This Rider rough and ready

CEDAR RAPIDS - He's a mite who's mighty. Or maybe it's the other way around.

Austin Ortega isn't a big kid. That's the bottom line.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders have the first-year forward listed at 5-foot-6 and 148 pounds. He's the second-shortest player in the United States Hockey League and the third-lightest.

Not that it matters. Ortega has been among the most impressive Riders in the early going, scoring three goals in four games.

Cedar Rapids has a grueling three-game road trip this weekend to Youngstown (tonight), Chicago (Friday) and Green Bay (Saturday).

“He's got a lot of nice pieces to his game,” RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson said. ”The thing I really like about him is he's tough. He's got really good toughness, really strong on the puck.

“He plays like he's 6-foot-1. I love the way he competes. With all those things, he's got nice talent, too.”

Ortega smiled when the being-tough subject was broached. He knows he has to be that way because of his size.

“It's something that's always been a compliment (paid) to me,” he said. “You always hear ‘You play bigger than you are.' You need that in order to survive at the higher levels.”

An Escondido, Calif., resident who played AAA hockey last season in Denver with RoughRiders teammate Landon Smith, Ortega said he has tried to pattern his game after fellow mighty mite Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He said he got into hockey because of his dad, Frank. Frank Ortega never played the game, but is a fan.

“My dad always has loved hockey,” Austin said. “He was always watching it on TV when I was growing up. That inspired me to play.”

Even though he's not prototypical hockey size.

“I'd say that I'm still adjusting to things here,” he said. “But I feel like I'm adapting and getting used to the speed and the compete levels and everything like that.”

“Austin has a future in the game because he's tough,” Carlson said.