“Old man” Grable makes his mark as Cedar Rapids RoughRiders captain

CEDAR RAPIDS — He’s an old man.

That’s relative in this case, because Colin Grable isn’t really old. He’s just a kid.

But at 21, he IS old for the United States Hockey League. That’s the age he’ll turn next week.

“I’m the oldest guy on this team, but not the oldest guy in the league,” the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders defenseman. “I think I’m only second or third.”

He is second, behind Youngstown’s Adam Pietila by two days. There is an age cap of 20 in the USHL, though it goes by birthdate, which is why Grable is allowed to play beginning next week at 21.

His maturity is partly why he is C.R.’s captain this season. It’s a role he relishes.

“It’s a huge honor,” the New Jersey resident said. “Coming into this season, as a second-year guy in the league, an older guy on the team, I wanted to step up into a leadership role. Kind of not really try and do too much, just lead by example. Be a calm and uplifting voice in the room.”

“He plays his hardest every night,” said RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson. “He puts the team first. Wants to win.”

Grable plays his hardest every night and plays hard every night. He leads the USHL in penalty minutes with 111 and has had a league-high five fights.

It’s not as if he doesn’t have skill, as he has two goals and eight points in 30 games. Grable is a Dartmouth commit.

“I like to play a physical brand of hockey,” he said. “Make it hard on the other team’s players. Advance pucks, kind of keep it simple (offensively) a little bit. But I like to play with an edge, bring a little emotion to the team. Back up my teammates.”

Grable said the penalty and fight totals were never on his radar. It’s just the way things have turned out.

“Having the most penalty minutes isn’t an accomplishment I ever wanted, I ever sought,” he said. “But when I look at the way it has happened, I’ve had five fights now, but I think they’ve come with the right intention. Whether it be sticking up for a teammate, or if we’re flat and need a little bit of emotion to change the momentum, I feel like I’ve done it in a more team-oriented way. Not like running around like crazy and hitting people.”

Grable is confident the RoughRiders will have a solid second half of the season. They are 11-16-4-1 for 27 standings points, sixth out of eight teams in the Eastern Conference.

That’d be good enough for the final available playoff spot in the division if the season ended today. Cedar Rapids has a very inexperienced team, and you’d figure its best hockey is yet to come.

It has just one game this weekend, Saturday night at home (7:05 start) against Sioux City.

“We graduated so many guys from last year, so just trying to get the team as cohesive as possible has been big,” Grable said. “Obviously we’ve had some ups and downs, but we trust our locker room, we trust the team we have. We’re looking forward to the second half here.”

The RoughRiders split a pair of games over the weekend with Green Bay, winning Friday night on the road, 4-3, and losing Saturday night at ImOn Ice, 3-2. Newcomer Hans-Martin Ulvebne had goals in both games for Cedar Rapids.

The forward from Norway was acquired in a trade last week from the USHL’s Chicago Steel. In other RoughRiders-related news, defenseman Eric Pohlkamp was part of a United States team that won the gold medal last week at the World Junior Championship in Sweden.

Pohlkamp is a freshman at Bemidji State, playing in Cedar Rapids last season and the 2021-22 season.

Iowa Heartlanders

The Iowa Heartlanders split a pair of ECHL road games over the weekend at Fort Wayne.

The Komets won Saturday night, 4-1, with defenseman Anthony Firriolo picking up the lone Iowa goal. He was acquired recently in a trade from the Indy Fuel.

Goaltender Drew DeRidder was outstanding Sunday in a 3-2 Heartlanders win. The former RoughRiders player made 43 saves to pick up the win, saving his team in the third period especially, as Iowa was outshot 22-3.

Max Johnson had two goals for the Heartlanders. He was recently picked up from the Fayetteville Marksmen of the Southern Professional Hockey League.

Iowa has a 12-16-4-1 record for 29 standings points. That’s seventh and last in the Central Division, though the Heartlanders are still very much in the playoff hunt, since fourth-place Indy has 34 standings points.

The top four in the division qualify for the postseason. The Heartlanders are back on the road this weekend, with games Friday and Saturday nights at Tulsa, returning to Xtream Arena for a Monday afternoon Martin Luther King Jr. Day game against Cincinnati.

Opening puck drop is 2:05.

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