RoughRiders rely on speed and skill to excel

CEDAR RAPIDS - The neutral-zone trap is crap, the left-wing lock a crock. To dump and chase is a disgrace.

Under head coach/general manager Mark Carlson, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders eschew those grind-the-play-to-a-halt, defensive-oriented hockey strategies in favor of a more wide-open offensive philosophy. You try to intimidate the opponent not by beating him up but by beating him up and down the ice.

The Riders believe speed and skill kill.

“I personally love playing in coach's system,” said Jayson Megna, second in the United States Hockey League with 15 goals entering an important home-and-home weekend series with Green Bay. “It allows everyone to be creative, make plays, and use our team speed to our advantage. There is obviously structure to our game, and we play within our systems. But as a team, we are allowed more liberties with the puck than other teams, I would say without a doubt.”

Carlson recruits and builds his team with speed and skill in mind. That's why you see “itty bitty” guys around like Ryan McGrath (5-foot-7, 155 pounds), Cason Hohmann (5-8, 160) and defenseman Tommy Fallen (5-9, 170).

The RoughRiders always have one of the smallest teams in the USHL but also one of the quickest. Once they get flying, it's fun hockey to watch.

“Everybody has their own style, so this isn't to (rag) on any other way,” Carlson said. “But we want our guys to make plays and be creative and to play with speed and try to keep the puck. That's how they are going to improve. The game is about speed now. It's about speed, puck movement and creativity. That's what we try to teach.”

For those who attend games for the fights, the RoughRiders probably aren't the hockey team for them. They will stick up for themselves, as witnessed by four fighting major penalties in two games last weekend, but they have the fewest penalty minutes in the league for a reason.

They're disciplined, with guys who are lovers (make that skaters) more than fighters. And they win consistently with that style.

“We're a skating, puck-movement, pressure team, but we feel we can win any kind of hockey game,” Carlson said. “(Fighting) is not something we're going to go out and look for, but we're not afraid. We're not afraid at all.”

“As far as skill goes, we have a very skilled team, but hard work beats skill every time,” Megna said. “In coach's system, you have to work hard and smart to get the puck and go to the tough areas of the ice. Once we accomplish those things within the boundaries of our system and move the puck to open areas, that's where our skill and skating ability come into play and allows our team to make plays.”