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USHL Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

RoughRiders Weekly

April 1, 2009 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders News Release


Headlines Back-to-Back: The Riders defeated Lincoln and Green Bay- two of the top three teams in the United States Hockey League- on consecutive nights last weekend.

Up for Grabs: The Riders will enter the final weekend of the regular season in third place in the East Division but could finish anywhere from first to fourth. The Riders could see any of the other three east playoff qualifiers- Indiana, Green Bay and Waterloo- in the opening round. The Riders are currently three points behind league-leading Indiana, one point behind second place Green Bay and two points ahead of fourth place Waterloo.

Anderson Cup Chase: The Riders remain in contention for at least a share of the Anderson Cup regular season title, but must collect at least three- and likely all four- of the four points available to them this weekend to keep their chances alive. In addition, Indiana, Green Bay and Lincoln must all finish with fewer than 82 points for the Riders to have a shot at the regular season title.

Mighty Mike: Mike Seidel (28-43-71) last Friday night set a new team record by picking up the one hundredth assist of his RoughRider career. Seidel assisted on Kyle Flanagan's third period goal to break the old Rider record of 99 assists set by Ted Purcell. Seidel, who also scored one goal and added two more assists last Saturday against Green Bay, is the Riders' all-time career leader in goals (59) and points (161) as well as assists (102). With his three point effort Saturday night Seidel became the first Rider to record 70 or more points in one season since Jacob Cepis (34-38-72) in 2006-07. Chad Costello set the club single season point scoring record (76) in 2005-06. Seidel is currently tied for third in the United States Hockey League in assists, ranks fourth in points and is tied for fifth in goals.

Flan-tastic: Flanagan (17-36-53) also broke loose for four points last weekend. Flanagan scored the tying goal in the third period of last Friday's win over Lincoln and scored the first goal and picked up two assists one night later against Green Bay.

Between the Pipes: Goaltender Mike Johnson (23-12-1, 2.49, .905) stopped 52 of the 54 shots he faced while backstopping the Riders to a pair of wins last weekend. Johnson is now tied for third in the league in wins.

Corridor Cup: The battle for the i wireless Corridor Cup- the trophy awarded to the winner of the Cedar Rapids-Waterloo regular season series- will be settled in Saturday night's regular season finale between the Riders and Black Hawks. The Riders have gone 3-3-0 and earned six points against Waterloo; the Hawks have gone 3-2-1 and picked up seven points against Cedar Rapids. The Black Hawks will win the Corridor Cup with a regulation, overtime or shootout win Saturday night. The Riders will claim the hardware with a regulation victory. If the Riders win in overtime or a shootout, the season series would finish even with each team having totaled eight points. In that scenario the Riders would win the tie breaker by virtue of having won more games (4) than the Black Hawks (3) in the season series.

Ins and Outs: Forward Robin Bergman (lower body injury) missed the Riders' two games last weekend. 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: Eight former RoughRiders- Pat Cannone, Ray Eichenlaub, Billy Loupee, Andy Miele, Gary Steffes, Matt Tomassoni, Chris Wideman and Tommy Wingels- have helped Miami (Ohio) to the NCAA Frozen Four. Loupee and Miele both scored, Wingels picked up two assists and Steffes added one assist in the Red Hawks' 4-2 upset win over Denver in the West Regional semi-finals last Friday in Minneapolis. One night later Wideman assisted on the game winning goal in MU's 2-1 victory over Minnesota-Duluth in the regional final. Miami will face Bemidji State in the national semi-finals on April 9 in Washington D.C.

Tenth Anniversary Tidbit: The RoughRiders enter the final weekend of the regular season still alive in the race for the Anderson Cup. The Riders won the regular season league title in 2004-05. The Riders went into the final weekend of that season in need of two wins in Green Bay against the Gamblers to insure a first overall finish. The Riders defeated the Gamblers 4-1 on Friday, April 1 and one night later got a 48-save effort from goaltender Dan Tormey on the way to a 4-2 win that enabled the Riders to share the Anderson Cup with the Omaha Lancers.

Scouting Report Indiana: The Ice has won five straight games to take over first place overall in the USHL...Indiana won three times last week, defeating the Black Hawks 5-3 last Tuesday in Waterloo, blanking the Gamblers in Green Bay 4-0 last Friday and returning home to down Chicago 5-3 last Saturday...Forward Mike Cichy, who was acquired by the Ice from Tri-City in January, ranks second in the league in goals (33), ranks third in points (73) and is tied for sixth in assists (40). Cichy has scored 23 goals and totaled 44 points in just 28 games with Indiana...Maxim Galiev (28-34-62) is tied for fifth in goals and tied for sixth in points...Brandon Richardson (21-41-62) ranks fifth in assists and is tied for sixth in points...Brett Bennett (35-15-2, 2.46, .913) leads USHL goaltenders in wins and minutes played (3002:02). Bennett has made ten straight starts and played in 25 of the Ice's last 27 games. Bennett is riding a personal five game winning streak... Friday night's game is the third in 25 days between the Riders and Ice. The Riders (3-2-1, seven points) lead the season series with the Ice (3-3-0, six points) by just one point...the Ice will wrap up the regular season Saturday night in Chicago against the Steel.

Waterloo: The Black Hawks have won back-to-back games, following up a 6-4 win over Des Moines on home ice last Saturday night with a 5-3 defeat of the Steel in Chicago last night. Last week did not start off as well for the Hawks, who lost to Indiana 5-3 last Wednesday in Waterloo and fell in Omaha 4-2 last Friday...The Hawks, who started the month of March with a seven-game winning streak, have gone 9-2-0 in their last 11 games...The Black Hawks are no longer in contention for the Anderson Cup or East Division title. The Hawks have 75 points and with only two games left can finish with no more than 79 points. The division- and league-leading Indiana Ice has 80 points ...The Hawks could still finish second, third or fourth in the east...The Black Hawks are the only team in the league who average batter than four goals per game (4.1)...The Hawks also lead the league in power play efficiency (22.0 percent)...Waterloo has more home wins (23) than any other team in the league...Craig Smith (28-48-76) assisted on the last four Waterloo goals last night to take over the league lead in assists. Smith, who has recorded points in eight straight games (5-11-16), is now just one point behind Chicago's Andrew Miller in the race for the league point scoring lead and is tied for fifth in goals...Jordan Samuels-Thomas (31-21-52) scored twice last night, has scored four goals in his last two games and has rung up six goals in his last four outings. Samuels-Thomas now ranks third in the league in goals...First year goaltender Parker Milner (19-7-1, 2.90, .901) had played in 14 of 15 games for the Black Hawks before Joe Howe (17-12-2, 3.49, .882) took over in the Waterloo net last night. Howe made 33 saves on the way to earning the win against Chicago...The Hawks will travel to Des Moines Friday to take on the Buccaneers.

Community 5 for Fargo: Fans heading to Waterloo to watch the RoughRiders take on the Black Hawks Saturday night will have the chance to contribute to flood relief in Fargo by joining in the "5 for Fargo" campaign. Rather than "passing the hat," the Black Hawks will pass sandbags around Young Arena and request donations of $5 or more to aid the ongoing flood relief efforts in Fargo.

Promotions Food Drive/KHAK RoughRiders Tenth Anniversary Thunder Sticks Tickets to the RoughRiders' game against the Indiana Ice this Friday are available for just $5 to fans who donate a non-perishable food item as the Riders team up with KHAK, PODS Eastern Iowa and National American Miss Iowa Randina Elsner for a food drive to benefit the HACAP Food Reservoir. Subject to availability, fans are able to purchase one green zone ticket at the discounted rate for each food item donated. Food donations can be made and tickets can be purchased in person at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena ticket office. Elsner will appear at the game and will be available for autographs and pictures free of charge. PODS will provide one of its portable storage containers to store all donations. In addition, the first 2,500 fans through the doors to the game will receive RoughRiders tenth anniversary thunder sticks courtesy of Today's Best Country 98.1 KHAK.

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. This week's program is the final Coach's Show of the season.

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.

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United States Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2009


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