Corridor Cross Checks: RoughRiders make playoffs, Heartlanders have season conclude

CEDAR RAPIDS — They’re in the dance. That’s the main thing.

This week will determine the partner the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders will dance with in the United States Hockey League playoffs.

The Riders beat Youngstown and lost to it in a nine-round shootout in a pair of games this past weekend at ImOn Ice, securing the sixth and final available postseason spot in the Eastern Conference.

Cedar Rapids has 65 standings points (on a 28-22-4-5 record) to fifth-place Dubuque’s 68. Green Bay sits in fourth place with 69 standings points.

The RoughRiders have three regular-season games remaining this week, including a Tuesday night makeup affair against Madison at home. This is the game that was postponed a couple of weeks ago by severe weather in Eastern Iowa.

Dubuque and Green Bay have two regular-season games left. Whoever gets fourth place will host a best-of-3, first-round playoff series next week.

Chicago, the USNTDP and Youngstown are fighting it out for first and second place in the division, with Chicago four standings points up on the other two. The top two finishers get first-round playoff byes, with the third-place team hosting a first-round series.

“This was one of the goals that we had at the beginning of the year,” said RoughRiders defenseman Brendan Fitzgerald. “We set a bunch of goals, and one of the biggest ones was making the playoffs. We did that with a lot of hard work. Our goal after making the playoffs is to win it all. We’re just taking it a round at a time, but we’re pumped as a group to clinch that spot.”

“As I said to somebody today, you always want to have more wins, this and that,” said Riders Coach Mark Carlson. “But I have so much respect for the league that it would be disrespectful to say it’s not an accomplishment to get in. It’s something we’ve done pretty consistently over 23 years here, something that we’re proud of. And we’ve got a lot of improving to do.”

Cedar Rapids has outscored its opponents this season by a 200-185 margin, which isn’t too bad for a team sitting in sixth place. Dubuque, for instance, has been outscored by its opponents by nine goals.

The RoughRiders have the No. 2 points getter in the league in forward Ryan Walsh (76, on 29 goals and 47 assists). That ties him with Chad Costello (2005-06) for the most points in a season in club history.

Forward Dylan Hryckowian has 26 goals and 62 points in 58 games. Eric Pohlkamp ranks second in the USHL in points by a defenseman (51 in 56 games). Goaltender Bruno Bruveris ranks sixth in the league in goals against average (2.68).

It has been a good regular season, one this club hopes will end on a high note, allowing it to take momentum into the playoffs.

“I think they’ve really improved,” Carlson said, of his players. “I know there are a lot of people who didn’t think very highly of us in the beginning. But I guess they weren’t familiar with how much we improve around here. Same thing happened last year. We’ve shown we can beat anybody in the league, we have beaten anybody in the league.

“We have won series against top teams that are above us in the standings. I believe we are going to be a real force to be reckoned with when we find out who we are playing.”

The Iowa Heartlanders

The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders ended their second season on a high note, beating Wheeling this past weekend at Xtream Arena, 5-2 and 4-2.

Forward Nick Nardella had a hat trick in the 4-2 victory Saturday. Yuki Miura had a goal and two assists in Friday night’s 5-2 win.

The Heartlanders finished with a 22-36-13-1 record for 58 standings points, seventh and last in the Central Division. The team won six of its last 10 games.

Zach White led Iowa with 20 goals and 40 points in 71 games. Hunter Jones, who just got a call-up to be the third goaltender for the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, had a team-best 11 victories, a 3.07 goals against average and .905 save percentage.

Iowa had 63 different players appear in games this season, including eight goaltenders. It drew 3,645 fans for the season finale Saturday but finished last in the ECHL with an average attendance of 1,851 in 36 openings.

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