Ben Blacker putting up goaltending numbers among best in Cedar Rapids RoughRiders history

CEDAR RAPIDS - Learning can be fun and help you become a good goaltender at the same time. At least that's how it worked out for Ben Blacker of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

When he was a young kid attending elementary school in Oakville, Ontario, his weekly assignments included a list of words he had to memorize and learn how to spell. To help him, his mother, Sabine, came up with a great idea predicated on her son's love of hockey.

'I'd always dress in these street hockey pads,” Ben Blacker said. 'We had this big door in the basement, and my mom would take shots on me.”

Every time mom scored a goal, Ben had to spell a word. There were no exceptions.

'If it got to the point where I was stopping too many, every five shots I'd have to spell a word,” he said. 'I've always wanted to be a goalie.”

Blacker has grown up to become a terrific goalie, the numbers suggesting one of the best the RoughRiders have had.

His 55 career regular-season wins is second in the club's 17-year history. With only six games remaining, he won't catch Brady Hjelle's record of 62 but could come extremely close.

Hjelle won an amazing 40 games in 2010-11, with Blacker's United States Hockey League-leading 31 this season placing second. His 2.17 goals against average, .927 save percentage and five shutouts also rank second in club single-season history, though those first two numbers could fluctuate significantly the final three weeks.

Cedar Rapids hosts the United States National Team Development Program U-17 team Friday night at 7:05 and plays Saturday at Dubuque. The RoughRiders (36-13-5) have clinched a USHL playoff spot and lead the league with 77 standings points, five ahead of second-place Dubuque overall and in the Eastern Conference.

'I think we've had a good balance of teamwork and goaltending this season,” RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson said. 'We want to see that continue Friday night.”

'How the team plays is a big part of it for any goaltender who is successful,” agreed Blacker, who became infatuated with the position while watching his father, Ted, play it in adult leagues. 'So I think a lot of (this) has come from team play and our coaching staff making sure we're taking it one game at a time. Really drilling into our heads that every game matters, every point matters, which they do.”

Blacker has played more minutes than any goalie in the USHL this season, making 12 straight starts and starts in 19 of his team's last 20 games. An early season injury to Ryan Larkin, whom he split time with last season, made Blacker the unquestioned No. 1 guy between the pipes for C.R., and he has absolutely flourished.

Carlson mentioned the 18-year-old Western Michigan commit's competitiveness and mental toughness as strengths. Riders assistant coach/goaltending coach Shane Connelly said there are other things he also has been impressed with.

'The way he tracks the puck,” Connelly said. 'Tracking the puck, following plays, his ability to read plays. Learning to use his feet more. He is a really good skater, and he has been able to get his feet set and get to locations standing up.”

'We've worked a lot this year on tracking the puck,” Blacker said. 'That's been a big thing, something that has helped my game out. We work on that basically every practice. It's something we stress a lot. I think (skating) is a big factor, too, especially the way the game is now. You can't just be a blocking style goaltender. You have to be athletic, you have to be able to move ... Tracking the puck, being reactionary with athleticism, that's a deadly combo.”

At 5-foot-10 and 167 pounds, Blacker needs those skills, though he doesn't necessarily agree. He has never considered his lack of size a liability.

'At the end of the day, it's ‘Can you stop the puck?'” he said.

That's something he definitely has been able to do in a season that, thus far, has to be considered in historical terms from a club standpoint. Just think, had the USHL's Indiana Ice not gone on indefinite hiatus, it might never have happened.

The RoughRiders plucked Blacker in a dispersal draft two years ago.

'I was drafted by Indiana and went to their training camp,” Blacker said. 'Ever since I've gotten here, my mind has just been on Cedar Rapids. I've loved it ever since I got here. It has never popped into my mind what else it could have been. I've just loved every minute here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.”

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