Gernhofer lean, mean scoring machine in Riders win

CEDAR RAPIDS – He's a lean, mean, fighting machine now. Friday night, Tyler Gernhofer was a lean, mean, goal-scoring machine.

The winger popped home a pair of goals to help the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders cruise past Waterloo, 7-2, before 3,376 fans at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

Gernhofer had been in a scoring drought, with only one goal in his previous 27 games, but broke out here with a one-timer late in the second period and a rifle shot from the slot early in the third. He was one of six Riders to post a goal in this mightily impressive overall performance.

'Yeah, it's been awhile,” the Grapevine, Texas, resident said. 'It does feel good. It's better to get the two points more than anything, though. It's always nice to contribute and see the smiles on the guys in the room. We have a next-guy-up mentality here, so we know that every night somebody else is going to show up, which is awesome.”

Gernhofer was acquired in a trade from Bloomington in early November and made an immediate impact. But, interestingly, his production decreased as his body size did.

Riders Coach Mark Carlson put the University of Vermont commit on a strict weight-loss program, and it has been a success. Gernhofer is listed at 230 pounds on the United States Hockey League's website but was listed at 188 on Friday night's lineup sheet.

That gives you an idea of the work the young man has done to reshape his body.

'You'd have to ask Coach Carlson about that,” he said, when asked exactly how much weight he has lost. 'It's been a week-to-week thing. He keeps track of it. I definitely feel a lot better. I'm really happy about it.”

'He's lost a significant amount,” Carlson said. 'He deserves a lot of credit for being disciplined and following the plan. He has done an unbelievable job. I think it's been interesting. Doing it this time of year, it has been a positive, but I think it also has been an adjustment for him to try and get used to it. I don't think we'll see the real benefits until he gets a whole summer of training under his belt.”

The Riders also got goals from Andrew Oglevie, Jiri Fronk (his team-leading 28th), Joe Wegwerth, Erik Foley and Andrew Gaus. Foley, who also had two assists, scored short-handed.

Ben Blacker won for the fifth straight time in net. Cedar Rapids (37-17-0, 74 points) plays Saturday night at Dubuque.

'We got off to a good start, and that carried over into all 60 minutes,” Gernhofer said.

'I thought we got a little greedy trying to get some individual points there late,” Carlson said. 'But I liked the effort overall. I liked our penalty kill tonight. I thought our power play had real good chances tonight. Just a lot of positives.”

Youngstown had its league-record 17-game win streak snapped Friday night at Omaha, allowing Cedar Rapids to pull within three points of first place in the Eastern Conference. The RoughRiders have a game in hand.

Dubuque and Muskegon officially qualified for the playoffs with Friday wins, so it's those two, Cedar Rapids and Youngstown in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Riders are six points up on Dubuque and Muskegon with six regular-season games remaining.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com