CEDAR RAPIDS – The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are reeling from news that former player Scott Winkler has died unexpectedly. Winkler, 23, was found unresponsive at his family’s home in Asker, Norway, by his mother Wednesday evening after she returned home from work. A cause of death has not been determined. “It’s a shame,” said RoughRiders head coach/general [...]

The United States Hockey League announced Friday that the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are among six league clubs that will participate in the preseason USHL Atlantic Challenge in New York and New Jersey. The event is Sept. 6-8 and is being billed as “the largest exhibition of USHL talent outside of the league’s Midwest base in [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – He didn’t hit the ice until everyone else was off it Sunday afternoon. Avni Berisha did a few up-and-down skating sprints in full uniform, then spaced out six pucks and weaved aggressively between them. This was the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders defenseman’s tryout camp experience. Not a fun one. “I almost feel kind of [...]

That’s after the second phase of the United States Hockey League draft Tuesday. The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders took 27 players in an elongated, seven-hour draft that didn’t conclude until after 11 p.m. The club selected seven other guys with 1997 birthdates in the first phase of the draft Monday. Possible returning players from this season whose [...]

The second phase of the United States Hockey League begun late Tuesday afternoon and was still going on as midnight approached. The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders appeared to have done Master-fully. That’s as in 18-year-old forward Nick Master, who the club took, with it first pick. The Broomhall, Pa., native has been playing with the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers [...]

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS (Best-of-5) (1) Dubuque vs. (4) Muskegon April 17 at Dubuque, 7:05 p.m. April 19 at Dubuque, 7:05 p.m. April 21 at Muskegon, 6 p.m. April 22 at Muskegon, 6:15 p.m.,, if necessary April 24 at Dubuque, 6:05 p.m., if necessary (2) Green Bay vs. (3) Youngstown April 17 at Green Bay, 7:05 [...]

Former Cedar Rapids RoughRiders players Stu Wilson and Tommy Fallen were important members for a Yale men’s hockey club that won the NCAA Division I national championship Saturday night over Quinnipiac, 4-1. Quinnipiac won the three previous games this season, but Yale got the most important one, winning its first ever school championship in men’s [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – Kind of fitting the way the season ended for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Kind of motivating, too. The U.S. National U-17 team scored the only two goals in a shootout to edge the RoughRiders in their final game of the USHL season, 3-2. Close, but not quite good enough. Goes for this game [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — You saw the future of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Friday night, and it’s exciting. Andrew Poturalski and Judd Peterson had goals, and Chris Birdsall was strong in net as the Riders won their penultimate game of the season, 2-1, over USA Hockey’s U-17 team before 2,768 fans at the Cedar Rapids Ice [...]

Matt Tennyson recently became the 12th former Cedar Rapids RoughRiders player to play in the National Hockey League. The defenseman is with the San Jose Sharks. Over the years, I’ve made it one of my missions to get autographed 8×10 photos of every one of those guys. Not necessarily for myself, though I do have [...]