YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders’ season ended Tuesday night at the hands of the host Youngstown Phantoms with a 6-2 loss. The Phantoms swept the RoughRiders in the teams’ best-of-three opening-round series in the USHL Clark Cup playoffs. Cedar Rapids, the fifth seed in the USHL’s Eastern Division, trailed the fourth-seeded Phantoms most [...]
continue »
CEDAR RAPIDS — Every one was a thriller. The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Youngstown Phantoms played four times in the USHL’s regular season. Each game was decided by a goal, three in either overtime or shootout. Assuming the RoughRiders don’t develop a case of bus legs, you’d think this best-of-3 first-round playoff series will [...]
continue »
CEDAR RAPIDS — Was this the last hockey game this season at The Stable? “No,” Davey Middleton said quickly and emphatically. Of course, that’s what the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders winger and the rest of his teammates are supposed to say, even though the odds are considerably stacked against them getting back here and hosting a [...]
continue »
CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders know their official playoff itinerary now. Considering the way this season has gone, you didn’t really expect it to be easy, did you? It’s definitely not. After they complete the regular season with a home game Friday night against Muskegon and a game Saturday night at Waterloo, the [...]
continue »
CEDAR RAPIDS — There are no what ifs with Ryan McGrath. No woulda, coulda, shouldas. A broken wrist early in late October sabotaged his second season in the United States Hockey League, robbing him of some potentially impressive goal-scoring numbers. But “Mac” prefers not to dwell on that. He’s healthy now and lighting the lamp with [...]
continue »
Former Cedar Rapids RoughRiders defenseman Matt Donovan has been recalled by the NHL‘s New York Islanders from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League and is expected to make his NHL debut Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils. Donovan, 21, signed with the Islanders last March after his sophomore season at the University of Denver. [...]
continue »
CEDAR RAPIDS — The heck with you, Kirk Ferentz. You’ve heard people repeat ad nauseam the Iowa football coach’s mantra for when a player gets injured. It’s next man in, next man in, next man in. But what if you don’t have any more men left to put in? It’s just about gotten to [...]
continue »
CEDAR RAPIDS — Their spot in the division is pretty much set. Who they play in the first round of the USHL playoffs is out of their control. You wonder what the motivation is for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders these last handful of games in the regular season. “The motivation is to keep improving, keep [...]
continue »
CEDAR RAPIDS — What does it say about the program he has built that Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Coach/General Manager Mark Carlson hadn’t receive his first congratulations for clinching a USHL playoff berth until Thursday. That’s when a local reporter gave him off-the-cuff plaudits to begin an interview. Apparently there had been nothing previously from fans, [...]
continue »
By Al Gruwell, Correspondent CEDAR RAPIDS – A flurry of three second-period goals propelled the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders over the Waterloo Black Hawks, 6-0, before 3,439 fans at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena Saturday night. Playing Waterloo always seems to bring up the vocals at The Stable, and after a calming first period, Cedar Rapids [...]
continue »