Great 2nd half run by Riders sabotaged by injuries

It's tough to see any hockey locker room after a team's season has ended, but this was beyond tough.

Every Cedar Rapids RoughRiders player sat at his stall in dead silence following Wednesday night's 3-2 overtime loss to Indiana in the deciding fifth game of their first-round USHL playoff series. That included the three players who were scratches and dressed in suits.

Most were crying or had cried. Guys were either staring straight ahead in disbelief or had their heads bowed with towels over them.

"It's so hard to think that it's come to an end," said RoughRiders captain Jeff Costello. "I learned so much these last two years, met so many unbelievable people here."

The RoughRiders were among the USHL's best clubs in the second half of the season. They finished 23-5-1 in their last 29 games of the regular season, a testament to head coach Mark Carlson's ability to mold the youngest group in team history into a true team.

"I don't know that we really struggled in the (first) half. Maybe by our standards," Carlson said. "We were above .500 the whole way, were without our four best players for four games. But in terms of rewarding, this is one of the most, if not the most rewarding seasons I've had.

"The guys came together as a team, played extremely hard and had a tremendous second half of the year. I think they learned a lot on and off the ice and turned themselves into a great team."

A great team that came up a tad short in the postseason, with untimely injuries playing a significant factor. The RoughRiders had three players (goalie Cody Campbell and forwards Stephen Collins and Nick Lappin) miss Game 1 against Indiana because of league suspension from a fighting incident in the team's penultimate regular-season game.

They had one of their top two defenseman (Mac Bennett) break his foot after taking a shot to the skate in Game 2. Emerging forward Sam Warning also suffered a season-ending injury in that game, breaking his collarbone.

To top it all off, goaltender Troy Grosenick went down with a knee injury in Game 4. Campbell played well in Game 5 and couldn't be blamed for Anthony Bittetto's game-winning goal, a snap shot from near the blueline through traffic.

"I heard him shoot it," Campbell said. "But I never saw it after that."

Campbell is one of what appears to be 15 guys who could/should be back with the RoughRiders next season. That's a lot of potential firepower.

The team will lose its top four scorers, as Zach Lehrke (Minnesota State), Bryce Aneloski (Nebraska-Omaha), Jeff Costello (Notre Dame) and Eric Robinson (Dartmouth) move on to college hockey.

Sixth and seventh-leading scorers Derek DeBlois (Michigan) and David Boehm (Bemidji State) also will graduate, so to speak, as will Grosenick (Union) and Bennett (Michigan).

But everyone else could have the opportunity to return.

"We'll see. Guys have got to make the team," Carlson said. "You would think that we would have a very good nucleus. But guys have got to train, guys have got to get into shape and make the team. But we think that we should see some continuity with the roster next year."

Here are the guys on this roster who are possibilities to play the 2010-11 season in Cedar Rapids:

Cason Hohmann (Forward/Boston University commit)

Jayson Megna (Forward)

Michael Parks (Forward/North Dakota commit)

Jordan DiGiando (Forward)

Peter Sakaris (Forward/Clarkson commit)

Sam Warning (Forward/Minnesota commit)

Stephen Collins (Forward)

Stu Wilson (Forward/Yale commit)

Jared Beers (Defenseman)

Tommy Fallen (Defenseman/Air Force commit)

Nolan Zajac (Defenseman)

Steven Hensley (Defenseman)

Andy Simpson (Defenseman/Dartmouth commit)

Cody Campbell (Goaltender/New Hampshire commit)

2009-10 Riders statistics

Cedar Rapids Rough Riders Stats