RoughRiders rookies try to catch 2nd breath

These might not be the dog days of the United States Hockey League season, but you definitely can hear some barking in the distance.

Two weeks remain in the regular season. For the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, that means six games, including back-to-back-to-back road tilts tonight, Saturday and Sunday at Waterloo, Dubuque and Green Bay.

They're 54 games in, and for first-year players who haven't experienced this seven-month marathon, this is when things can become a real grind.

"It's been a big difference for me," said rookie forward Tanner Pond. "I think I played 30 games last year and a couple of playoff games. It's a lot different. It wears you down."

Pond, 17, played high school hockey in Michigan last year. He's gotten into 47 games for the RoughRiders, not to mention taking all those bus rides to places like Kearney, Neb., and Youngstown, Ohio.

He seems fresh, judging by his go-ahead goal in the third period last weekend against Youngstown. He's among several RoughRiders rookies who have appeared to step up their play during a stretch that has seen their team win 12 of 13 and jump into first place overall in the USHL.

First-year player Ryan McGrath has led Cedar Rapids in points during the stretch. Guys like forwards Nick Saracino and Peter Maric and defenseman Greg Amlong also are playing their best hockey of the season.

"I've definitely come a long way from the beginning of the year," said McGrath. "Coming into the end of the year like this, you've got to do what you've got to do."

"They've all been productive lately," said RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson. "We've got four guys there on one "kid" line in Pond, Gage Hough and Ryan Collins."

Cedar Rapids leads Green Bay by a point (81-80) for first place in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference leader Dubuque by three points in the race for the Anderson Cup. The RoughRiders have two games in hand on Green Bay and one on Dubuque.

The top two teams in each conference get first-round playoff byes. The top six teams in each conference qualify for the postseason, with the third-place team playing the sixth-place team and Nos. 4 and 5 meeting in a best-of-3 first-round series that begins April 14.

Second-round series are best-of-5 and begin April 20.

"It would mean a lot, actually," Pond said of winning the Anderson Cup. "But that's just not it. We've still got making it the whole way hopefully. I mean, it would be a good accomplishment, but you just keep going every day."