This Week

Friday, November 9, 7:05PM

Cedar Rapids Ice Arena

Omaha Lancers vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Saturday, November 10, 7:05PM

Cedar Rapids Ice Arena

Ohio Junior Blue Jackets vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Last Week

Friday, November 2

Waterloo 3 Cedar Rapids 2 (so)

Saturday, November 3

Cedar Rapids 3 Chicago 2

At a Glance

Cedar Rapids

7-2-1, 15 points

1st place East Division

Coach/GM: Mark Carlson

Omaha

8-2-0, 16 points

1st place West Division

Coach/GM: Mike Hastings

Ohio

2-4-3, 7 points

4th place East Division

Coach: Jack Fritsche

Headlines

Rollin’: The RoughRiders are unbeaten in regulation (3-0-1) in their last four games. The Riders last weekend finished a stretch of five games in nine days with a record of 3-1-1.

Shot Down: The RoughRiders last Friday night went to and lost a shootout for the first time this season. The Riders were outscored 2-1 in the shootout by Waterloo after overtime ended with the score tied at two.

Last Laugh: Last Saturday night marked the first time this season the RoughRiders have rallied to win after trailing at the start of the third period. The Riders trailed 2-1 after two before coming from behind for the 3-2 victory. The Riders led after two periods in each of their first eight games and earned a point last Friday night after finding themselves behind after forty minutes for the first time.

Home Sweet Home: The Riders remain unbeaten in regulation at home (4-0-1).

Out of Hjelle: Goaltender Brady Hjelle’s streak of ten straight starts will end Friday night. Hjelle will miss both of the RoughRiders’ games this weekend while playing for the United States Junior Select Team taking part in the World Junior A Challenge in British Columbia. The U.S. opens against Belarus tomorrow night in Nelson, British Columbia. The tournament wraps up next Sunday night. Hjelle leads the league in wins (7) and minutes played (604:14), is tied for the lead in shutouts (1), ranks second in save percentage (.934) and ranks third in goals against average (2.28).

Jousting with the Lancers: This Friday’s meeting between the Riders and Lancers will be a match-up between the top two teams in the United States Hockey League. The Lancers lead the Riders by just one point in the race for first place overall. Omaha leads the West Division by two points over the Sioux City Musketeers; Cedar Rapids is two points ahead of Waterloo in the chase for the top spot in the east.

Top of the Charts (Almost): The RoughRiders remain among the league leaders both offensively and defensively. Cedar Rapids ranks second in goals against (2.4 per game) and third in goal scoring (4.2).

Extra Special: The RoughRiders boast the league’s best penalty kill (89.5 percent) and rank second in the league on the power play (24.6 percent). The Riders’ special teams index (power play percentage plus penalty kill percentage) of 114.1 is also the best in the league. The Riders have gone four games and 15 straight opponent man advantages without conceding a power play goal.

Attendance on the Up: The RoughRiders have averaged just under 3,000 fans per game for their first five home dates, better than 400 fans per game more than their first five dates last season. That attendance average is expected to climb further as Cedar Rapids Hockey Association and Iowa City Youth Hockey Association members have sold better than 1,300 tickets to this weekend’s games as part of fundraising drives for both organizations.

Ins and Outs: With Hjelle away from the team this week, the Riders have brought in goaltender Mike Johnson of the North American Hockey League’s St. Louis Bandits to fill his roster spot. Johnson ranks second in the NAHL in goals against average (1.97), is tied for third in shutouts (1) and ranks fourth in wins (7-1-0) and save percentage (.922). The Riders selected the 18-year old Verona, Wisconsin, native in the fifteenth round of May’s USHL Draft with the one hundred forty-second overall pick. Johnson joins Erick Cinotti between the pipes for the Riders. Cinotti was acquired from the Atlantic Junior Hockey League’s New Jersey Rockets last month after second year Cedar Rapids net minder Kent Patterson was placed on injured reserve following hernia surgery.

Stopped Short: David Boehm’s six game point-scoring streak (4-6-10) was halted last Saturday night. Tyler Thompson (6-6-12) picked up an assist in Saturday evening’s game to move past Boehm (4-7-11) and take over sole possession of the team point scoring lead. Thompson is tied for sixth in the league point scoring race.

Alumni Spotlight: Merrimack junior Rob Ricci (2003-05) scored one goal and picked up an assist in a 3-1 win at Massachusetts-Lowell last Thursday and scored another goal in the Warriors’ 5-1 loss at Massachusetts-Amerst last Saturday. Ricci (3-5-8) leads Merrimack in point scoring.

Scouting Report

Omaha: The Lancers defeated Chicago 8-0 last Friday night in Council Bluffs- the most lopsided victory in the USHL this season- before falling to the Black Hawks 2-1 the following evening in Waterloo. The loss to the Black Hawks was just the Lancers’ second setback of the season…The Lancers score more goals (4.4 per game) and give up fewer (1.8) than any other team in the league…Barry Almeida (7-9-16) and Chris Connolly (7-9-16) are among a group of players tied for the league lead in both points and assists. The pair is also tied for third in goal scoring…The Lancers will be without both Almeida and Nino Sacchetti (3-3-6) when they face the Riders Saturday as both will be skating for the U.S. at the World Junior A Challenge…Both of Omaha’s losses have come on the road. After a 5-0-0 start, the Lancers suffered their first defeat of the season at Tri-City on October 26…Second year goaltender Drew Palmisano leads the league in goals against average (1.51) and save percentage (.938), is tied for the lead in shutouts (1) and is tied for second in wins (5-1-0)…Lancers Coach and General Manager Mike Hastings is just six wins away from 500 career victories. Now in his fourteenth season behind the Omaha bench, Hastings has gone 494-200-51 while leading the Lancers to two Clark Cup (playoff) titles and two Anderson Cup (regular season) titles…The Riders went 1-2-1 against Omaha last season. All-time they have gone 12-19-4 against the Lancers and have posted a 7-8-3 record at home against Omaha.

Ohio: The Junior Blue Jackets were swept last weekend in Sioux Falls. They fell to the Stampede 4-2 last Friday and suffered a 5-3 loss last Saturday. Ohio led in both games before succumbing to Sioux Falls rallies… The Blue Jackets have gone seven games (0-4-3) without a win after starting the season with back-to-back victories…Derek Roehl (5-3-8) and Matt Leitner (4-4-8) are tied for the team point scoring lead…The Jackets lose Tim Hall (1-5-6) to the World Junior A Challenge this week…Ohio has not scored more than three goals in any of its last six games. The Junior Blue Jackets score just twice in each of five straight games before last Saturday’s 5-3 loss… Ohio ranks second to last on both the power play (13.6) and the penalty kill (79.0)…Last weekend’s trip to Sioux Falls kicked off a run of six straight road games for the Junior Blue Jackets, who will open this weekend in Waterloo Friday evening…The Riders went 7-0-0 against the expansion Jackets during the regular season last year and went on to sweep Ohio in four games in the opening round of the last spring’s Clark Cup playoffs.

Promotions

Jumping Jack: Jumping Jack, everyone’s favorite roly-poly traveling mascot, will bring his special brand of fun to the ice arena on back-to-back nights this weekend. Jumping Jack will be on hand for both Friday’s game against Omaha and Saturday’s match-up with Ohio.

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 online 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: All RoughRiders regular season and playoff games are 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.