This Weekend
Tuesday, February 26, 7:05PM
Cedar Rapids Ice Arena
Green Bay Gamblers vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
Friday, February 29, 7:05PM
Young Arena, Waterloo
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Waterloo Black Hawks
March 1, 7:05PM
Cedar Rapids Ice Arena
Chicago Steel vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
Recent Action
Tuesday, February 19
Cedar Rapids 3 Green Bay 0
Friday, February 22
Indiana 2 Cedar Rapids 1
Saturday, February 23
Indiana 6 Cedar Rapids 3
At a Glance
Cedar Rapids
27-16-2, 56 points
2nd place East Division
Coach/GM: Mark Carlson
Green Bay
11-30-4, 26 points
6th p
lace East Division
Coach/GM: Mark Mazzoleni
Waterloo
24-15-5, 53 points
3rd place East Division
Coach/GM: P.K. O’Handley
Chicago
23-15-6, 52 points
4th place East Division
Coach/GM: Steve Poapst
Headlines
Iced: East Division leading Indiana swept a home-and-home series from the Riders last weekend. The Ice now leads the second place Riders by 13 points.
Blanked: The Riders and goaltender Brady Hjelle last Tuesday night shut out the Green Bay Gamblers for the third time this season. Hjelle made 19 saves in the 3-0 win.
Worth the Wait: Tomorrow night’s game between the Riders and Gamblers was originally scheduled for December 1 but was postponed due to inclement weather.
i wireless Corridor Cup: The RoughRiders will clinch the i wireless Corridor Cup- the trophy awarded to the winner of the Cedar Rapids-Waterloo regular season series- with a win or an overtime or shootout loss against the Black Hawks on Friday night. Through six games in the eight game season series the Riders have earned nine points while the Black Hawks have picked up five points.
Down Home: The Riders have won just one of their last six home games (1-4-1).
Second Best: Despite scoring a pair of power play goals last Saturday, Cedar Rapids has fallen to second in the league in power play efficiency (19.3 percent).
Jonesing: Doug Jones (11-33-44) ranks fifth in the league in assists and tenth in points.
Deep Sixed: The RoughRiders gave up six goals last Saturday night in Indianapolis after surrendering a total of just four goals in their prior three games. On the season the Riders rank second in the league in goals against (2.6 per game).
Fun at the Fieldhouse: A crowd of 12,575 watched the Ice defeat the RoughRiders last Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse- a record for most fans to watch a game involving the Riders. The game was a “Pack the House Night” fundraiser for Indianapolis-area charities.
Ins and Outs: Doug Leaverton served a one game suspension last Tuesday in Green Bay before returning to the Rider lineup last Friday night against Indiana. Leaverton was suspended after being assessed a game misconduct penalty for fighting with less than five minutes remaining in the Riders’ February 16 win over Lincoln.
Alumni Spotlight: A pair of former RoughRider forwards- freshman Danny Dries (2006-07) and junior Greg Collins (2003-05)- have helped the University of New Hampshire to the Hockey East regular season title. The Wildcats clinched the title by sweeping Boston College last weekend.
Scouting Report
Green Bay: The Gamblers lost three games in five days last week. After being shut out by the RoughRiders last Tuesday, Green Bay was swept in Waterloo last weekend, falling to the Black Hawks 6-1 last Friday and 2-1 last Saturday…The Gamblers have gone just 2-17-3 in their last 22 games...The Gamblers allow a USHL-worst average of 3.8 goals per game while scoring just 2.3 goals per outing, the second lowest average in the league…The Gamblers have been shut out five times in their last 13 games and a total of eight times this season…C.J. Lee (13-11-24) leads the Gamblers in goals and is tied with Mike Borisenok, Christian Morrissette and Cameron Burt (3-21-24) for the team point-scoring lead…The RoughRiders are 6-0-0 against the Gamblers this season. All-time they have gone 38-16-3 against the Gamblers and have posted a 21-7-1 home record against Green Bay.
Waterloo: The Black Hawks outscored Green Bay 8-2 last weekend while sweeping a pair of games from the Gamblers…Waterloo has allowed an average of just 2.8 goals per game- fourth fewest in the league…Blake Kessel (15-25-40) leads not only the Hawks but also all USHL defensemen in both goals and points…Billy Maday (14-25-39) leads Waterloo forwards in points…Brett Olson is the only Hawk averaging at least a point per game. He has totaled 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 33 games after missing Waterloo’s first 11 games with a shoulder injury…goaltender Matt DiGirolamo stopped 32 of 34 Green Bay shots while backstopping the Hawks to two wins last weekend. On the season DiGirolamo is tied for fifth in the league in wins (16) and ranks sixth in goals against average (2.64), just behind teammate Joe Howe (2.44)….The RoughRiders have gone 4-1-1 against Waterloo this season. All-time they have gone 30-25-5 against the Black Hawks and have posted a 12-16-2 record in Waterloo.
Chicago: The Steel split a pair of home games with the Tri-City Storm last weekend. Chicago lost 3-2 last Friday before bouncing back with a 2-1 win the following evening…The Steel has suffered just one regulation defeat in its last five games (3-1-1) and has gone 14-3-3 in its last 20 games after posting a 9-12-3 mark in its first 24 outings…The Steel ranks third in the league in scoring, averaging 3.7 goals per game…Former Rider Andy Miele departed the Steel for Miami (Ohio) last month but remains the league leader in goals (30)…Brian O’Neill (14-26-40) leads players still on the Chicago roster in assists and points and is tied for sixth in the league in assists…Drew LeBlanc (15-22-37) and Eric Alexander (15-7-22) are the top goal scorers still with the Steel…The Steel ranks second to last in the league in penalty killing (81.3 percent)… Goaltender Rob Madore ranks fourth in the league in minutes played (1864:47) and ranks sixth in save percentage (.912)…The Steel won back-to-back games against the RoughRiders on January 16 (4-2) and January 18 (5-3) after having lost the first three meetings between the two teams this season and having gone ten games (0-9-1) without a win over Cedar Rapids between last season and the start of this season. All-time the Riders have gone 34-14-3 against Chicago and have posted a 17-8-0 home record against the Steel.
Promotions
Rugrats’ Chuckie: The RoughRiders and Iowa Pork Producers will welcome Chuckie of Nickolodeon’s Rugrats and All Grown Up! to the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena for the Riders’ game against the Chicago Steel this Saturday night. This much-loved animated character is easily recognizable by his red hair and prominent teeth.
Postponement: The season ticket holders’ skate with the RoughRiders originally scheduled for this Saturday night has been moved to Saturday, March 29. Season ticket holders will have an exclusive opportunity to join their favorite players on the ice following the Riders’ game against the Omaha Lancers.
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 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.