RoughRiders off to incredible start

CEDAR RAPIDS – So many numbers hit you like a puck in the choppers.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are 13-1 after a 7-2 win Friday night over Tri-City at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. Jiri Fronk had a hat trick, as the Riders tied their franchise record with their 10th straight record.

Going into the game, they led the United States Hockey League in goals and fewest goals allowed and were 7-0 on the road. Then there were these beauties.

The RoughRiders had yet to trail going into the third period of any game. They had been behind a grand total of 40 minutes and 57 seconds out of 964:34 played.

'I think we have a good group of guys,” said head coach Mark Carlson. 'They care about each other, they care about the team. They're working their tails off, getting better every day. I don't think we have any egos in the (dressing) room. As always, we just take everything one game at a time. The people at all three positions are contributing: goalies, defensemen and forwards. They are all contributing.”

Going into the weekend, Cedar Rapids didn't have a league leader in any major offensive category, though forward Andrew Oglevie and defenseman Charlie Curti were tied for the best plus-minus rating. Seventeen players had at least one goal and 20 had at least one assist.

Goaltenders Ben Blacker and Ryan Larkin had a combined .938 save percentage, a product not only of their fine individual work but a deep defensive corps that has size, skill and puck-moving ability. The forward group likewise is deep, with a nice blend of size, speed and grit.

With the exception of defenseman Logan Von Ruden, every RoughRiders play already has a college commitment, which is unusual. Czech import Jiri Fronk doesn't count because he came to the States this season to increase his stock for a professional career.

He and Erik Foley, a potential high-round NHL draft pick in the spring, lead the team with eight goals each.

'I just think it's been hard work and being prepared,” said Riders center Andrew Gaus. 'I think we have good team chemistry, have four forward lines that all contribute in certain ways. Then we have eight defensemen who are all top notch. And, obviously, our goaltending is good with Ben and now Ryan finding his groove. I just think we're really balanced, and we're getting contributions from everyone.”

'I think we have a lot of guys who are just hungry to get better every day,” said center Andrew Oglevie. 'They come to the rink every day, Coach Carlson keeps telling us to get better every day, and we've really stuck to that. We don't listen to any outside noise. People can tell us this or that, but we just kind of stick together as a group in here and focus on the next game.”

These guys do admit the very fast start has caught them by surprise, at least somewhat.

'I've been here four years, and every season you go into it with the thought that ‘We're going to be good.' You're always optimistic,” Oglevie said. 'But I think this group has done the best job of just remaining even keeled for every game. I think that's been the key.”

There is so much hockey remaining, the season is barely one-fifth over. Injuries happen, spells of subpar play are inevitable.

But through 13 games, this has been a whole lot of fun to watch. Fans should be enjoying the ride.

'We haven't played a full 60 minutes consistently, but that's something we are going to work towards,” Gaus said.

'We are going to run into challenges, adversity and all kinds of different things. There is no doubt about that,” Carlson said. 'We're just kind of plugging away right now and getting through stuff.”

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