Small and young, but Drew DeRidder proving he belongs in the USHL

CEDAR RAPIDS — He's got one perceived problem in his size.

He is listed at 5-foot-10, 159 pounds. In a day and age when everyone seems to want big goaltenders, that's the opposite.

He's got another perceived problem in his age.

He is just 16 years old, a young 16, considering his birthday is in May. Youthful goalies and the United States Hockey League don't seem to go together.

But here Drew DeRidder is, a member of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. He's learning on the fly, attempting to prove he belongs at this level.

RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson didn't get strong goalie play in the preseason or to begin the regular season. So he placed a call to DeRidder, who was beginning his season with the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies Tier I program back home in Michigan.

Do you want to come here?

'A little bit surprised,' said DeRidder, who stopped nine of 10 shots in a relief role in C.R.'s 7-3 loss Friday night at Green Bay at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. 'The team was in Pittsburgh (in the preseason) and said they wanted me to play a game that weekend. I went out and played and did pretty good. A week later, Coach called and asked if I wanted to come in full time. I jumped at the opportunity. It was something I didn't have to think about.'

That's even though he's still a high school student.

'It's tough moving,' he said. 'The middle of the semester in school and everything, the middle of the year with my old team. I'd already played five games with my old team in Detroit. But all the kids and stuff (here) have been great. Everyone has helped me adjust, and it has been a great experience, so far.'

DeRidder was C.R.'s third-round pick in Phase I of the 2016 USHL Entry Draft. He impressed a lot of people at the team's tryout camp last summer but was placed on the Riders' affiliate roster of younger players to get more seasoning.

Carlson said he felt DeRidder had the competitiveness, willingness to learn and maturity to make the huge jump here. One conversation with him is all you need to know that last thing is true about him.

'Yeah, I felt I did pretty good in camp,' he said. 'The coaches just said they'd give me a chance in the (camp) all-star game and everything. Not having a returning goalie, they said they were going to go with two older kids at first, that they were not going to gamble with a young kid. I got that.'

DeRidder committed late in the summer to Michigan State. He is 0-4 in five games with the Riders, with a 4.21 goals against average and .881 save percentage.

The more comfortable he gets here, the better those numbers will get.

'You've just got to be better at everything else,' he said, when asked about his size. 'Be better at tracking the puck, be better at skating, be better at everything. That's how you overcome it. Everyone wants a 6-foot-5 goalie, but, in the end, not many of them can skate very well and stuff like that.'

The RoughRiders dropped to 0-10-2, allowing two goals in the first 48 seconds of the game. Dalton Messina, Jason Polin and Matt Kidney had goals for C.R.

Kidney just joined the club this week. C.R. hosts Bloomington on Saturday night.

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