USHL Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

RoughRiders Weekly

Published on February 24, 2009 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders News Release


This Week

Friday, February 27, 7:35PM

Edge Ice Arena, Bensenville, Illinois

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Chicago Steel

Saturday, February 28, 6:35PM

Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders vs. Indiana Ice

Last Week

Tuesday, February 17

Cedar Rapids 5 Tri-City 1

Friday, February 20

Sioux Falls 2 Cedar Rapids 1

Saturday, February 21

Chicago 3 Cedar Rapids 1

At a Glance Cedar Rapids Chicago Indiana

29-11-4, 62 points 25-19-2, 52 points 29-14-2, 60 points

tied 1st place East Division 5th place East Division 3rd place East Division

Coach/GM: Mark Carlson Coach/GM: Steve Poapst Coach/GM: Jeff Blashill

Headlines Double Dip: The RoughRiders last weekend suffered back-to-back regulation losses for just the third time this season. The Riders are now tied for first place overall with the Green Bay Gamblers. The Riders have played one more game than the Gamblers. . Down But Not Out: The Riders have trailed in eight of their last nine games but have gone 4-3-1 in those eight contests.

Muzzled: The Riders scored just once in each of their two games last weekend after scoring four or more goals in four of their previous five games. At the other end of the ice, the Riders remain the top defensive team in the league, surrendering an average of just 2.3 goals per game.

O from D: Matt Donovan (15-21-36) saw his six game point scoring streak (3-5-8) end last Saturday night against Chicago but remains the league leader among defensemen in goals and points. Having already set a club record for most goals in one season by a defenseman, Donovan is now closing in on the team record for points by a defenseman set by Shane Lovdahl, who totaled 39 in 2004-05.

Mighty Mike: Mike Seidel (20-32-52) is now within three goals of the team career goal scoring record of 54 held by Jon Grabarek and is within eight assists of the club career assist record of 99 set by Ted Purcell. Seidel, who has now totaled 142 points over his three year Cedar Rapids career, earlier this month set a new Rider career points record. This season Seidel is tied for fourth in the league in points and ranks fourth in assists.

Between the Pipes: Despite having his 11 game (7-0-3) unbeaten streak halted by Sioux Falls last Friday, Troy Groseick (10-3-3, 2.09, .916) remains the league leader in goals against average.

Ins and Outs: Forward Tobias Nilsson-Roos (concussion) returned to the lineup last Friday night against Sioux Falls after missing the Riders' prior ten games. Forward Greg Burke (shoulder) will miss the remainder of the season. Burke will begin his college career at New Hampshire in the fall.

Alumni Spotlight: Northeastern junior defenseman David Strathman has helped the Huskies, who last weekend battled to a pair of ties with top-ranked Boston University, to a number four national ranking. Strathman (1-12-13) has already this season set a personal collegiate career high for assists.

Tenth Anniversary Tidbit: The Riders this Saturday will battle the Ice at Conseco Fieldhouse- best known as the home of the National Basketball Association's Indiana Pacers- for a third straight season, the Ice, whose full time home is Pepsi Coliseum, play a few home games each year at Conseco. Last season, on February 23, 2008, the Riders fell 6-3 in front of 12,575 fans at Conseco. On February 10, 2007, the Riders defeated the Ice 4-3 in a shootout before a crowd of 5,247 in downtown Indianapolis.

Scouting Report Chicago: The Steel has won seven straight games. Chicago won three home games in four days last week. The Steel edged Indiana 2-1 last Wednesday and dumped Waterloo 5-1 last Friday before capping off the week with last Saturday's victory over the Riders... The win streak- Chicago's longest of the season- has brought the Steel within three points of the Waterloo Black Hawks in the race for the fourth and final East Division playoff spot. The Black Hawks do have two games in hand on the Steel... Chicago is now a season-high six games above .500 despite having been outscored 159 to 149 on the campaign...Since the Steel's acquisition of Josh Balch from Des Moines earlier this month, the trio of Balch, Andrew Miller and former Rider Dean Chelios has been one of the top lines in the USHL. Miller (27-41-68) leads the league in goals, assists and points. He scored the third Chicago goal with just one tenth of a second left in last Saturday night's win over the Riders. Chelios (15-26-41) has produced better than a point per game since joining the Steel in November. Chelios has scored 15 goals and totaled 40 points in 36 games with Chicago and has collected points in each of his last seven games (6-5-11). Balch (14-15-29) has recorded points in five straight games (5-5-8) after failing to pick up a point in his first two outings with Chicago...Among USHL defensemen, John Moore (12-19-31) trails only the Riders' Matt Donovan (14-19-33) in goal scoring and ranks third in points...Nick Pisellini (6-5-1, 3.56, .883) was named USHL Goaltender of the Week after giving up a total of just two goals and posting a save percentage of .968 while tending goal in the Steel's wins over Indiana and Cedar Rapids last week. Pisellini stopped 37 Rider shots Saturday night...The Riders and Steel wrap up their season series Friday night. The two clubs have split their first six meetings.

Indiana: The Ice has lost three of its last four games and is now two points behind the Riders and Gamblers in the race for first place overall...After falling 2-1 in Chicago last Wednesday, the Ice split a two game series in Fargo last weekend. Indiana won 4-1 last Friday before dropping a 2-1 decision last Saturday....The Ice has gone 11-10-1 in its last 22 games after starting the season 18-4-1...Mike Cichy, who was acquired in a trade with the Tri-City Storm last month, is tied for fourth in the league in points (52) and is tied for fifth in goals (21) and assists (31). Cichy has scored 11 goals and totaled 23 points in just 15 games with Indiana...Stanislav Galiev (19-27-46) is tied for ninth the league in point scoring. Galiev, who only turned 17 last month, is at least a year and a half younger than every other player ranked in the top ten in points...Brett Bennett (26-12-2, 2.44, .917) leads USHL goaltenders in wins and minutes played (2313:49) and is tied for the lead in shutouts (2). Bennett has started 11 of the Ice's last 12 games and played in 30 of Indiana's last 32 contests...The Ice holds a slight edge in the season series with the Riders. Indiana has earned four points in the first three meetings between the two clubs, while the Riders have pocketed three points.

Community Vinton Parks and Recreation Department Floor Hockey: RoughRiders players will visit the Vinton Parks and Recreation Department's floor hockey program to speak to- and play with- participants this evening at 6:15PM.

Horizon Meals on Wheels: Each Wednesday RoughRiders players help the Horizons Meals on Wheels program deliver meals to area seniors.

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.

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.

Check out the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United States Hockey League Stories from February 24, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central