3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
E |
Highlights
Ted Purcell
recorded four points (two goals, two assists) as fourth-ranked Maine swept a
pair of games at number three North Dakota last weekend…Zach Miskovic has
registered points in each of his first three games and leads St. Lawrence in
point scoring…Alec Martinez notched one goals and two assists last weekend as
Miami of Ohio split a pair of games with Michigan.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday is ‘80’s Night at the ice
arena. So break out your leather tie or
leg warmers- and most importantly, don’t forget your mullet- when the Riders
collide with Des Moines
at 7:05PM.
Saturday,
November 4, the Riders will team up with the University of Iowa Ice
Hawks for a hockey double header. The Hawkeye-Cyclone rivalry will take to the
ice as the Iowa and Iowa State
hockey teams meet at 4:00PM. The
RoughRiders and Lincoln Stars will clash in the night cap at 7:05PM.
The RoughRiders will welcome local
youth and church groups to All Faith Night as the Riders take on Ohio on Friday, November
17 at 7:05PM. 2004 American Idol contestant George Huff will perform after the
game.
COMMUNITY
Riders will read to children at
Kindercare West in Cedar Rapids
on Thursday morning.
TICKETS
The RoughRiders are again this season offering the Flex
Plan, which enables fans to purchase books of ten ticket vouchers that can be
redeemed in any quantity for any regular season home game during normal box
office hours. Fans who purchase the flex plan receive a
significant discount ($21 off game day ticket prices) by investing in bulk
tickets and can still enjoy the games of their choice in the seats they want.
Single game tickets are now on sale. Tickets can be
purchased in person at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena ticket office, over the phone
at (319) 261-4625 or on line at www.roughridershockey.com. The ticket office is open from noon to 5:00PM
on weekdays and from noon through the end of the second period on game
days. Ticket prices range from $7 to $17
in advance and from $8 to $18 on game days.
ON THE AIR/ON LINE
RoughRiders regular
season and playoff games will again this season be broadcast on AM-1360 The Fan
in Cedar Rapids. Courtesy of B2 Networks, free audio webcasts
of Riders games will also be available at www.roughridershockey.com. Brian Lavelle
provides play-by-play.
The RoughRiders and B2 have also teamed up to offer pay-per-view video webcasts of all RoughRiders games. Fans can click on the “Watch RoughRiders’
Games Live” icon at www.roughridershockey.com to watch and listen to the
game. The broadcast is available to fans
with a high speed DSL or cable modem internet connection. The charge for video webcasts is $6 per game.
Real time
updates of all USHL games are available on line at
www.pointstreak.com/prostats.