This Week

Friday, October 5, 7:35PM

Edge Ice Arena, Bensenville, Illinois

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Chicago Steel

Saturday, October 6, 7:05PM

Cedar Rapids Ice Arena

Indiana Ice vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Headlines

Curtain Raiser: The RoughRiders open their ninth United States Hockey League season this weekend. All-time, the Riders have gone 6-2-0 in season openers and 4-4-0 in home openers. A 4-2 opening night loss at home to the Green Bay Gamblers last season ended the Riders’ streak of five straight opening night wins.

Many Happy Returns: The RoughRiders bring back nine players from last season’s squad. Forwards David Boehm, Doug Jones, Mike Seidel, Ian Slater, Tyler Thompson and Casey Wellman, defensemen Scott Mathis and Matt Tomassoni and goaltender Kent Patterson have all returned for another season in Cedar Rapids. Seidel (15-32-47 last season) is the team’s top returning point scorer. Seidel and Slater (15-18-33) both scored 15 goals last year to top all returnees. Slater is the lone third-year Rider.

What’s Past Is Prologue: The RoughRiders went 5-1-0 in preseason and 3-0-0 at last weekend’s USHL Fall Classic in Sioux City. The Riders won their last four exhibition games and were one of just two teams (along with the Omaha Lancers) to win all three of their tilts at the Fall Classic. David Boehm (3-3-6) led the Riders in preseason point scoring despite sitting out two of six exhibition games. Boehm finished the preseason tied with Slater (3-2-5) and newcomer Ben Lynch (3-1-4) for the team lead in goals. With Kent Patterson (groin) sidelined, first year goaltender Brady Hjelle impressed in the preseason, going 4-1-0 with a 2.56 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.

Ins and Outs: The RoughRiders have removed forward Jeff Vellecca from their active roster in order to meet USHL regular season roster requirements. Goaltender Kent Patterson (groin) did not play during the preseason but could well be available for action this weekend.

That’s More Like It: The USHL will revert to a more traditional playoff format this year. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the post season. In the first round the first place team in each division will meet the fourth place club in that division and the second place finishers will meet the third place teams. In the Division Finals the two East Division clubs that survived the opening round will meet each other as will the West Division’s first round winners. The last two teams standing will meet in the Clark Cup finals. All series will be best-of-five. Last year the league experimented with a postseason format that saw all 12 teams qualify and featured a best-of-seven opening round, a round robin second round and single game semi-finals and final.

Alumni Spotlight: Dave Moss (2000-01) will begin his first full season with the National Hockey League’s Calgary Flames tomorrow night when the Flames open on home ice against the Philadelphia Flyers. Last season Moss scored 10 goals and totaled 18 points in 41 games after being called up by Calgary in December. He is the first RoughRider alum to reach the NHL.

Scouting Report

Chicago: The Steel went 2-3-1 in preseason and 0-2-1 at the Fall Classic…Chicago finished last overall in the USHL last season…Steve Poapst took over the Chicago coaching reins from Chris Imes on December 26, 2006… Only one player (Omaha’s Matt Thurber) recorded more preseason points than former Rider Andy Miele (3-5-8) of Chicago. Miele was traded from Cedar Rapids to Chicago last November…Miele (13-29-42 with Chicago last season, 20-37-57 overall) is the Steel’s top returning point scorer… In all, the Steel return nine players, including goaltenders Rob Madore and Nick Pisselini… The RoughRiders went 6-0-1 against the Steel last year; Chicago posted a 1-6-0 record against Cedar Rapids. All-time the Riders have gone 31-12-3 against Chicago. The Steel have not beaten the Riders in regulation since scoring a 3-2 win over Cedar Rapids on March 25, 2006 in Bensenville.

Indiana:The Ice went 1-4-1 in preseason…Early last month the Ice traveled to Quebec along with the Omaha Lancers for exhibition games against the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Rimouski Oceanic and Quebec Ramparts. Indiana fell to Rimouski 6-5 in a shootout on September 7 and suffered a 5-3 regulation loss to Quebec the following evening…The Ice followed it’s lone preseason win- a 3-1 defeat of Ohio in Columbus on September 23- with three straight losses at the Fall Classic… Greg Squires (3-2-5), Jake Skjodt (3-2-5) and John Kemp (1-4-5) led the Indiana attack in preseason…Scott Darling saw the bulk of the action in goal in preseason for the Ice, going 0-3-1 with a 3.20 goals against average and .893 save percentage…Kemp (16-47-63 last season) finished tied for third in the league in assists and tied for tenth in points last year. He totaled 95 assists and 118 points in his first two USHL seasons…Kemp is one of nine Ice returnees and, along with former Lancers Brett Bruneteau and Joe Beaudette, one of a total of eleven players on the roster with previous USHL experience… Charlie Skjodt took over behind the Indiana bench on April 16, 2006 following the dismissal of Jack Bowkus…Saturday night’s game will be the first meeting between Cedar Rapids and Indiana since the Ice last spring won a second round round robin playoff game between the two clubs 4-3…During the 2006-07 regular season the RoughRiders went 5-2-0 against the Ice; Indiana posted a 2-3-2 record against Cedar Rapids. All-time the Riders have gone 18-4-0 against Indiana.

Promotions

Pretty in Purple: As part of 2007 RoughRiders Opening Night, fans will have the chance to meet and greet members of the Minnesota Vikings cheerleading squad Saturday night. The Vikings cheerleaders will be selling their 2008 calendar during Saturday’s game with proceeds to benefit the Vikings Children’s Fund. Signed calendars will be available for $25, unsigned for $20. In addition, a set of Vikings cheerleader trading cards and a Jr. Vikings cheerleader costume will be auctioned off, also to benefit the Vikings Childrens Fund. The Vikings Children’s Fund supports pediatric cancer research at the University of Minnesota. 2007 RoughRiders Opening Night is sponsored by 100.7 The Fox and Mix 96.5.

Stuck on You: All fans in attendance Saturday night will receive free 2007-08 RoughRiders magnet schedules courtesy of St. Luke’s Iowa Health System, Velocity Sports Performance, Aspen Athletic, i wireless and AM 1360 The Fan.

Journey to Jersey’s: Fans are invited to join RoughRiders players and Vikings Cheerleaders when they head to Jersey’s Pub and Grub after Saturday night’s game. The cheerleaders will be signing their 2008 team calendar at Jersey’s, which is located at 5761 C Street SW.

Watch/Listen

That’s The Ticket!: RoughRiders single game 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.

Be Flexible: 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) and can still enjoy the games of their choice in the seats they want.

On the Air: RoughRiders regular season and playoff games will again this season be broadcast on AM-1360 The Fan in Cedar Rapids. Brian Lavelle provides play-by-play.

Online: Courtesy of B2 Networks, free audio webcasts of Riders games are available at www.roughridershockey.com. The RoughRiders and B2 also 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 catch the action. 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.