This Weekend

Friday, February 1, 7:05PM

Dispatch Ice Haus, Columbus, Ohio

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Ohio Junior Blue Jackets

Saturday, February 2, 12:05PM

Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Ohio Junior Blue Jackets

Recent Action

Wednesday, January 23

Cedar Rapids 5 Des Moines 1

Friday, January 25

Cedar Rapids 4 Sioux City 1

Saturday, January 26

Ohio 4 Cedar Rapids 3

At a Glance

Cedar Rapids

23-11-1, 47 points

2nd place East Division

Coach/GM: Mark Carlson

Ohio

10-18-5, 25 points

5th place East Division

Coach: Jack Fritsche

Headlines

Stopped Short: A one goal loss to Ohio last Saturday night ended the Riders’ two game winning streak. The Riders had outscored Des Moines and Sioux City 9-2 while putting together back-to-back road wins earlier in the week.

No Sweet Sixteen: The Blue Jackets claimed their first ever win over the Riders last Saturday. The Riders had won the first 15 regular season and playoff meetings between the two teams. The Jackets entered the USHL as an expansion team last year.

Unhappy Home: The Riders have lost three straight home games after setting a team record by winning their prior nine at home.

Busy Boys: The RoughRiders played eight games in a 16-day span that ended last Saturday night. Cedar Rapids went 4-4-0 during that stretch.

Streaking: Defenseman Matt Donovan is in the midst of a seven-game point scoring streak (5-3-8) and has scored five goals in his last six games. Donovan also remains the league leader in plus/minus rating (+21).

Jonesing: Doug Jones (11-24-35) is still the Riders’ leader in points and assists and is tied for seventh in the league in assists.

Muskies Muffled: Kent Patterson made a season high 28 saves last Friday in the RoughRiders’ 4-1 win at Sioux City.

D-Fense!:The RoughRiders have given up a league low 85 goals this season. Only the Omaha Lancers allow fewer goals per game (2.35) than the RoughRiders (2.43).

Powering Up: The RoughRiders are the only USHL team to have converted more than 20 percent (20.4) of their power plays.

Star Struck: Forwards David Boehm, Doug Jones and Tyler Thompson, defenseman Matt Tomassoni and goaltender Brady Hjelle will represent the Riders in tonight’s USHL/Prospects-All Star Game in Green Bay. No team had more players chosen to participate in the all-star game than the Riders.

Ins and Outs: The RoughRiders released defenseman Sean Coughlin last Friday. Coughlin, who joined the Riders just after the USHL’s holiday break, collected four assists in nine games with Cedar Rapids.

Alumni Spotlight: New Hampshire freshman Danny Dries (2006-07) scored one goal and assisted on another as the Hockey East-leading Wildcats completed a two-game sweep of Boston University with a 5-3 win over the Terriers last Saturday night. On the season, Dries has scored five goals and totaled 13 points in 22 games.

Scouting Report

Ohio: Last Saturday’s win over the RoughRiders ended the Blue Jackets’ two-game losing streak. Ohio opened last weekend with a 4-1 loss in Lincoln…The Blue Jackets have gone 6-2-0 in their last eight games after winning just 4 of their first 25 games…The Jackets are one of just two teams whose road record (7-11-2) is superior to their home record (3-7-3)…Ohio gives up 3.6 goals per game- second most in the league…Tim Hall (10-13-23) is the only Jacket to have topped the 20-point plateau…Derek Roehl (12-6-18) leads Ohio in goals…After failing to record a point in his Blue Jacket debut last Friday against the Stars, Swiss forward Elias Bianchi scored one goal and added two assists to key the Ohio attack in last Saturday’s win over the Riders…In the month of January Ohio goaltender Pasquale Terrazzano- who is also Swiss- has gone 4-1-0 in five games while posting a 2.16 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Terrazzano went 2-9-2 over the first three months of the season…Prior to falling to the Blue Jackets last Saturday, the Riders had gone 4-0-0 against Ohio this season, had posted a 7-0-0 record against the Jackets during the regular season last year and had swept Ohio in four straight games in the opening round of last spring’s Clark Cup playoffs.

Promotions

Dora the Explorer: Dora the Explorer will appear at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena during the RoughRiders’ Saturday, February 16 game against the Omaha Lancers. Dora the Explorer is an animated children’s television series starring a 7-year old Latina girl and her friends. Dora the Explorer teaches children how to observe situations and solve problems as they explore Dora’s world with her.

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.

Catch the Coach: Catch up on all the latest Rider news with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders’ Coach’s Show with Mark Carlson Wednesday nights at 6:00 on AM-1360 The Fan. The Coach’s Show returns from a two week hiatus this Wednesday evening. The half hour show is broadcast live from Union Station on 16th Avenue SW in Cedar Rapids. RoughRiders Coach and General Manager Mark Carlson and RoughRiders radio broadcaster Brian Lavelle are joined by Riders players on each edition of the Coach’s Show.

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. B2 will also provide a pay-per-view webcast of tonight’s USHL Prospects/All-Star Game in Green Bay starting at 7:00. RoughRiders’ broadcaster Brian Lavelle will provide the play-by-play call of the all-star action.