RoughRiders 'act up' in 3-0 shutout of Lincoln (w/fight videos)

CEDAR RAPIDS - It has become a postgame ritual that has Cedar Rapids RoughRiders fans wondering what they'll see next.

Goaltenders Troy Grosenick and Cody Campbell began it a couple of weeks ago in connection with the team's ALS awareness promotion. Wearing special New York Yankees-style jerseys, Grosenick and Campbell - in full uniform and mask - did a baseball pitch-and-catch routine one night, followed the next night by a pitch-and-swing thing.

It has elevated from there in creativity. For instance, there was an Irish jig after a St. Patrick's Day victory.

Then there was last night after the Riders' 3-0 win over Lincoln. Campbell and Grosenick started skating off the ice with teammates, only to have Campbell suddenly fall backward flat on the ice.

Grosenick immediately tended to his teammate, putting his ear to Campbell's chest to listen for a heartbeat, then administering fake CPR. That included mouth to mouth, or facemask-to-facemask resuscitation, in this case.

Campbell suddenly sprung back to life, with the two standing back up and embracing as the 2,632 fans at The Stable celebrated the fine acting. So what's coming next?

“I can't tell you that. It's a secret,” smiled Grosenick, who made 27 saves for his third shutout of the USHL season. “It started with the ALS thing, then the next game was St. Patrick's Day, and it was like ‘Well, that just leaves an open box to work with.' It's just kept building.”

“They think it's pretty sweet,” said RoughRiders winger Zach Lehrke, shaking his head. “I don't think the other guys think it's that sweet. Everybody always tells them not to do it, but they do it anyway.”

Riders Coach Mark Carlson was asked what he thought.

“As an organization, we're not really into drawing individual attention to ourselves as players,” Carlson said. “I think our team knows that. But these guys are goalies, and they're playing well. So we're going to let them be goalies.”

The victory allowed Cedar Rapids (36-17-3, 75 points) to clinch second place in the East Division and home-ice advantage in the first round of the USHL playoffs. The RoughRiders will play Indiana in a best-of-5 series that begins April 7 and 9 in Cedar Rapids.

Lehrke had a pair of goals and Jeff Costello one. The Riders were short-handed an uncharacteristic seven times but killed off all seven Lincoln power plays, which was key.

Cedar Rapids plays tonight at Waterloo.