Old-man Oglevie back again for RoughRiders

CEDAR RAPIDS – Technically, Andrew Oglevie could come back again. He won't be aged out of the United States Hockey League after this season.

But being the second member of the four-timers club with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders will do.

'The smells of Quaker Oats and everything,” Oglevie joked Wednesday, when asked what he's not going to miss about life in east-central Iowa.

The Southern California native first arrived here four years ago as a fresh-faced 15-year-old. His face is still relatively fresh looking, though he did lose a front tooth (that has since been replaced) last season, thanks to an opponent's cross check.

Oglevie always was open minded about how long he would play junior hockey but certainly had to figure he'd be at the University of Notre Dame by now. It just hasn't turned out that way.

For better or worse, he's still a member of the RoughRiders, who host Dubuque in a preseason game Thursday night at 7:05. Defenseman Chris Snavely (1999 through 2004) was the first guy to play here four seasons.

'Everyone develops at their own pace, right?” Oglevie said. 'So it's nothing I take personally , I guess. It's just who I am. One more year, and I'll be off to school.”'

The skilled forward has added two inches and 40 pounds to his frame in his time here. He graduated from Washington High School and is taking classes at Kirkwood Community College.

On the ice, he has 171 USHL regular-season games under his belt, surpassing teammate Dylan McLaughlin's 154. McLaughlin also is in his fourth season in the league, his third with the RoughRiders.

'Notre Dame originally had me committed for, like 2014, or something,” Oglevie said. 'But when you come to juniors, you come here to develop and get better. (College) brings you in when you're ready, so there really was no time frame for me. They could have brought in earlier or later, just depending on a lot of things. Like the situation at school, too, in how many guys they have. All that.

'You just come here, you play your best, and when you are ready, you are ready.”

His goals this season are lofty. He wants to average a point per game, which seems reasonable, and he wants his team to be able to lift the Clark Cup at the end of the season.

He believes that is a legitimate expectation, too, considering the large number of returning players. Cedar Rapids went 1-1 last weekend at the USHL's Atlantic Challenge in New Jersey and takes off next week for Sioux City to take part in the annual Fall Classic.

The regular-season opener is Saturday, Sept. 27, at home against Dubuque.

'This league really helps you become a stronger player, a more well-rounded player,” Oglevie said. 'When I was growing up, it was kind of an all-offense kind of thing. Here, you learn the ins and outs of the defensive game, you play with really good players, you have a really tough schedule, you have to come to the rink prepared every day to practice. You really become a pro, in a sense, being in this league.

'The maturity thing really comes into play here. You grow as a person, on and off the ice.”

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