Mark Carlson of Cedar Rapids RoughRiders named USHL Coach of the Year

CEDAR RAPIDS — In typical humble fashion, he thanked his assistants, his trainer/equipment manager and his players. Especially his players.

He also wanted to make sure Tony and Jan Sdao's names were mentioned. They're the owners of his club.

Then Mark Carlson began to expound on a 2015-16 United States Hockey League season that saw his Cedar Rapids RoughRiders win the Anderson Cup for most regular-season standings points. And a season in which he has been named USHL Coach of the Year.

'I certainly feel honored,' Carlson said Thursday, as he watched his son, Brayton, play a college baseball game in San Angelo, Texas. 'But I just thought the players were absolutely tremendous. We only had five returning guys. They overcame more adversity than any team in the history of this franchise.'

Now that's a strong statement, one Carlson is qualified to give, considering he's been the only head coach/general manager the RoughRiders have had in 17 years. Cedar Rapids went 40-15-5 in the regular season, the second-most wins in club history.

Carlson coached his 1,000th-career USHL game in mid-February and has 574 career victories. This is his third Coach of the Year honor.

'We had five season-ending injuries,' Carlson said. 'We had roster changes early for other reasons. Guys that wanted to go elsewhere. I don't know how to put it. We just had some nice challenges ... Our guys didn't flinch at anything.'

The RoughRiders had a tremendous one-two punch in net in returnees Ryan Larkin and Ben Blacker, but Larkin suffered a season-ending hip injury a month in. Blacker picked up the slack and then some, posting great numbers that made him a second-team All-USHL pick.

Returning defenseman Bryce Hatten also missed most of the season with injury. Forwards Matt Gosiewski, Karch Bachman and Liam Walsh all were hurt and missed the last part of the season, which left the club lacking in up-front scoring depth.

Still, the RoughRiders perservered to win the Anderson for the third time in club history. They lost a first-round playoff series to Bloomington in a deciding Game 5, losing Game 4 in overtime.

Dubuque and Tri-City are in the USHL finals. RoughRiders winger Ross Colton set a franchise record with 35 goals and was a first-team All-USHL selection, as was teammate Jack Ahcan, the league's Defenseman of the Year.

'You go out and find a way,' Carlson said. 'This was a tremendous group of guys we assembled eventually ... I still wish we were playing, for sure, but the guys gave it their all, no question. I've got no issues with our gameplan, how we executed it, with our effort.'

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