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 [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – If the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders fail to make the United States Hockey League playoffs for the first time since their inaugural 1999-2000 season, they might look back at this stretch as the reason why. A gigantic seven-game homestand has been a gigantic disappointment thus far, including a 3-0 loss Saturday night to Green [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — He got sick a couple of weeks ago with a case of what you could call Bird flu. Imagine just turning 16 and being away from home for the first time. You fall ill and your parents aren’t there to take care of you. These kids playing junior hockey have to grow [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – The guy that wasn’t good enough for “The Program” beat “The Program” last night. Chris Birdsall played probably his best game as a Cedar Rapids RoughRider in a 3-2 shootout win over Team USA’s Under-18 team. It’s the third win in a row for the rejuvenated Riders, their second straight shootout win after [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — It goes high school/prep school, followed by juniors, then college. If you’re good enough, add pros to the list after college. That’s the order for the career of the typical high-level American hockey player. “I’m kind of doing it backward,” pointed out Steve Michalek. The 19-year-old goaltender went from a Connecticut prep [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – This year’s goaltending tandem for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders features Chad Catt and Chris Birdsall. Or … “A cat and a bird,” Riders Coach Mark Carlson observed. “That’s pretty good.” The Catt has gotten more time in the cage than the Bird to this point in the United States Hockey League season, [...]