Corridor Cross Checks: Thanks to his brother, A.J. Reyelts of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders became a goaltender

CEDAR RAPIDS - It’s weird sometimes how guys end up playing the sport they do and the position in that sport.

A.J. Reyelts comes from a hockey family, as his mom and dad both played, so that one’s easy to figure. His father, Dave, has helped coach the men’s team at the College of St. Scholastica, where he also has been head women’s soccer coach for 25 years.

His brother, Kennan, is a player, too, in the junior North American Hockey League. That’s as a forward, which is how A.J. became a goaltender.

“My older brother, we’d be playing knee hockey or whatever, and he’d stick me in the net because I was younger,” he said. “So I was roped into playing goalie. Ever since before I could even walk, I’d sit in a jumpy chair, and he’d shoot pucks at me, little rubber balls or whatever. I was always trying to stop pucks for him, and I ended up enjoying it.”

The first-year Cedar Rapids RoughRider was honored Monday as the United States Hockey League Goalie of the Week. He beat Waterloo twice last week, making 26 saves in a 3-1 road win Thanksgiving night and 31 saves in a 2-1 victory at home two nights later.

A Proctor, Minn., resident, the 18-year-old began this season splitting games in net with Rudy Guimond but is the unquestioned top guy now that Guimond, a Detroit Red Wings draft pick and second-year player, has left the team and returned home to play major junior hockey in Quebec. Cedar Rapids recently acquired Devin Rustile from the NAHL to be its other goalie.

“Nothing really changes,” Reyelts said. “You’re still competing for a spot. Devin has come in, and he has pushed (me) a lot. It’s not like it’s I’m the number one. You’re still competing for a spot every game. So nothing has really changed since (Guimond) left. It’s a different person, and you’re still competing for a spot to try and get the team wins.”

Reyelts has a 7-5-1-1 record, 2.84 goals against average and .897 save percentage in 14 games this season. He is doing well transitioning from high school hockey in Minnesota to the USHL, which is a big jump in competition.

“I think the biggest thing is he’s a competitor,” said RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson. “He’s mentally tough, he’s composed and he’s poised. You like those elements in a goalie.”

“I like to play a calm game out there,” said Reyelts, who is committed to play college hockey at Lindenwood University in Missouri. “I like to try and be able to control a game. That’s how I’ve always been, kind of a calmer goalie. It’s like being a QB in football, right? You’re trying to control the game as much as possible. Whenever you get whistles, when it’s playing the puck, rebound control, everything. It’s like being a control freak. You want to control the game as much as possible.”

The RoughRiders are 8-10-1-1 for 18 standings points, sixth out of eight teams in the Eastern Conference. They play this coming weekend twice against older of the United States National Team Development Program’s two teams.

“We’re starting to jell more as a team,” Reyelts said. “Off the ice, I think our locker room is a lot better. We went through a lot of changes, and I think things are starting to come together. We’re really playing as a team and for each other instead of playing as individuals, which kind of happened at the start of the year.”

Iowa Heartlanders

For the ECHL club, the Bloomington Bison are in the rear-view mirror. Finally.

Iowa beat their closest competitor geographically twice this past weekend by scores of 3-1 Saturday night and 5-0 Sunday afternoon. Bloomington won a Wednesday night game, 3-1.

The clubs played each other in six consecutive games. They have played 11 times already this season, of Iowa’s 17 games.

Ryan Miotto scored a pair of goals in Saturday night’s win for the Heartlanders. Jonny Sorenson had two goals and an assist and T.J. Walsh a goal and two assists Sunday.

Goaltender William Rousseau made 30 saves for his first professional shutout.

The Heartlanders are 9-5-3-0 for 21 standings points, which places them in second place in the Central Division, five points back of first-place Toledo. Those teams play Wednesday morning in Ohio at 10:35.

Iowa then plays Friday and Saturday nights at Indianapolis against the Indy Fuel.

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