USHL Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Weekly Update

Published on January 29, 2007 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders News Release


THIS WEEK

Friday, February 2, 7:05PM @ 95 KGGO Arena, Urbandale

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Des Moines Buccaneers

Saturday, February 3, 7:05PM @ Cedar Rapids Ice Arena

Ohio Junior Blue Jackets vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

RECORDS

Cedar Rapids

22-12-1, 45 points, tied 1st place East Division

Des Moines

18-11-5, 41 points, 5th place West Division

Ohio

4-26-6, 14 points, tied 5th place East Division

COMING IN

The RoughRiders split a pair of home games last weekend. The Omaha Lancers defeated the RoughRiders 4-1 last Friday. The Riders rebounded with a 3-0 shutout of the Waterloo Black Hawks last Saturday night.

With Saturday night's win, the Riders moved into a tie for first place in the United States Hockey League's East Division with Waterloo. The Riders and Black Hawks are just one point behind Sioux City and Tri-City in the race for first place overall.

The Riders are tied with Lincoln for the league lead in goal-scoring- both teams average 4.1 goals per game. The Riders' production has slipped slightly in recent days. Cedar Rapids has scored three goals or fewer in each of its last four games.

Jacob Cepis (25-24-49) remains the league leader in goals and points despite having a seven-game point-scoring streak (7-7-14) snapped last Friday. Cepis bounced back with a goal and an assist last Saturday night.

Rider goaltender Richard Bachman last Saturday posted the Riders' second shutout in three games. Bachman made 40 saves in the win over Waterloo. Kent Patterson, the Riders' other netminder, had his five-game winning streak snapped by Omaha last Friday.

The Riders last weekend closed out a six-game homestand- their longest of the season. The Riders went 4-2-0 during that run of home games.

Before returning to action with the RoughRiders next weekend, five Cedar Rapids players- Cepis, Pat Cannone, Robin Bergman, Tommy Wingels and Kevin Wehrs- will play in tomorrow night's USHL All-Star/Prospects game in Waterloo.

The Buccaneers split a two-game series with the Indiana Ice last weekend in Urbandale. The Buccaneers fell 5-3 last Friday before rebounding to snap a three game winless streak (0-3-1) with a 4-0 shutout win Saturday night.

The Bucs have gone 4-6-4 over their last 14 games and 11-11-5 over their last 27 games after starting the season with seven straight wins.

The Bucs' Richard Purslow (14-31-45) ranks second in the league in points, while Ben Ryan (11-33-44) and Matt Read (20-24-44) are tied for third. Read leads the league in power play goals (14) and ranks second in total goals while Ryan and Purslow rank second and third in assists.

Workhorse goaltender Matt Dalton leads the league in shutouts (4), ranks second in wins (17) and third in minutes played (1686:39).

The Bucs boast the league's best power play (24.7 percent) and have scored the majority of their goals- 67 of 128- on the power play.

The Blue Jackets have suffered six straight regulation losses, matching a season high. The Blue Jackets dropped a pair last weekend in Lincoln. Ohio was blanked 7-0 last Friday and suffered a 5-2 defeat one night later.

The Blue Jackets head into a weekend trip that will start with a game in Waterloo Friday night having won just once on the road all season.

The Blue Jackets are the only team in the league that scores fewer than two goals per game (1.7) and are also the only club that allows more than four per contest (4.03).

The Ohio attack has not been much livelier on the power play. The Blue Jackets rank last in the league on the man advantage (8.6 percent).

Ohio goaltender Troy Redmann has posted a respectable 3.81 goals against average and .904 save percentage while going 3-19-3 this season.

RECENT ACTION

Cedar Rapids

Friday, January 26: Omaha 4 Cedar Rapids 1

The Lancers scored four straight goals after Rob Bordson gave Cedar Rapids a 1-0 first period lead.

Saturday, January 27: Cedar Rapids 3 Waterloo 0

Richard Bachman made 40 saves to blank the Black Hawks. Rob Bordson, Aaron Bogosian and Jacob Cepis scored the Rider goals.

Des Moines

Friday, January 26: Indiana 5 Des Moines 3

The Bucs were unable to bounce back after falling behind 5-1. Kyle Bailey, Andrew Olson and Ben Ryan provided the Des Moines goals.

Saturday, January 27: Des Moines 4 Indiana 0

Matt Read scored two goals and added one assist to help the Bucs to a convincing win. Bucs goaltender Matt Dalton needed to make only a dozen saves to post the shutout as Des Moines outshot Indiana 45-12

Ohio

Friday, January 26: Lincoln 7 Ohio 0

The Blue Jackets were outshot 51-24 on the night and surrendered 21 shots in each of the first two periods. Troy Redmann took the loss in goal despite making 44 saves.

Saturday, January 27: Lincoln 5 Ohio 2

The Lancers put the Blue Jackets away with four straight third period goals. A pair of goals from Derek Roehl were not enough for the Blue Jackets.

TOP POINT SCORERS

Cedar Rapids GP G A PTS

Jacob Cepis 34 25 24 49

Pat Cannone 34 12 18 30

Robin Bergman 27 15 14 29

Kevin Wehrs 35 7 20 27

(two players tied with 25 points)

Des Moines GP G A PTS

Richard Purslow 34 14 31 45

Matt Read 34 20 24 44

Ben Ryan 34 11 33 44

Aaron Palushaj 30 14 24 38

Andrew Olson 34 12 18 30

Ohio GP G A PTS

Dan Barczuk 33 6 8 14

Chris Reed 36 2 12 14

Sean McCauley 33 5 7 12

Eric Rex 34 6 5 11

(three players tied with 10 points)

LEADERS

Cedar Rapids

Goals- Jacob Cepis (25)

Assists- Jacob Cepis (24)

Points- Jacob Cepis (49)

Plus/Minus- Pat Cannone, Rob Bordson (+12)

Penalty Minutes- Kevin Wehrs (73)

Power Play Goals- Robin Bergman (9)

Shorthanded Goals- Aaron Bogosian (2)

Des Moines

Goals- Matt Read (20)

Assists- Richard Purslow (24)

Points- Richard Purslow (45)

Plus/Minus- Bobby Reiners (+7)

Penalty Minutes- Shane Sims (91)

Power Play Goals- Matt Read (14)

Shorthanded Goals- Matt Read, Derek Elliot (1)

Ohio

Goals- Tim Hall (7)

Assists- Chris Reed (12)

Points- Dan Barczuk, Chris Reed (14)

Plus/Minus- Itan Chavira (+1)

Penalty Minutes- Donnie Hallmark (87)

Power Play Goals- Tim Hall (3)

Shorthanded Goals- Eric Rex (1)

WHO'S HOT

Cedar Rapids

Rob Bordson: seven points (two goals, five assists) in his last six games

Jacob Cepis: 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in his last nine games

Evan Stephens: 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his last 12 games

Des Moines

Chris Knowlton: five goals (and one assist) in his last nine games

Aaron Palushaj: 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) in his last 18 games

Jeff Petry: seven points (one goal, six assists) in his last five games...13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his last 11

games

Richard Purslow: nine points (four goals, five assists) in his last seven games

Matt Read: seven points (three goals, four assists) in his last four games

Ben Ryan: 14 points (four goals, ten assists) in his last nine games

GOALTENDERS

Cedar Rapids GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT

Kent Patterson 19 1097:28 3.06 13-4-1 1 .910

Richard Bachman 11 656:21 3.38 6-5-0 0 .899

Des Moines GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT

Matt Dalton 30 1686:39 2.77 17-8-4 4 .908

Stephen Ritter 4 157:55 4.56 0-1-1 0 .855

Ohio GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT

Troy Redmann 26 1543:35 3.81 3-19-3 0 .904

Brandon Czarnecki 1 60 5.00 0-1-0 0 .861

WIN-LOSS

Cedar Rapids Des Moines Ohio

Home: 12-7-0 Home: 10-6-1 Home: 3-14-2

Away: 10-5-1 Away: 8-5-4 Away: 1-12-4

vs. East: 17-4-0 vs. East: 8-5-1 vs. East: 2-12-2

vs. West: 5-8-1 vs. West: 10-6-4 vs. West: 2-14-4

GOALS

Cedar Rapids Des Moines Ohio

Goals For: 4.11 (1) Goals For: 3.76 (4) Goals For: 1.67 (12)

Goals Against: 3.37 (9) Goals Against: 3.35 (8) Goals Against: 4.03 (12)

SPECIAL TEAMS

Cedar Rapids Des Moines

Power Play: 18.5 48/260 (4) Power Play: 24.7 67/271 (1)

Penalty Kill: 83.0 34/200 (9) Penalty Kill: 83.9 44/274 (6)

Shorthanded Goals For: 8 Shorthanded Goals For: 2

Shorthanded Goals Against: 4 Shorthanded Goals Against: 7

Ohio

Power Play: 8.6 19/221 (12)

Penalty Kill: 83.4 42/253 (8)

Shorthanded Goals For: 1

Shorthanded Goals Against: 6

SERIES

Cedar Rapids vs. Des Moines

10/27/06 at Des Moines 7 Cedar Rapids 6

10/28/06 at Cedar Rapids 8 Des Moines 3

2/2/07 Cedar Rapids at Des Moines

2/16/07 Des Moines at Cedar Rapids

GP W-L-SOL PTS H A OPP REC OPP PTS

2006-07 2 1-1-0 2 1-0-0 0-1-0 1-1-0 2

All-Time 41 27-11-3 57 12-7-1 15-4-2 14-19-8 36

Cedar Rapids vs. Ohio

11/11/06 Cedar Rapids 3 at Ohio 1

11/12/06 Cedar Rapids 5 at Ohio 4

11/17/06 at Cedar Rapids 7 Ohio 4

11/18/06 at Cedar Rapids 4 Ohio 1

2/3/07 Ohio at Cedar Rapids

3/17/07 Ohio at Cedar Rapids

3/25/07 Cedar Rapids at Ohio

GP W-L-SOL PTS H A OPP REC OPP PTS

2006-07 4 4-0-0 8 2-0-0 2-0-0 0-4-0 0

All-Time 4 4-0-0 8 2-0-0 2-0-0 0-4-0 0

Top Point Scorers/Season Series

Cedar Rapids vs. Des Moines

Cedar Rapids GP G A PTS

Jacob Cepis 2 2 3 5

Tommy Wingels 2 2 3 5

Kevin Wehrs 2 2 3 5

Des Moines GP G A PTS

Richard Purslow 2 0 6 6

Ben Ryan 2 1 4 5

Matt Read 2 2 2 4

Cedar Rapids vs. Ohio

Cedar Rapids GP G A PTS

Pat Cannone 4 1 6 7

Robin Bergman 4 5 0 5

(three players tied with four points)

Ohio GP G A PTS

Danny Hobbs 4 3 0 3

Adam Comrie 4 2 1 3

Chris Reed 4 0 3 3

Goaltenders/Season Series

Cedar Rapids vs. Des Moines

Cedar Rapids GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT

Kent Patterson 1 60 3.00 1-0-0 0 .889

Pat McGann 1 58:34 7.17 0-1-0 0 .837

Des Moines GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT

Matt Dalton 2 113:30 5.81 1-1-0 0 .843

Bryan Mountain 1 6:30 27.69 0-0-0 0 .625

Cedar Rapids vs. Ohio

Cedar Rapids GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT

Pat McGann 2 120 2.50 2-0-0 0 .833

Kent Patterson 2 120 2.50 2-0-0 0 .907

Ohio GP MIN GAA W-L-SOL SO SPCT

Drew Palmisano 2 119:10 3.52 0-2-0 0 .891

Troy Redmann 2 120 5.50 0-2-0 0 .904

COACHES

Cedar Rapids

Mark Carlson, 8th year (240-171-39)

Mark Carlson has been the RoughRiders' coach since the team arrived in Cedar Rapids in 1999. In 2005-06 he led the Riders to their second straight East Division title.

He has also piloted the Riders to six straight winning seasons and six straight Clark Cup playoff berths. The Riders are one of just two USHL teams to have reached the postseason each of the last six years.

The Riders are the only team to have advanced at least as far as the Clark Cup semi-finals/East Division finals each of the last two springs and four of the last five years. On December 3, 2005 Carlson picked up his two hundredth career coaching win as the Riders defeated Omaha 2-1 in a shootout. Carlson's RoughRiders went 218-159-38 in his first seven seasons with the club.

The high point of his tenure was leading the RoughRiders to the first Clark Cup (playoff) title in team history along with a share of the Anderson Cup regular season title and the East Division title in 2004-05. The Riders went 42-13-5 during the regular season- the best record in club history- and swept through the first two rounds of the playoffs before defeating Sioux City three games to two in the finals. For his efforts, Carlson was named the 2004-05 USHL Coach of the Year.

Carlson, a native of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell where he earned a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing. Also while at Lowell, Carlson skated in the highly competitive Hockey East conference as a forward on the River Hawks' hockey team. His on-ice talent was recognized even before he arrived in Lowell when he was taken in the 1987 National Hockey League draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After graduating from UML, Carlson 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, where he also acted as recruiting coordinator. He earned a master's degree in education from N.U.

During his time at N.U. Carlson also acted as recruiting coordinator. Among those he recruited for the Huskies were Jim Fahey, who now skates for the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks, and Mike Ryan, who would later be the top draft pick of the NHL's Dallas Stars.

Des Moines

Regg Simon, 3rd year (84-71-15); 2nd year Des Moines (65-56-13)

Last year, in his first full season behind the Des Moines bench, Regg Simon piloted the Bucs to the Clark Cup title.

Simon took over as Des Moines coach following the December 1, 2004 resignation of Bob Ferguson. Simon originally joined the Buccaneers in 2003-04 as an assistant coach.

This is Simon's second USHL head coaching stint. In 2002-03, he piloted the Tri-City Storm to a 19-15-2 record and a berth in the Clark Cup playoffs as interim coach after replacing Jim Hillman 24 games into the season.

Simon played college hockey at the University of Alaska-Anchorage after skating for the Bucs from 1994 to 1996.

Ohio

Jack Fritsche, 1st year (4-26-6)

Jack Fritsche became the first head coach of the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets in June after spending one season as coach of the Cleveland Barons of the junior A North American Hockey League. He led the Barons to a 35-19-4 record and an NAHL North Division playoff title last year.

Prior to taking over behind the Barons' bench, Fritsche was associate head coach of Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss Nationalliga. He also served as coach of the Ambri-Piotta junior team.

Fritsche enjoyed a lengthy playing career, spending much of it in Switzerland, where he skated for Zug, Lugano and Ambri-Piotta. He also played for the Moncton Hawks- then the American Hockey League affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets- in 1993-94. Fritsche represented the United States at the 1990 World Hockey Championships.

Fritsche is the uncle of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Dan Fritsche and Ohio State forward (and Colorado Avalanche draft pick) Tom Fritsche.

HISTORY

Last season was the Riders' third straight 30-win campaign and also the fifth time in the last six years that the Riders have picked up at least 30 victories.

The Riders went 42-13-5 on the road over the last two seasons combined. The Riders' road record was superior to their home record both last season season and in 2004-05.

The Riders are, along with the Omaha Lancers, one of just two teams who have reached the playoffs each of the last six years. As all 12 USHL teams will qualify for the postseason this year, that streak will be stretch to seven consecutive playoff berths in April.

The Riders are the only USHL team to advance at least as far as the division finals each of the last two years. Furthermore, Cedar Rapids is also the only team to reach the league's final four in four of the last five years. Only one team (Sioux City) has even reached the second round three times in the last five years.

Last year's Clark Cup title was the fourth in Buccaneer history. Des Moines also claimed the Clark Cup in 1992, 1995 and 1999. The Bucs have also won four Anderson Cup (regular season) championships (1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999) and three junior A national tournaments (1992, 1995 and 1998).

The Bucs won the title last year after finishing last overall and missing the post-season in 2004-05.

Prior to going all the way last spring, the Bucs had not reached the second round of the Clark Cup playoffs since winning the title in 1999.

The Blue Jackets won the first regular season game in team history, defeating the Waterloo Black Hawks 3-2 in overtime on October 7.

COLLEGE COMMITMENTS

Cedar Rapids (12)

Richard Bachman (Colorado College), Robin Bergman (Notre Dame), David Boehm (Massachusetts), Aaron Bogosian (St. Lawrence), Rob Bordson (Minnesota-Duluth), Jacob Cepis (Bowling Green), Brett Dickinson (Quinnipiac), Evan Stephens (Dartmouth), Matt Tomassoni (Miami of Ohio), Kevin Wehrs (Minnesota), Scott Wietecha (Ferris State), Tommy Wingels (Miami of Ohio)

Des Moines (12)

Matt Dalton (Bemidji State), Michael Dorr (Minnesota-Duluth), Austin Handley (Michigan State), Jimmy Martin (Yale), Travis Paeth (Western Michigan), Aaron Palushaj (Michigan), Jeff Petry (Michigan State), Richard Purslow (Nebraska-Omaha), Matt Read (Bemidji State), Ben Rosen (Brown), Ben Ryan (Notre Dame), Shane Sims (Ohio State)

Ohio (3)

Charles Brockett (Yale), Danny Hobbs (Massachusetts), Chris Reed (Ohio State)

NHL DRAFT PICKS

Cedar Rapids Year Round Overall Team

Sergei Kolosov 2004 5th 151 Detroit

Richard Bachman 2006 4th 120 Dallas

ROUGHRIDER ALUMNI

Division I GP G A PTS

Justin Abdelkader (Michigan State/sophomore) 21 7 11 18

Phil Axtell (Michigan Tech/freshman) 24 2 5 7

Casey Bickley (Army/senior) 25 5 10 15

James Brannigan (Colorado College/junior) 19 0 4 4

Jamie Carroll (Providence/senior) 19 3 2 5

Greg Collins (New Hampshire/sophomore) 18 1 3 4

Chad Costello (Northeastern/freshman) 24 10 10 20

Ray Eichenlaub (Miami of Ohio/sophomore) 30 4 13 17

Jon Grabarek (Wayne State/sophomore) 18 2 4 6

Jordy Hart (Merrimack/junior) 12 1 0 1

Bryan Horan (Providence/senior) 23 2 2 4

Tyler Howells (Michigan State/senior) 25 2 14 16

Ray Kaunisto (Northern Michigan/freshman) 30 2 0 2

Steven Kaunisto (Lake Superior State/freshman) 27 1 5 6

Billy Loupee (Miami of Ohio/sophomore) 24 1 2 3

Shane Lovdahl (Alaska-Anchorage/sophomore) 18 0 4 4

Alec Martinez (Miami of Ohio/sophomore) 30 8 11 19

Zach Miskovic (St. Lawrence/sophomore) 26 2 5 7

Sean Muncy (Brown/sophomore) 21 7 6 13

Brandon Naurato (Michigan/sophomore) 27 9 9 18

Matt Olinger (Wisconsin/senior) 26 0 0 0

Zach Pearson (Ferris State/senior) 26 8 14 22

Derek Peltier (Minnesota/junior) 29 2 6 8

Nate Perkovich (Lake Superior State/freshman) 27 10 6 16

Jordan Pietrus (Brown/freshman) 10 0 2 2

Ted Purcell (Maine/freshman) 25 13 18 31

Nick Sellers (Lake Superior State/freshman) 18 3 1 4

Chris Snavely (Michigan State/senior) 11 0 4 4

Gary Steffes (Miami of Ohio/freshman) 30 5 1 6

David Strathman (Northeastern/freshman) 21 2 2 4

Brandon Svendsen (Bowling Green/sophomore) 26 4 7 11

Shawn Vinz (New Hampshire/senior) 23 3 1 4

Matt Vokes (Brown/sophomore) 21 7 6 13

Chase Watson (Providence/senior) 17 1 1 2

Mark Zarbo (Bentley/freshman) 25 1 6 7

GP W-L-T GAA SV% SO

Joe Fallon (Vermont/junior) 23 13-7-3 1.59 .931 5

Bobby Goepfert (St. Cloud State/senior) 21 12-5-4 2.15 .928 3

Alex Stalock (Minnesota-Duluth/freshman) 22 5-13-3 3.27 .885 1

Dan Tormey (Minnesota State-Mankato/sophomore) 10 2-7-0 4.28 .856 0

Division III GP G A PTS

Brett Beckfeld (Wisconsin-Stevens Point/sophomore) 19 9 5 14

T.J. Dahl (Wisconsin-River Falls/junior) 21 11 29 40

Professional GP G A PTS +/-

P.J. Atherton (Johnstown/ECHL) 38 4 19 23 -8

Rico Fatticci (Tulsa/CHL) 29 2 10 12 +2

Mike Manley (Trenton/ECHL) 33 3 4 7 -6

Dave Moss (Calgary/NHL) 17 5 2 7 +1

Danny O'Brien (Fresno/ECHL) 1 0 0 0 0

Alexander Valentin (Kalamazoo/UHL) 38 2 4 6 -9

Highlights

Chad Costello scored two goals and added one assist as Northeastern split a pair of games at Maine. Ted Purcell scored the overtime game winner to give the Black Bears a 2-1 victory over the Huskies last Saturday.

Mike Manley of the ECHL's Trenton Titans scored two goals and picked up one assist in three games last week.

TICKETS

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) by investing in bulk tickets and can still enjoy the games of their choice in the seats they want.

Single game tickets are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena ticket office, over the phone at (319) 261-4625 or on line 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.

ON THE AIR/ON LINE

RoughRiders regular season and playoff games are broadcast on AM-1360 The Fan in Cedar Rapids. Courtesy of B2 Networks, free audio webcasts of Riders games will also be available at www.roughridershockey.com. Brian Lavelle provides play-by-play.

The RoughRiders and B2 have also teamed up to 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 watch and listen to the game. 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.

The RoughRiders Coach's Show with Mark Carlson airs Wednesday nights at 6:00 live from Union Station on 16th Avenue SW in Cedar Rapids on AM-1360 The Fan.

Real time updates of all USHL games 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 January 29, 2007


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