This Week

Thursday, November 22, 7:05PM

Young Arena, Waterloo

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Waterloo Black Hawks

Friday, November 23, 7:05PM

Cedar Rapids Ice Arena

Waterloo Black Hawks vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Saturday, November 24, 6:05PM

Pepsi Coliseum, Indianapolis, Indiana

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Indiana Ice

Last Week

Friday, November 16

Cedar Rapids 4 Ohio 3

Saturday, November 17

Cedar Rapids 2 Tri-City 1

At a Glance

Cedar Rapids

10-3-1, 21 points

2nd place East Division

Coach/GM: Mark Carlson

Waterloo

9-3-1, 19 points

3rd place East Division

Coach/GM: P. K. O’Handley

Indiana

11-3-0, 22 points

1st place East Division

Coach: Charlie Skjodt

Headlines

Beasts of the East: This week the RoughRiders face the teams immediately in front of them and behind them in the battle for the top spot in the United States Hockey League’s East Division. The second place Riders trail division leading Indiana by just one point. Third place Waterloo is just two points behind Cedar Rapids and has a game in hand on the Riders.

Three in Three: The Riders this week will play three games in three nights for the only time this season.

Rollin’: The RoughRiders have won their last three games, following back-to-back wins over Ohio with last Saturday’s victory over Tri-City. The Riders have suffered just one regulation loss in their last eight games (6-1-1).

Home Sweet Home: The Riders last Saturday night wrapped up a six-game home stand (their longest of the season) with a 4-1-1 record. On the season Cedar Rapids is 7-1-1 on home ice.

Finally Friday/Super Saturday: The RoughRiders won last Friday after going without a victory over the prior four Friday nights (0-3-1). The Riders are 6-0-0 on Saturday nights this season.

Second Serving of Hjelle: Brady Hjelle returned to the RoughRider net last weekend after missing two games while helping the United States Junior Select Team to a bronze medal at the World Junior A Challenge in British Columbia. After collecting back-to-back wins over the weekend, Hjelle is now unbeaten in regulation (5-0-1) in his last six starts.

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 (25.3 percent) and on the penalty kill (89.3). The Riders have scored seven of their last nine goals on the power play. The Riders’ streak of 26 straight successful penalty kills was stopped last Friday when Ohio’s Derek Roehl scored a second period power play goal.

Fantastic Four: Veteran forwards Tyler Thompson (6-8-14), Doug Jones (4-9-13), David Boehm (5-8-13) and Mike Seidel (4-8-12) are the Riders’ top four point producers. The quartet has combined for 19 goals, 33 assists and 52 points over the first 14 games of the season.

Seidel Streak Stopped: Seidel’s six game point scoring streak (3-3-6) ended last Saturday night.

Flanagan Firing: Kyle Flanagan (7-4-11) scored two goals- including the game winner- last Friday to take over the team goal scoring lead from Thompson. Flanagan is tied for sixth in the league in goals.

Plenty to Be Thankful for: All time the RoughRiders have gone 5-1-1 in Thanksgiving night games in Waterloo. The two clubs have spent the holiday in each other’s company every year since 2000.

Ins and Outs: The RoughRiders have dealt forward Gustav Bengtson to the Texas Tornado of the North American Hockey League. Bengtson picked up one assist in seven games with the Riders.

Alumni Spotlight: Manchester Monarchs rookie forward Ted Purcell (2004-2006) leads the American Hockey League in points (25) and assists (18). Purcell is in the midst of an eight game point scoring streak (5-10-15). The St. John’s, Newfoundland, native collected five assists in two games last weekend. Purcell signed with the Los Angeles Kings, the Monarchs’ parent club, in April after a standout freshman season at the University of Maine.

Scouting Report

Waterloo: Waterloo has won seven straight games. The Black Hawks collected a pair of wins last weekend. They defeated Tri-City 4-1 last Friday at home. One night later the Hawks went to Des Moines to earn their fourth shootout victory in their last seven games, edging the Buccaneers 2-1…Waterloo has surrendered just a single goal in each of its last four games and has given up two goals or fewer in each of its last seven. On the season the Black Hawks allow an average of 2.5 goals per game, third fewest in the league…The Black Hawks rank second in the league on the penalty kill (87.3 percent)…Billy Maday (2-8-10) is the Hawks’ top point scorer…Blake Kessell was named USHL Defensive Player of the Week after scoring two goals and adding one assist last Friday against Tri-City and posting a plus/minus rating of +1 for the weekend. On the season Kessel (4-3-7) is tied for the team goal scoring lead …Goaltender Matthew DiGirolamo has won six straight games and is unbeaten in regulation (7-0-1) in his last eight appearances. DiGirolamo ranks third in the league in goals against average (2.03) and wins (7) and ranks sixth in save percentage (.914). DiGiralomo was named USHL Goaltender of the Week after making 23 saves in last Friday’s win over the Storm and stopping 39 shots one night later against Des Moines. For the weekend he posted at 0.96 goals against average and a .969 save percentage…The Black Hawks won their first meeting of the season with the RoughRiders, claiming a 3-2 shootout win in Cedar Rapids on November 2. All-time the RoughRiders have gone 26-24-5 against the Hawks.

Indiana: The Ice has won seven straight games. Last week Indiana won three times in a span of four days. The Ice edged Green Bay 4-3 last Wednesday, dropped Des Moines 6-3 last Friday in Urbandale and won 4-3 in Lincoln last Saturday…The Ice score an average of 4.4 goals per game, second most in the league. Indiana has scored at least four goals in each of its last seven games and in 11 of its 14 games this season…Paul Carey (15-8-23) leads the league in goals, points and power play goals (9). Carey has recorded at least one point in 13 of 14 games this season…John Kemp (4-18-22) leads the league in assists and is second in point scoring. He was named RBK Offensive Player of the Week after ripping off seven points in three games last week. Kemp had a goal and an assist last Wednesday against Green Bay, piled up four assists last Friday in Des Moines and tacked on another assist against Lincoln last Saturday. Kemp is also riding an eight game point scoring streak (2-14-16)…Indiana has won its first eight home games. The Ice is one of two teams (along with Sioux City) who remain unbeaten at home…The Ice visit Chicago Friday night before returning home to face the Riders Saturday evening…The Riders and Ice have split a pair of head-to-head meetings this season. All-time the Riders have gone 19-5-0 against Indiana.

Promotions

Great Clips Giveaway Night: Throughout this Friday’s game fans will have the chance to win coupons for free haircuts, koozies, combs, stadium cups, water bottles and other prizes courtesy of Great Clips.

Community

Waypoint: RoughRiders players will visit children at Waypoint’s program at Truman Elementary Tuesday morning at 10:00.

Center Point-Urbana School District: Riders will skate with third graders from Center Point-Urbana schools Tuesday morning at 9:30 at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

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.