Prep school finds key for RoughRiders

CEDAR RAPIDS – Mark Carlson has an affinity for prep school players. Maybe that's because he was one.

Back in the day, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders head coach/general manager played a year of hockey at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire. It was a transition for him between high school and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

He said it did him a world of good.

'It was a good experience,” said Carlson, whose RoughRiders lost to Youngstown, 5-3, Friday night at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. 'I didn't have a good SAT score, so after I graduated high school, I went there to get that SAT score up. Plus I got to play another year of hockey before college. It was a combination.”

Carlson said his team was loaded with high-caliber talent. New Hampton's biggest nemesis was Thayer Academy in Massachusetts, which featured long-time NHLers Jeremy Roenick and Tony Amonte.

'We were like a USHL team,” Carlson said. 'We had 16 or 17 Division I players.”

This RoughRiders team has seven players that played in prep school before coming to Cedar Rapids: Andrew Oglevie, Erik Foley, Cal Burke, Ross Colton, Andrew Gaus, Adam Gaudette and Matt O'Donnell. All but Oglevie attended schools in the Northeast.

Gaudette's coach at Thayer, interestingly, was none other than Amonte.

'I think playing in prep school formed me into the player I am today,” Gaudette said. 'Not necessarily from playing in prep, but playing for Tony Amonte. He really shaped me into how I play now.”

Carlson said he does believe prep schoolers tend to be a bit more mature because most of them already have had to move away from home and be on their own. That's an advantage when it comes to adjusting to life in the United States Hockey League.

On the ice, they might be a bit more mature as well. Though Gaudette believes a player is a player is a player, whether you come from a prep school, high school or the Midget level.

'I'm not really sure playing in prep school is an advantage,” he said. 'I feel like you could play anywhere, and if you are good enough to adjust to the USHL, you will.”

The RoughRiders host Youngstown again Saturday night at 7:05.

Kiefer Sherwood's goal with 2:39 left gave Youngstown the lead for good. Kyle Connor, a possible first-round NHL draft pick this summer, scored twice, including an empty netter with one second left.

Burke, Oglevie and Gaudette had goals for the RoughRiders (26-9). Gaudette's, 1:15 into the third period, gave Cedar Rapids a 3-2 lead.