This Week

Friday, November 16, 7:05PM

Cedar Rapids Ice Arena

Ohio Junior Blue Jackets vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Saturday, November 17, 7:05PM

Cedar Rapids Ice Arena

Tri-City Storm vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Last Week

Friday, November 9

Omaha 4 Cedar Rapids 2

Saturday, November 10

Cedar Rapids 3 Ohio 1

At a Glance

Cedar Rapids

8-3-1, 17 points

1st place East Division

Coach/GM: Mark Carlson

Ohio

2-6-3, 7 points

tied 5th place East Division

Coach: Jack Fritsche

Tri-City

5-7-0, 10 points

5th place West Division

Coach/GM: Bliss Littler

Headlines

Rollin’: The RoughRiders have lost just once in regulation in their last six games (4-1-1). Last Friday’s loss to Omaha did end the Riders’ streak of four games (3-0-1) without a regulation defeat.

Home Sweet Home: The Riders suffered their first regulation home loss last Friday against Omaha, but rebounded one night later to down Ohio at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena and improve their home record to 5-1-1 on the season. The Riders this weekend wrap up a six-game home stand- their longest of the season.

Freaky Friday/Super Saturday: The RoughRiders have gone 0-3-1 in their last four Friday night games; they are 5-0-0 on Saturday nights this season.

Hjelle Refill: Goaltender Brady Hjelle has returned to the RoughRiders after spending the last week helping the United States Junior Select Team to a bronze medal at the World Junior A Challenge in British Columbia. Hjelle went 2-0-0 in three games at the tournament, posting a 4.76 goals against average and a .851 save percentage. Hjelle started the Riders’ first ten games before missing last weekend’s contests.

Happy Trails: Mike Johnson has returned to the St. Louis Bandits of the North American Hockey League after arriving in Cedar Rapids last week and tending goal in the Riders’ two games last weekend. Johnson went 1-1 with a 2.0 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. He stopped 55 of the 59 shots he faced over the weekend.

D-Fense!: Only Omaha has given up fewer goals than the RoughRiders this season. Cedar Rapids surrenders an average of just 2.4 per game.

Extra Special: The RoughRiders lead the league both on the power play (23.4 percent) and on the penalty kill (90.9). The Riders scored all three of their goals in last Saturday’s win over Ohio on the power play. They have gone six games and 24 straight shorthanded situations without conceding a power play goal.

Fantastic Four: Veteran forwards Tyler Thompson (6-8-14), Doug Jones (4-9-13), David Boehm (4-8-12) and Mike Seidel (4-7-11) are the Riders’ top four point producers. The quartet has combined for 18 goals, 32 assists and 50 points over the first dozen games of the season. Thompson is tied for seventh in the league in goals, Jones is tied for sixth in assists, Boehm is tied for tenth in assists and Seidel is in the midst of a five-game point scoring streak (3-2-5).

Alumni Spotlight: Bowling Green freshman forward Jacob Cepis (2005-2007) enjoyed a three point weekend as the Falcons swept Ferris State last weekend. Cepis scored one goal and assisted on another in a 6-3 win last Friday and added another assist one night later in a 3-1 victory. Cepis (3-4-7) leads Bowling Green freshmen in scoring, ranks third on the team in points and has helped BGSU to a 5-2-0 start overall and a 4-1-0 record in Central Collegiate Hockey Association play.

Scouting Report

Ohio: The Junior Blue Jackets dropped a pair of 3-1 decisions last weekend. Ohio fell in Waterloo last Friday and in Cedar Rapids last Saturday…The Blue Jackets have lost their last four games and have gone winless in nine outings (0-6-3) since starting the season with back-to-back wins…In both of their games last weekend the Blue Jackets scored first before surrendering three unanswered goals. Ohio has taken but been unable to hold the lead in each of its last four games… Derek Roehl (5-3-8) and Matt Leitner (4-4-8) are tied for the team point scoring lead… Ohio has scored three goals or fewer in each of its last eight games and has scored two or fewer in seven of those eight…The Blue Jackets rank second to last on both the power play (12.0 percent) and the penalty kill (78.2)…this Friday’s game will be the Blue Jackets’ fifth straight on the road…Last Saturday’s get together was the first of seven meetings between the Riders and Blue Jackets this season. Regular season and playoffs combined, the Riders have gone 12-0-0 against Ohio since the Blue Jackets entered the league last season. Cedar Rapids went 7-0-0 against the Blue 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.

Tri-City: The Storm was swept last weekend in Indiana. Tri-City fell 5-0 last Friday and 6-2 last Saturday…The Storm has lost five of its last six games…Alex Hudson (6-2-8) and Mike Cichy (2-6-8) are tied for the team point scoring lead…The Storm is the second lowest scoring team in the league. Tri-City averages 2.6 goals per game…The Storm has scored three goals or fewer in each of its last six games and has allowed four or more in five of those six contests… Tri-City forward Mario Lamoureux is in his fourth year in the USHL. Lamoureux has played 188 games and recorded 35 goals and 93 points since joining the Storm in 2004…The Riders went 0-3-1 against Tri-City last season. All-time they have gone 12-15-4 against the Storm and have posted a 6-8-4 record at home against Tri-City.

Promotions

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #8 Bud Car: The Dale Earnhardt Jr. #8 Budweiser car will be on display at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena Friday night during the RoughRiders’ game against the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets. Fans will need to purchase tickets to the RoughRiders’ game in order to view the car. Earnhardt, who is one of NASCAR’s top drivers, has won 17 Nextel Cup races during his seven year career. Earnhardt Jr. is the son of the late NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. The 31-year old Earnhardt Jr. is in the midst of his final season racing for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.

Mascot Night: Saturday evening the RoughRiders will welcome a host of mascots from all over eastern Iowa for the team’s fourth annual Mascot Night. Among the mascots scheduled to appear are McGruff the Crime Dog, Mr. Shucks of the Cedar Rapids Kernels, Scoopie the Culver’s mascot, Aspen Athletic Club’s Moose and a host of others. The highlight of the evening will be what will no doubt be a hotly contested mascot soccer game on the ice during the first intermission.

Community

Springville Elementary School: RoughRiders players will read to students at Springville Elementary School this Wednesday morning at 10:00.

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.