This Weekend
Tuesday, April 1, 7:05PM
Cedar Rapids Ice Arena
Chicago Steel vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
Friday, April 4, 7:05PM
Cedar Rapids Ice Arena
Indiana Ice vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
Saturday, April 5, 7:05PM
Young Arena, Waterloo
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Waterloo Black Hawks
Recent Action
Tuesday, March 25
Cedar Rapids 4 Des Moines 1
Friday, March 28
Omaha 3 Cedar Rapids 1
Saturday, March 29
Omaha 3 Cedar Rapids 2
At a Glance
Cedar Rapids
33-21-3, 69 points
3rd place East Division
Coach/GM: Mark Carlson
Chicago
30-21-6, 66 points
4th place East Division
Coach/GM: Steve Poapst
Indiana
36-15-6, 78 points
1st place East Division
Coach: Charlie Skjodt
Waterloo
35-17-5, 75 points
2nd place East Division
Coach/GM: P.K. O’Handley
Headlines
Swept: The RoughRiders lost back-to-back games to the Omaha Lancers last weekend after having won their prior five games.
Playoff Picture: The RoughRiders could still finish second, third or fourth in the East Division. The Riders fell into third place after they dropped a pair of games over the weekend while the Waterloo Black Hawks won three straight to take over sole possession of second place. The Riders are now six points behind the Black Hawks and are three points ahead of fourth place Chicago. The Riders can only finish second if they win each of their three remaining games and the Hawks lose their final three, in which case the two teams would finish tied and the Riders would earn the second seed by virtue of winning the tie breaker (regular season series) with the Black Hawks. The Riders will face one of there three opponents this week- Chicago, Indiana and Waterloo- in the best-of-five opening round of the playoffs. A Rider win tomorrow night would guarantee Cedar Rapids a second or third place finish and eliminate the possibility of an opening round match-up with Chicago.
Cup Clincher…Again: The Lancers clinched the Anderson Cup (regular season) title with last Saturday’s win over the Riders. This marks the second straight year that a visiting team has locked up the Anderson Cup with a win at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. The Black Hawks wrapped up the regular season title with a 3-2 win over the Riders on the final night of last season.
Well Done: Casey Wellman (20-23-43) scored last Saturday night to become the first RoughRider this season to reach the 20-goal plateau. Wellman has collected nine points (five goals, four assists) in just his last seven games.
Jonesing: Doug Jones (17-38-55), who has totaled 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his last ten games, is tied for fifth in the league in assists and ranks tenth in points.
Patterson Punctured: Kent Patterson took the loss in goal last Friday night at Omaha despite making 36 saves. The defeat halted Patterson’s four game winning streak. Over his last five games the second year Rider netminder has given up just seven goals, posting a 1.4 goals against average and a .955 save percentage during that stretch.
Out of Ammo: The Riders took a season low 13 shots on goal last Friday night. They matched a season low by putting just two shots on the Lancer net in the third period.
Powering Up: The Riders have now scored at least one power play goal in each of their last 13 games. For the season the Riders lead the league in power play efficiency (20.1 percent).
Second Best: The Riders give up just 2.5 goals per game, the second best average in the league.
Alumni Spotlight: Brandon Naurato (2003-04) and the Michigan Wolverines have advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four after defeating Niagara and Clarkson in the East Regional last weekend. Naurato, a junior forward, has scored seven goals and totaled 18 points in 33 games this season.
Scouting Report
Chicago: The Steel clinched the fourth and final East Division playoff spot with a 6-1 win over the fifth place Ohio Junior Blue Jackets last Friday in Bensenville, Illinois. One night later the Steel fell to the Blue Jackets in Columbus 7-6…the Steel has gone 6-2-0 in its last eight games. Chicago has gone 21-9-3 in its last 33 games after starting the season 9-12-3…The Steel ranks second in the league in scoring, averaging 3.7 goals per game…Brian O’Neill (20-38-58) is tied for fifth in the league in assists and ranks seventh in points…Simon Olsson (16-34-50) is tied for tenth in the league in assists…The Steel ranks second to last in the league in penalty killing (80.7 percent)… Goaltender Rob Madore ranks second in the league in minutes played (2377:29) and ranks fourth in save percentage (.912)…The Riders and Steel have split their first six meetings of the season. All-time the Riders have gone 34-15-3 against Chicago and have posted a 17-9-0 home record against the Steel.
Indiana: The Ice has already clinched a playoff berth. Indiana’s magic number for clinching the East Division title is four (points gained by the Ice or not earned by second place Waterloo)…The Ice is in the midst of a five-game losing streak- Indiana’s longest skid of the season. The Ice has not won since defeating Green Bay 3-2 on March 15. Indiana has played each of its last five games on the road…The Ice lost three games in four days last week, falling to the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets 6-3 last Wednesday, dropping a 6-4 decision to Des Moines last Friday and going down to Waterloo 3-1 last Saturday…The Ice ranks third in the league in goal scoring (3.6 per game)…Greg Squires (22-45-67) ranks second in the league in points and ranks third in assists…Paul Carey (33-29-62) is tied for the league lead in goals and ranks fifth in points…John Kemp (11-52-63) leads the league in assists and ranks fourth in points … The Riders have gone 2-4-0 against the Ice this season. All-time the Riders have gone 20-8-0 against Indiana and have posted a 10-4-0 home record against the Ice.
Waterloo: The Black Hawks have won four straight games, have gone 9-1-0 in their last ten games and have gone 14-2-0 in their last 16 games…The Black Hawks, who trailed first place Indiana by 16 points in the East Division standings five weeks ago are now within three points of the division leaders…The Hawks won three games in three days last weekend. Waterloo shut out Sioux Falls 3-0 last Friday, defeated Indiana 3-1 last Saturday and dropped Sioux Falls again yesterday, overwhelming the Stampede 7-3…Yesterday’s win was the Black Hawks’ thirty-fifth of the season. The Hawks have now won at least 35 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in team history. Waterloo went 39-17-4 last year…This is the third time in six seasons under P.K. O’Handley that the Black Hawks have won at least 35 games…Waterloo has allowed an average of just 2.7 goals per game- third fewest in the league…Blake Kessel (19-35-54) leads the Hawks in points and leads all USHL defensemen in both goals and points…Billy Maday (21-32-53) leads Waterloo in goals…Brett Olson (14-34-48 in 46 games) is the only Hawk averaging at least a point per game…goaltender Matt DiGirolamo is 6-1-0 in his last seven games. On the season DiGirolamo ranks third in the league in wins (24) and minutes played (2377:20) and fourth in goals against average (2.45)… The RoughRiders have gone 4-1-2 against Waterloo this season. All-time they have gone 30-25-6 against the Black Hawks and have posted a 12-16-3 record in Waterloo.
Promotions
Krazy George: Krazy George, the world’s most famous professional cheerleader, will bring his special bran of fun to the ice arena this Friday night as the Riders close out their regular season home slate against the Indiana Ice.
Junk Funk: Junk Funk will perform before Friday night’s game and again during the first intermission. For more information about Junk Funk, go to www.myspace.com/junkfunkbeats.
Post Game Fireworks: A celebratory post game fireworks show outside the ice arena will immediately follow Friday’s game.
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.