Riders’ Ahcan an offensive defenseman at its league finest

CEDAR RAPIDS - Perhaps he's a little like Matt Donovan. You see a bit of Nolan Zajac.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders have had some good offensive defensemen over the years, and Jack Ahcan is one of them. Perhaps the best?

'He's got a chance to be a tremendous player,” said RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson. 'His edge work, the way he's able to move and cutback in the small areas. He just does a lot of things that are pretty exciting.”

Ahcan comes into the weekend the leading defenseman scorer in the United States Hockey League. He's got 26 points in 30 games: seven goals and 19 assists and added to those totals with a goal in C.R.'s 3-2 win Friday night at home over Muskegon.

The 18-year-old from Savage, Minn., is unafraid to lug the puck deep into the opponent's zone. Some fans have kidded he's a forward masquerading as a defenseman.

The thing is not to get caught too deep, which can help the opposition get odd-man rushes. It's a fine line between being aggressive and overly aggressive.

'I'm always learning that,” Ahcan said. 'Especially with the levels getting harder. The coaches are telling you to stay on the ‘D' side, be careful of the play, make sure everything's fine. You've got to play it safe.”

But Carlson said not too safe.

'We want our ‘D' deep in the zone,” he said. 'We want them involved, want them to be able to think and learn and make those decisions. I think for a first-year guy, he's been doing those things so far.”

Ahcan makes the RoughRiders' power play particularly dangerous, with his plethora of skills. Ten of his 26 points have come there, and he ranks second in the USHL with four goals on the man advantage.

He's a consummate quarterback.

'I've never used that ‘quarterback' term,” Carlson said. 'I don't understand that term in hockey. He's a very good power-play player. He sees the ice, he's got a good shot, he really competes for loose pucks, has good hands, has good hockey sense. He's got a lot of qualities that make him a good power-play player.”

Ahcan was asked the other day if he was aware he's the leading defenseman scorer in the USHL and admitted he did. He claimed not to look at his statistics very much, though, which should endear him to his coach.

'Right now, it's pretty special,” he said. 'It's a good league, and there are a lot of good hockey players in it. To be able to put up pretty numbers is awesome.”

Cedar Rapids improved to a league-best standings point total of 49 (23-9-3 record), getting out to a 3-0 lead and hanging on. Defenseman Taylor Brierley and Ahcan scored 25 seconds apart late in the first period. Tyler Irvine's goal late in the second made it a three-goal game.

Ben Blacker made 32 stops for the goaltending victory. The RoughRiders play Saturday night at Chicago.

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