USHL Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Weekly Update

Published on October 4, 2004 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders News Release


THIS WEEK
Friday, October 8, 7:05PM @ State Fair Coliseum, Lincoln, Nebraska
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Lincoln Stars

RECORDS
Cedar Rapids
2-0-0, 4 points, 1st place East Division
Lincoln
2-1-0, 4 points, 3rd place tie West Division

COMING IN
The RoughRiders defeated the Chicago Steel 2-1 last Thursday night in Bensenville, Illinois. The win was the Riders' second in as many road games this season.
The RoughRiders are currently in possession of the only unblemished record in the United States Hockey League. Each of the USHL's ten other teams has suffered at least one regulation, overtime or shootout loss.
The Riders are in the midst of a stretch that will see them play five of their first six games on the road.
Lincoln won at home and lost on the road last weekend. The Stars defeated the Des Moines Buccaneers 5-3 last Friday night. The following evening, the Stars suffered their first set back of the season, a 7-1 rout at the hands of the arch rival Omaha Lancers.
The Stars are trying to bounce back after failing to make the playoffs last season- the first time in the club's eight year history that the Stars did not qualify for the post-season. Eight players return from last year's club.

LAST WEEK
Cedar Rapids
Thursday, September 30: Cedar Rapids 2 Des Moines 1
Justin Abdelkader and Matt Vokes both scored and Alex Stalock made 19 saves in his USHL debut. The Riders built a 2-0 lead as Stalock shutout the Steel for the first 50:13 of the game. The Steel narrowed the RoughRider advantage to 2-1 while shorthanded midway through the third period, but the Riders were able to protect the one goal lead the rest of the way.

Lincoln
Friday, October 1: Lincoln 5 Des Moines 3
The Stars rolled to a 4-0 lead and never looked back on the way to a convincing win over the Buccaneers. John Swanson led the Lincoln attack with a pair of goals. Brock Trotter and Eli Vlaisavljevich added a goal and an assist apiece. Jordan Pearce made 24 saves to earn the win in goal.
Saturday, October 2: Omaha 7 Lincoln 1
The Stars surrendered a goal just 1:12 into the first period as Omaha went on to build a 6-0 lead. The Lancers broke the game open in the second period by exploding for three goals in a span of just two minutes twenty-eight seconds. Erik Condra finally got Lincoln on the scoreboard at 6:16 of the third period. Pearce (25 saves) went the distance in goal to take the loss.


TOP POINT SCORERS

Cedar Rapids GP G A PTS
Justin Abdelkader 2 1 1 2
Zach Miskovic 2 1 1 2
Rob Ricci 2 0 2 2
(several players tied with one point)

Lincoln GP G A PTS
Brock Trotter 3 2 1 3
Dan Riedel 3 0 3 3
John Swanson 3 2 0 2
Erik Condra 3 1 1 2
Eli Vlaisavljevich 3 1 1 2


LEADERS
Cedar Rapids
Goals- several players tied (1)
Assists- Rob Ricci (2)
Points- Justin Abdelkader, Zach Miskovic, Rob Ricci (2)
Plus/Minus- several players tied (+1)
Penalty Minutes- Justin Abdelkader (4)
Power Play Goals- Zach Miskovic (1)
Shorthanded Goals- none

Miskovic is among a group of players tied for second in point scoring among defensemen.

Lincoln
Goals- John Swanson, Brock Trotter (2)
Assists- Dan Reidel (3)
Points- Dan Reidel, Brock Trotter (3)
Plus/Minus- Brian Bina (+2)
Penalty Minutes- Ryan Hohl (26)
Power Play Goals- Erik Condra, Tom Sawatske, Eli Vlaisavljevich (1)
Shorthanded Goals- none

Trotter and Reider are among a group of players tied for eighth in the league in points...Hohl is second in the league in penalty minutes (26), while teammate Chris Robinson (22) ranks fourth...Hohl and Robinson are two of just four players who have already been called for two major penalties this season...Vlaisavljevich is among a group of players tied for second in point scoring among defensemen...Jordan Pearce is tied for second among goaltenders in wins (2).

GOALTENDERS
Cedar Rapids TEAM GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Alex Stalock Cedar Rapids 1 60 1.00 1-0-0 0 .950
Dan Tormey Cedar Rapids 1 65 2.77 1-0-0 0 .885

Lincoln TEAM GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Jordan Pearce Chicago 3 180 3.37 2-1-0 0 .861

WHO'S HOT
Cedar Rapids
Justin Abdelkader: scored first USHL goal last Thursday; points in each of first two games
Rob Ricci: assists in each first two games
Alex Stalock: made 19 saves, gave up just one goal to earn win in USHL debut last Thursday

Lincoln
Dan Reidel: three assists in last two games
Brock Trotter: one goal and one assist last Friday
Eli Vlaisavljevich: one goal and one assist last Friday
John Swanson: two goals last Friday


WIN-LOSS
Cedar Rapids Lincoln
Home: 0-0-0 Home: 1-0-0
Away: 2-0-0 Away: 1-1-0

vs. East Division: 2-0-0 vs. East Division: 1-1-0
vs. West Division: 0-0-0 vs. West Division: 1-0-0

GOALS
Cedar Rapids Lincoln
Goals For Per Game: 3.0 (tied 4) Goals For Per Game: 2.7 (tied 6)
Goals Against Per Game: 2.0 (tied 1) Goals Against Per Game: 3.7 (tied 8)

SPECIAL TEAMS
Cedar Rapids Lincoln
Power Play: 11.1% 1/9 (8) Power Play: 15.0% 3/20 (2)
Penalty Kill: 100% 0/7 (tied 1) Penalty Kill: 77.8% 4/18 (9)

Shorthanded Goals For: 0 Shorthanded Goals For: 0
Shorthanded Goals Against: 1 Shorthanded Goals Against: 0

SERIES
vs. Lincoln GP W-L-SOL PTS H A OPP REC OPP PTS
2003-04 4 3-0-1 7 2-0-0 1-0-1 1-2-1 3
All-Time 22 8-11-3 19 5-5-1 3-6-2 14-4-4 32

Top Point Scorers/Season Series (2003-04)
Cedar Rapids GP G A PTS
Sean Muncy 4 2 2 4
Derek Peltier 4 1 3 4
(several players tied with three points)

Lincoln GP G A PTS
Dan Riedel 2 3 0 3
Mick Berge 3 1 2 3
Brent Borgen 4 1 2 3



Ben Gordon 2 0 3 3

Goaltenders/Season Series (2003-04)
Cedar Rapids GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Joe Fallon 4 246:58 1.70 3-0-1 2 .949

Lincoln GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT
Phillip Lamoureux 4 243:53 2.71 1-2-1 0 .928

ROUGHRIDERS ROSTER
Forward Gary Steffes made his RoughRider debut last Thursday. The Riders added Steffes, who had been one of the team's affiliated players, to the active roster last Monday.
The status of forward Phil Axtell (knee) and defenseman Alec Martinez (knee) is uncertain for Thursday's game. Both sat out the first two games of the season.

COACHES
Cedar Rapids
Mark Carlson, 6th year (145-125-27)
Mark Carlson has been the RoughRiders' coach since the team arrived in Cedar Rapids in 1999-2000. He has led the RoughRiders to four straight winning seasons and four straight berths in the Clark Cup playoffs. The Riders are one of just three USHL teams to have reached the post season each of the last four years.
Carlson is just five wins short of the 150 victory plateau. He earned his one hundredth coaching win on January 11, 2003 when the RoughRiders defeated the Sioux City Musketeers 3-1 in Sioux City. Carlson has coached 297 regular season games over the course of the Riders' five-plus seasons. He will be behind the bench for his three hundredth USHL game when the RoughRiders visit the Indiana Ice on Sunday, October 17.
Prior to taking over the RoughRiders in 1999, Carlson spent four seasons as a collegiate assistant coach at Northeastern and Massachusetts-Lowell. In his playing days, Carlson was a forward at Lowell and was a 1987 draft pick of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins.

Lincoln
Steve Johnson, 10th year (327-148-33); 9th year Lincoln (298-129-32)
Steve Johnson has been Lincoln's coach since the club's inception in 1996-97. Prior to taking over in Lincoln, Johnson spent the 1995-96 campaign behind the bench of the now defunct Fargo-Moorhead Bears. He piloted the Bears to a 27-18-1 record in their only season in the league.
Johnson has been named USHL Coach of the Year three times (1995-96, 1999-2000, 2000-01) and General Manager of the Year (2000-01) once.
Johnson became just the fourth coach in league history to reach the 300 win plateau when the Stars defeated the Des Moines Buccaneers 4-3 in a shootout on October 17, 2003 in Lincoln.

HISTORY
Forward Jon Grabarek is second in RoughRider history in career goals (37), just one behind club record holder Gerry Hickey. Grabarek also ranks second in team history behind Chase Watson in career assists (49) and points (86). He ranks fifth in club history in power play goals (11). Grabarek did not record a point in the Riders' first two games.
This marks just the second time in the RoughRiders' six year history that the club has won its first two games of the season. The Riders opened the 2001-02 campaign win three straight victories.
Third year defenseman Zach Miskovic has not missed a regular season game during his RoughRider career. Miskovic ranks fourth in club history in career games played (122).
In addition to failing to qualify for the playoffs last season, the Stars also finished with a losing record (27-29-4, 58 points) for the first time in team history.
The Stars tumbled down the standings last season just one year after taking home the Clark Cup (playoff title) for the second time in franchise history. The Stars' previous Clark Cup title came in 1996-97, the franchise's first season in the league. Lincoln also won its third Anderson Cup (regular season) championship in 2002-03. The Stars won back-to-back Anderson Cups in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.


COLLEGE COMMITMENTS
Cedar Rapids
Justin Abdelkader (Michigan State), Phil Axtell (Michigan Tech), Greg Collins (New Hampshire), Ray Eichenlaub (Miami of Ohio), Matt Vokes (Brown)
Lincoln
Jordan Pierce (Notre Dame), Erik Condra (Notre Dame), Eli Vlaisavljevich (Michigan Tech), John Swanson (St. Cloud State)

UPCOMING EVENTS
All fans attending the RoughRiders' home opener against the Waterloo Black Hawks on Saturday night, October 16 will receive free RoughRiders 2004-05 magnet schedules courtesy of AM-1360 The Fan, Aspen Athletic Club, i wireless and Lindale Mall.
The RoughRiders will also host their first food drive night the evening of the home opener. The Riders and the Cedar Rapids Jaycees will team for monthly food drives to benefit the HACAP Food Reservoir. The Jaycees will collect canned food items at the RoughRiders' first Saturday home game of each month.
It's Mascot Day when the RoughRiders host the Des Moines Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon, October 24 at 4:00. Ricochet, the Riders' furry equine mascot, will be joined by a host of equally huggable mascots from all over eastern Iowa during the game.
On Saturday, November 13 fans will have the chance to get up close with the Dale Earnhardt Jr. #8 Budweiser Born On Date Car. The Born On Date car will be on display during the RoughRiders' game against the Green Bay Gamblers. Earnhardt, one of NASCAR's top young drivers, has won nine Nextel Cup races during his five year career, including this year's Daytona 500. Earnhardt Jr. is the son of the late NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Christian rock group Ramshackle will perform after the RoughRiders' game against the Lincoln Stars on Friday, November 19.
Marvel Comics' Spiderman will land at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena on Saturday night, November 27. Everyone's favorite web-slinging superhero will sign autographs and pose for photos as the RoughRiders host the Indiana Ice.
TICKETS
Individual game tickets for RoughRiders first half home dates- including the October 16 home opener- are now on sale at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena ticket office. Tickets can be purchased over the phone at (319) 261-4625 or in person at the ice arena. 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 $8.00 to $17.00 including a 50-cent facility fee.
2004-05 season tickets are currently available through the RoughRiders' business office (247-0340). In addition to their seats, season ticket holders also receive a host of exclusive benefits.
In addition to full season tickets, the RoughRiders also offer three different mini-plan packages. Fans can watch the Riders take on their archrivals, the Waterloo Black Hawks, with an i wireless Corridor Cup Mini-Plan or enjoy weekend games with five or ten game packages.
The Family Pack enables fans to get four green zone seats, four hot dogs, four fountain drinks and a game program all for just $44. The Family Pack is available for all of the RoughRiders' Friday and Sunday home games. The first Family Pack Night is Sunday afternoon, October 24 when the Riders host the Des Moines Buccaneers at 4:00.

ON THE AIR
RoughRiders regular season and playoff games- including this Friday's contest- will again be broadcast on AM-1360 The Fan in Cedar Rapids and AM-800 KXIC in Iowa City this season. Brian Lavelle provides play-by-play.
Up-to-the-minute live game updates for all USHL action are available on line at www.pointstreak.com/prostats.

Check out the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from October 4, 2004


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