THIS WEEK
Friday, November 17, 7:05PM @ Cedar Rapids Ice Arena
Ohio Jr.
Blue Jackets vs. Cedar Rapids
RoughRiders
Sunday, November 18, 7:05PM @ Cedar Rapids Ice Arena
Ohio Jr.
Blue Jackets vs. Cedar Rapids
RoughRiders
RECORDS
Cedar Rapids
7-4-0, 14
points, 2nd place East Division
Ohio
1-8-2, 4
points, 6th place East Division
COMING IN
The RoughRiders swept two games from the Jr. Blue Jackets last weekend in
Columbus. The Riders won 3-1 last Saturday and took a
5-4 decision one night later. The Riders
are now two points behind the Waterloo Black Hawks in the race for first place
in the United States Hockey League’s East Division.
With last weekend’s wins, the Riders
improved their league-best road record to 5-1-0. They have met with less success on home ice,
posting a 2-3-0 record at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. The Riders’ away record was better than their
home record each of the last two seasons.
The Riders remain the highest
scoring team in the USHL, averaging exactly five goals per game.
Jacob Cepis (10-9-19) leads the
league in point scoring and is tied for the league lead in goals. Cepis is far from the only weapon in the
Riders’ offensive arsenal, however. Six
different RoughRiders are averaging at least a point per game. 15 different Riders recorded at least one
point in last weekend’s two wins.
At the other end, Rider goaltender
Pat McGann was runner up in USHL/Stauber’s Goal Crease Goaltender of the Week
voting after stopping 15 of 16 shots- including a crucial third period penalty
shot- while backstopping the Riders’ to last Saturday’s win.
After this weekend completing a
stretch of four straight games against each other, the Riders and Blue Jackets
will not meet again until February 3.
Last weekend’s losses extended the Blue Jackets’ winless streak to ten games. Ohio has now
gone 0-8-2 since defeating Waterloo
3-2 in overtime on October 7 in its first ever USHL game.
Even after scoring a season high four goals in Sunday’s
game, the Blue Jackets remain the lowest scoring team in the USHL. Ohio
has scored just 18 goals in its first eleven games, an average of only 1.6 per
contest. In contrast, the RoughRiders
have scored 55 times in their first eleven games.
Before scoring four times Sunday, the Blue Jackets had
scored two goals or fewer in each of their previous nine games. Ohio
scored three times in 6:06 in the third period of Sunday’s game- an unprecedented
offensive eruption for the Blue Jackets.
Ohio had gone 250:41- the equivalent of better than four
full games without scoring an even strength goal before Donnie Hallmark beat
McGann during five-on-five play at 6:27 of the third period of last Saturday’s
game. That was the Blue Jackets’ first
even strength goal since former Rider Dan Barczuk notched one at 5:46 of the
third period of a 4-1 loss to Sioux Falls on October 29.
The Blue Jackets edged the Riders in shots on goal 35-34
Sunday, marking the first time all season Ohio has outshot and opponent.
Defensemen Chris Reed (1-5-6) and Adam Comrie (4-1-5) are
the Blue Jackets’ top point producers.
Ohio ranks last in the league on the power
play (6.8 percent). The Blue Jackets
have, however, scored five times on their last 26 advantages after failing to convert
on their first 48 opportunities of the season.
Drew Palmisano has been solid in
goal for Ohio. Palmisano, who has gone 1-4-2 in seven games,
ranks third in the league in save percentage (.912) and ranks sixth in goals
against average (2.92).
LAST WEEK
Saturday, November 11: Cedar Rapids 3 Ohio 1
Jacob Cepis
broke a 1-1 tie at 17:53 of the third period- just seconds after Rider
goaltender Pat McGann stopped a Tim Hall penalty shot. Kevin Wehrs’ empty net goal put the game away
with 47 seconds left. The Riders’ Andy
Miele and the Blue Jackets’ Donnie Hallmark exchanged goals early in the third
after the first two periods failed to produce a goal. The Riders outshot the Blue Jackets 31-16.
Sunday, November 12: Cedar Rapids 5 Ohio 4
The Riders built
a 5-1 lead and survived a late Blue Jacket flurry to claim the win. Mike Seidel, Andy Miele and Pat Cannone
scored in the first period for the Riders and Robin Bergman and David Boehm
provided third period goals. Ohio came to life with
three goals of its own from Derek Roehl, Danny Hobbs (his second of the game)
and Adam Comrie in a span of just over six minutes later in the third.
TOP POINT SCORERS
Cedar Rapids GP G A PTS
Jacob Cepis 11 10 9 19
Andy Miele 11 7 6 13
Evan
Stephens 11 1 11 12
Tommy
Wingels 11 3 8 11
Rob Bordson 11 2 9 11
Ohio GP G A PTS
Chris Reed 11 1 5 6
Adam Comrie 9 4 1 5
(four
players tied with four points)
LEADERS
Cedar Rapids
Goals- Jacob Cepis (10)
Assists- Evan Stephens (11)
Points- Jacob Cepis (19)
Plus/Minus- Evan Stephens (+7)
Penalty Minutes- Ian Slater (31)
Power Play Goals- Robin Bergman (3)
Shorthanded Goals- Aaron Bogosian (2)
Ohio
Goals- Adam Comrie (4)
Assists- Chris Reed (5)
Points- Chris Reed (6)
Plus/Minus- Derek Danowski, Eric Rex, Nolan
Ryan (-1)
Penalty Minutes- Vinnie Bradley (37)
Power Play Goals- Adam Comrie (2)
Shorthanded Goals- Eric Rex (1)
WHO’S HOT
Cedar Rapids
Pat Cannone: six points (two goals, four
assists) in his last five games
Andy Miele: one goal in each of his last three
games…points in nine of his last ten games (7-6-13)
Evan Stephens: seven assists in his last five games
Kevin Wehrs: ten points (four goals, six assists)
in his last eight games
Tommy Wingels: eight points (three goals, five
assists) in his last six games
Ohio
Adam Comrie: three points (two goals, one assist)
in his last three games
Danny Hobbs: three goals in his last four games
Chris Reed: four points (one goal, three
assists) in his last three games
GOALTENDERS
Cedar Rapids GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Pat McGann 5 296:58 3.64 2-3-0 0 .888
Kent
Patterson 6 363:07 3.64 5-1-0 0 .885
Ohio GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Drew
Palmisano 7 430:41 2.93 1-4-2 0 .912
Troy
Redmann 4 240 4.75 0-4-0 0 .882
WIN-LOSS
Cedar Rapids Ohio
Home: 2-3-0 Home: 1-7-2
Away: 5-1-0 Away: 0-1-0
vs. East: 4-1-0 vs. East: 1-4-0
vs. West: 3-3-0 vs. West: 0-4-2
GOALS
Cedar Rapids Ohio
Goals For: 5.00 (1) Goals For: 1.64 (12)
Goals Against: 3.73 (7) Goals Against: 3.91 (9)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Cedar Rapids Ohio
Power Play: 19.8 18/91
(5) Power Play: 6.8 5/74 (12)
Penalty Kill: 81.1 14/74
(7) Penalty Kill: 88.1 10/84 (2)
Shorthanded Goals For: 4 Shorthanded Goals For: 1
Shorthanded Goals Against: 2 Shorthanded
Goals Against: 3
SEASON SERIES
vs. Ohio
11/11/06 Cedar Rapids
3 at Ohio 1
11/12/06 Cedar Rapids
5 at Ohio 4
11/17/06 Ohio
at Cedar Rapids
11/18/06 Ohio
at Cedar Rapids
2/3/07 Ohio
at Cedar Rapids
3/17/07 Ohio
at Cedar Rapids
3/25/07 Cedar Rapids
at Ohio
Top Point Scorers/Season
Series
Cedar Rapids vs. Ohio
Cedar Rapids GP G A PTS
(six
players tied with two points)
Ohio GP G A PTS
Danny Hobbs 2 2 0 2
Sean McCauley 2 0 2 2
Chris Reed 2 0 2 2
Goaltenders/Season
Series
Cedar Rapids vs. Ohio
Cedar Rapids GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Pat McGann 1 60 1.00 1-0-0 0 .938
Kent
Patterson 1 60 4.00 1-0-0 0 .886
Ohio GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Drew
Palmisano 2 119:10 3.52 0-2-0 0 .891
COACHES
Cedar Rapids
Mark Carlson, 8th year (225-163-38)
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.
Ohio
Jack Fritsche, 1st year
(1-8-2)
Jack Fritsche became the
first head coach of the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets in June after spending one
season as coach of the Cleveland Barons of the junior A North American Hockey
League. He led the Barons to a 35-19-4 record and an NAHL North Division playoff
title last year.
Prior to taking over
behind the Barons’ bench, Fritsche was associate head coach of Ambri-Piotta in
the Swiss Nationalliga. He also served as coach of the Ambri-Piotta junior team.
Fritsche enjoyed a lengthy
playing career, spending much of it in Switzerland, where he skated for
Zug, Lugano and Ambri-Piotta. He also
played for the Moncton Hawks- then the American Hockey League affiliate of the
Winnipeg Jets- in 1993-94. Fritsche
represented the United
States at the 1990 World Hockey
Championships.
Fritsche is the uncle of
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Dan Fritsche and Ohio State
forward (and Colorado Avalanche draft pick) Tom Fritsche.
HISTORY
By scoring three times last Saturday, the Riders reached 50
goals scored in their first ten games.
The Riders had never before scored as many as 50 goals in their first
ten outings. The previous team high for
most goals in the first ten games of a season was 41, a mark set last year.
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.
The Blue Jackets won the first
regular season game in team history, defeating the Waterloo Black Hawks 3-2 in
overtime on October 7.
COLLEGE COMMITMENTS
RoughRiders (8)
Robin
Bergman (Notre Dame), Jacob Cepis (Bowling Green), Doug Jones (Princeton), Andy
Miele (Miami of Ohio), Matt Tommassoni (Miami of Ohio), Kevin Wehrs
(Minnesota), Scott Wietecha (Ferris State), Tommy Wingels (Miami of Ohio)
Ohio (2)
Charles
Brockett (Yale), Danny Hobbs (Massachusetts-Amherst)
NHL DRAFT PICKS
RoughRiders 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) 8 3 5 8
Phil Axtell (Michigan Tech/freshman) 10 2 4 6
Casey Bickley (Army/senior) 10 2 4 6
James Brannigan (Colorado
College/junior) 10 0 1 1
Jamie Carroll (Providence/senior) 10 2 1 3
Greg Collins (New
Hampshire/sophomore) 6 0 1 1
Chad Costello (Northeastern/freshman) 9 3 5 8
Ray Eichenlaub (Miami of Ohio/sophomore) 12 2 4 6
Jon Grabarek (Wayne State/sophomore) 9 0 2 2
Jordy Hart (Merrimack/junior) 7 1 0 1
Bryan Horan (Providence/senior) 9 0 1 1
Tyler Howells (Michigan
State/senior) 8 0 4 4
Ray Kaunisto (Northern
Michigan/freshman) 12 0 0 0
Steven Kaunisto (Lake Superior
State/freshman) 9 0 3 3
Billy Loupee (Miami of Ohio/sophomore) 8 1 2 3
Shane Lovdahl
(Alaska-Anchorage/sophomore) 9 0 3 3
Alec Martinez (Miami of Ohio/sophomore) 12 5 4 9
Zach Miskovic (St.
Lawrence/sophomore) 9 2 3 5
Sean Muncy (Brown/sophomore) 5 2 4 6
Brandon Naurato (Michigan/sophomore) 9 4 2 6
Matt Olinger (Wisconsin/senior) 12 0 0 0
Zac Pearson (Ferris State/senior) 8 3 2 5
Derek Peltier (Minnesota/junior) 11 0 1 1
Nate Perkovich (Lake Superior
State/freshman) 10 6 2 8
Jordan Pietrus (Brown/freshman) 2 0 1 1
Ted Purcell (Maine/freshman) 10 5 8 13
Nick Sellers (Lake Superior
State/freshman) 6 1 1 2
Chris Snavely (Michigan
State/senior) 1 0 0 0
Gary Steffes (Miami of Ohio/freshman) 12 3 1 4
David Strathman
(Northeastern/freshman) 9 1 0 1
Brandon Svendsen (Bowling
Green/sophomore) 10 1 4 5
Shawn Vinz (New Hampshire/senior) 7 0 0 0
Matt Vokes (Brown/sophomore) 5 3 3 6
Chase Watson (Providence/senior) 7 1 0 1
GP W-L-T GAA SV% SO
Joe Fallon (Vermont/junior) 7 3-3-1 1.84 .924 1
Bobby Goepfert (St. Cloud
State/senior) 7 1-3-3 3.18 .892 0
Alex Stalock
(Minnesota-Duluth/freshman) 10 2-5-3 2.54 .904 1
GP W-L-T GAA SV% SO
Dan Tormey (Minnesota State-Mankato/sophomore) 8 2-6-0 4.09 .853 0
Division III GP G A PTS
Brett Beckfeld (Wisconsin-Stevens
Point/sophomore) 4 2 2 4
T.J. Dahl
(Wisconsin-River Falls/junior) 6 5 7 12
Professional GP G A PTS +/-
P.J. Atherton
(Johnstown/ECHL) 12 0 10 10 -3
Rico
Fatticci (Port Huron/UHL) 4 0 0 0 0
Mike Manley
(Trenton/ECHL) 6 1 1 2 -2
Dave Moss (Omaha/AHL) 14 4 6 10 --
Danny
O’Brien (Fresno/ECHL) 1 0 0 0 0
Alexander
Valentin (Kalamazoo/UHL) 10 0 4 4 -3
Highlights
Al Stalock
(27 saves) posted his first collegiate shutout as Minnesota-Duluth played to a
0-0 tie with Michigan Tech last Friday…Matt Vokes notched one goal and two
assists as Brown split a pair of games with Wayne State last weekend…T.J. Dahl
leads Division III Wisconsin-River Falls in points and is tied for ninth in the
nation in point-scoring. Dahl had two
goals and two assists last weekend as the Pointers picked up wins over Augsburg and St.
John’s.
ROUGHRIDERS ROSTER
Riders players Robin Bergman, David
Boehm, Kent Patterson, Tyler Thompson and Tommy Wingels and Riders Coach and
General Manager Mark Carlson, all took part in the USA Hockey Junior Jamboree
in Blaine, Minnesota, yesterday and today.
Bergman and Wingels skated for USHL
Team Black while Boehm, Thompson and Patterson played for the Carlson-coached
USHL Team White.
Tommy Wingels and Robin Bergman both assisted on the game
winning goal as Team Black defeated Team White 2-0 yesterday. Patterson played half the game in goal for
Team White.
This afternoon Team White rebounded for a 4-3 shootout
win. Patterson made 42 saves in
regulation and overtime and then stopped four of five Team Black penalty shots
in the shootout. Bergman scored on
Patterson twice- once in the second period and again in the shootout.
The two USHL rosters were composed of 40 National Hockey
League draft-eligible players chosen to take part in the two day showcase with
the assistance of NHL Central Scouting.
Defenseman Scott Wietecha (shoulder) returned to the lineup
last Saturday after a six-game absence.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The RoughRiders will welcome local
youth and church groups to All Faith Night as the Riders take on Ohio Friday at 7:05PM. 2004
American Idol contestant George Huff will perform after the game. The Riders join media sponsor 89.1 The Spirit
in welcoming Huff.
The RoughRiders will wear special
edition black and gold University
of Iowa Hawkeye jerseys
during their game against Saturday night.
The Hawkeye jerseys will be auctioned off to benefit the Children’s
Miracle Network after the game. Saturday’s
game is presented by Mediacom.
Before Saturday night’s contest, fans will also get a chance
to hone their hockey knowledge as part of Hockey 101 Night.
COMMUNITY
RoughRiders players will read to
students at Springville
Elementary School on tomorrow
at 10:00AM.
Riders players will visit Nixon Five Seasons Learning
Center on Monday,
November 20.
Riders players will stop by the
Waypoint locations on Edgewood and on 5th Street
to speak to children on November 21.
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.