Will RoughRiders 'team' have strong 2nd half?

CEDAR RAPIDS - At the end of a pre-Christmas practice, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson gathered his team near center ice for a final couple of words.

He talked about the togetherness rapidly developed by the United States team he led to a gold medal at the World Junior “A” Challenge and pointed out how obvious it was that everyone was pulling for each other. He said he didn't necessarily see those same kinds of traits from the RoughRiders.

“When you start a season, you call it a team, but it's really just a group of people,” Carlson said earlier this week. “I think for us, the number one thing is do we become a true team through and through? Where everyone is shooting for a common goal, where everybody is playing for one another all the time.

“That will dictate how well they do. When you've got 18 or 19 new players, from all the way in Candiac, Quebec, to Plymouth, Minn., it doesn't happen over night.”

The RoughRiders embark on the unofficial second half of their USHL season tonight when they host the Youngstown Phantoms. They have a 13-12-2 record and 28 points, placing them in a tie for third in the Eastern Division.

There have been highs and lows, which you'd expect from a group Carlson said is his youngest, with only five returning players.

“We were very fortunate that we had a very teamwork-oriented team last year,” said RoughRiders captain Jeff Costello. “That came out on the ice. I learned to appreciate making that extra effort to go hang out with teammates you don't hardly hang out with after practice. Stuff like that really builds relationships, gives you extra motivation to work for your teammates, knowing that they're working for you.”

Cedar Rapids is eighth of 14 teams in the USHL in goals and goals against, ninth in the league in power-play efficiency and 12th in penalty killing. Zach Lehrke leads the way offensively with 25 points in 26 games. The top four scorers are veterans.

Returning goalie Troy Grosenick has 11 of his team's 13 victories. The remainder of the team is first-year players, and their growth and continued development will be important as Cedar Rapids tries to qualify for the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season. The top four teams in each division get in.

“We've set high goals for ourselves,” Grosenick said. “You have to have everyone (striving) for the same goals to achieve anything in this league, and I think we're starting to do a good job with that.”

Here are RoughRiders' team stats:

http://www.pointstreak.com/stats/pro/teamplayerstats.html?teamid=3131&seasonid=4429