Kovacs, Hjelle shine in Riders’ season-opening win

You'd have bet your last puck that youd seen the last of Justin Kovacs when he was jettisoned last January to the North American Hockey League.

But hockey players tend to have toughness and resiliency, so there was Kovacs last night early in the second period at Young Arena, raising his arms in triumph after picking up the lone goal in the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders‘ 1-0 season-opening win over the Waterloo Black Hawks.

It was a two-fold celebration. For the goal, obviously, but also for scoring it for his former/current team.

“I'm glad to be back here,” Kovacs said. “I like it a lot. The kids are great, I have a lot of friends on the team. And to come out in the first game against Waterloo - a big rival, obviously - in a great environment like this and score the game winner, it's awesome.

Kovacs, 18, played in 24 games for the Riders last season, picking up three goals and seven points. But head coach/general manager Mark Carlson sent him to Topeka to work on his game and conditioning.

The RoughRiders retained his USHL rights by placing him on their affiliate roster, and the Michigan native stepped through the door left open for him by making the club this season. He stuffed a puck at the side of the net past stingy Waterloo goaltender C.J. Motte 3:56 into the second period.

“I thought that he'd be back here, yeah,” Carlson said. “He was disappointed, but he was very receptive of the idea (of going to Topeka). He went there and did extremely well. He was a guy I was able to get out and see personally in the (initial) scouting process. You can just see he has tremendous ability. He has made a commitment to his fitness level. He's got tremendous poise. As long as he continues to work, he's going to have a good future.”

This was far from just a Kovacs victory, however, as goaltender Brady Hjelle‘s first game in the green and black in two years was a great one. The Minnesota-Duluth transfer stood tall all night, making 19 saves for the shutout.

“I was actually a little nervous at first,” Hjelle said. “My first regular-season game back. But after we got the jitters out in the first period, I thought we played really well.”

The Riders outshot Waterloo by a 28-19 edge, also creating the better chances. This is a fast hockey club, with the ability to transition from defense to offense at the drop of a hat.

Cedar Rapids' next game and home opener is next Saturday night against Fargo.

“I thought it was a good hockey game,” Carlson said. “We did an awful lot of good things. Once we improve our puck management, our game will go to the next level.”

Here were the Riders' lines and defense pairings, as well as a link to the boxscore:

Forwards - 1. Megna C, Collins LW, Parks RW. 2. Hohmann C, Sakaris LW, Warning RW. 3. Wilson C, McGrath LW, Juell RW. 4. Pond C, Kovacs LW, Lappin RW.

Defense - 

1. Zajac LD, Simpson RD.

2. Fallen LD, Didier RD.

3. Amlong LD, Hensley RD.