USHL Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

RoughRiders' Carlson Named USOC Development Coach of the Year

Published on May 5, 2009 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders News Release


Cedar Rapids, Iowa- Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Coach and General Manager Mark Carlson has been named United States Olympic Committee Development Coach of the Year in hockey, the RoughRiders announced today.

Each Olympic sport's national governing body recognizes three coaches- a National, Development and Volunteer Coach of the Year- for their respective sports. Honorees are recognized for their dedication to the Olympic ideals and service to their sport, community and athletes by the USOC Coach Recognition Program. The goals of the program are to elevate the status of coaching as a profession and to recognize the best coaches in the United States.

Carlson has been the RoughRiders' Coach and G.M. since the team arrived in Cedar Rapids in 1999. He has guided the RoughRiders to a record of 326-216-53 in his ten seasons behind the Rider bench. The Lawrenceville, New Jersey, native ranks second among active USHL coaches in winning percentage (.592) and third among active coaches in wins. He has led the Riders to nine straight winning seasons and nine consecutive Clark Cup playoff berths. The Riders are one of just two USHL teams to have reached the postseason each of the last nine years. Carlson piloted the Riders to both the Anderson Cup (regular season) and Clark Cup titles in 2004-05 and has twice directed the team to the USHL East Division championship.

Better than 125 players who have skated for Carlson in Cedar Rapids have received Division I scholarships. 15 RoughRiders have been selected in the National Hockey League Entry Draft and so far four Rider alumni- Dave Moss (Calgary), Ted Purcell (Los Angeles), Justin Abdelkader (Detroit) and Derek Peltier (Colorado)- have played in the NHL.

Carlson, who was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1987 NHL Draft, played collegiately at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. After graduating from UML, he spent one season as an Assistant Coach at Lawrenceville School before returning to Lowell to serve as an assistant to Head Coach Bruce Crowder. After helping the River Hawks to a berth in the 1996 NCAA tournament, Carlson spent another three seasons beside Crowder as an assistant at Northeastern University in Boston.

Carlson and the RoughRiders are fresh off a successful tenth anniversary season. The Riders, who finished with the second most points (81) and wins in one season in team history, went 38-17-5 and finished second overall in the USHL.

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