Former Cedar Rapids RoughRiders forward Ted Purcell, now a freshman at the University of Maine, has been named Superskills Hockey East Rookie of the Week.

Purcell, 21, collected four points last weekend to help Maine to a two-game sweep of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Purcell scored one goal and assisted on another last Friday in a 6-2 win over the Sioux. One night later, he once again notched a goal and an assist as the Black Bears completed the sweep with a 3-1 victory. On the heels of its impressive weekend efforts, Maine is now ranked number one in the nation.

On the season, Purcell (5-2-7) leads Hockey East in goals and is tied for second in the conference in point scoring. The St. John’s, Newfoundland, native is also tied for fifth in the nation in goal scoring.

Before heading to Maine, Purcell enjoyed a record-breaking two-year run with the RoughRiders. He owns teams records for most career points (138), most career assists (99) most assists in one season (52 in 2005-06), most points in one playoff season (14 in 2005) and most assists in one playoff season (9 in 2005). Purcell scored 20 goals and totaled 67 points to help the Riders to both the Anderson Cup (regular season) title and Clark Cup (playoff) title in 2004-05. Last season he scored 19 goals to go along with his league-leading 52 assists for a total of 71 points as the Riders won a second straight East Division title.

This year’s edition of the RoughRiders (3-2-0, 6 points) returns to action with a home-and-home series against the Des Moines Buccaneers this weekend. The Riders meet the Buccaneers in Urbandale Friday night at 7:05 before returning home to battle Des Moines Saturday evening at 7:05.

Tickets for Saturday’s game- and all remaining RoughRider home games- 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.