RoughRiders finally play on home ice, beat Des Moines, 3-1

CEDAR RAPIDS - “I've been to Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota, Buffalo, Toronto, Winslow, Sarasota, Wichita …”

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are way too young to remember Johnny Cash and this old song “I've Been Everywhere.” That's the tune they play as part of a current commercial for Choice Hotels, boys.

They may not know it, but by now, they can sure identity with it. The RoughRiders finally played a home game Friday night against the Des Moines Buccaneers, a 3-1 win.

It'd been two weeks and six games since they've been at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. The Riders officially had played seven games on the road and only three at home, four if you count that suspended game against Dubuque.

They've been to Lincoln, Fargo, Tri-City, Muskegon, Chicago, Indianapolis ...

“It is tough being on the road,” said Riders forward Andrew Poturalski. “Being in my second year, you get used to it. It's not a big deal. In some of the other junior leagues, the bus rides are real, real long and every weekend. We're actually in a pretty good location here.”

He's playing nice. The RoughRiders' early season schedule has been so road loaded and so ridiculous.

For instance, there was a nine-hour trip to Fargo, N.D., two weeks ago for a Thursday game, followed by another nine-hour drive for a Saturday game at Kearney, Neb. Last weekend, the RoughRiders drove six hours to Indianapolis for a Friday game, then were in Muskegon, Mich., the following night.

They traveled back home, arriving in the wee hours Sunday morning, got right back on the bus Tuesday afternoon and returned to Muskegon for a Wednesday morning game.

“It can definitely be a good thing to go on the road and be with the guys,” said Riders Coach Mark Carlson. “But quite honestly, it's been a little excessive (recently), for sure. That's the way it goes.”

To get Carlson to even hint at displeasure tells you how truly upset he is about his team's recent travels.

“It would have been nice if we'd have had a Sunday and a Tuesday game there maybe,” Poturalski said. “That way we wouldn't have had to come all the way home. That was weird. Never done anything like that before.”

On the positive side, the RoughRiders (8-2-1, 15 points) don't have a long road trip now until Dec. 1 at Indiana. Four of the next six are at home, with short roadies to Des Moines Saturday night and Waterloo on Thanksgiving night.

“This is my third year, so I'm kind of used to it,” said Riders forward Jack Rowe. “I've been all around the league. It does definitely wear on you. You've got to make sure you get your rest when you   can, eat right, do all the other things you can. You've got to go to bed earlier during the week because you know you're not going to be able to sleep   well on the bus during the weekend. We all know that, so we do a good job of just picking our spots.”

Corey Petrash had a goal and two assists Friday for Cedar Rapids, which built a 3-0 lead. Charlie Curti and Dylan Steman also had goals.

Danny Tirone made 23 saves to get the win in net.

Here is the official gamesheet: