Life is good as RoughRider for Hildebrand

CEDAR RAPIDS - Jake Hildebrand just wanted to play.

“I mean, I loved my time in Sioux City,” the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders goaltender said. “But I wasn't getting enough playing time. I want to go to college next year, so I wanted to go somewhere I could develop myself.”

That place turned out to be Cedar Rapids. Hildebrand's request to be traded to another United States Hockey League team was granted just before the start of the regular season when the RoughRiders picked him up for a future draft pick.

The 18-year-old Pennsylvanian has seized, at least to this point, 1 or 1A goalie status with Matt McNeely. He is 3-1-1 in five games with a 2.79 goals against average and .915 save percentage.

The RoughRiders are at Indiana and Muskegon this weekend.

“It's just like pitching,” said RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson. “You can never have enough goaltending.”

“I feel great,” Hildebrand said. “The team's been winning, so that's always nice. We've already played Sioux City and beaten them, so that always feels pretty good. Everything is going good right now.”

Hildebrand played in 21 games for Sioux City last season, posting respectable numbers. He played the end of the 2009-10 season with the Musketeers as well, so he has significant USHL experience.

He has committed to play at Michigan State beginning next season, so that's where the urgency to play is coming from.

“It was really easy to acclimate myself here,” Hildebrand said. “The boys are great, they welcomed me really well. That's nice. I feel like I fit in here.

“It's easy to play well when your team is scoring as much as we are.”

Riders ramblings

- Stu Wilson has been named captain of the RoughRiders in a team vote. The Rochester, N.Y., forward is in his third season with the club. The alternate captains are second-year forward Nick Saracino and second-year defenseman Greg Amlong.

- Saracino committed this week to Providence College. The St. Louis resident leads the USHL in plus-minus rating (plus-14) and is second in assists (eight) in the early going. He also has two goals in Cedar Rapids' first eight games.

- Andy Miele recently became the 10th former RoughRider to play in the National Hockey League when he suited up for the Phoenix Coyotes. The 2011 Hobey Baker Award winner for top college player signed with Phoenix as a free agent. He is scoreless in four games thus far.