Problems at home?

During a recent game at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena something felt a little...well...odd. The ice didn't seem to have a seamless quality and it was almost as if you were skating with a bit of sandpaper stuck to the blades. Two lines of standing water exist down the bench-side of the ice, spanning the entire length of the rink. The problem? A clogged brine line that isn't allowing the ice to freeze properly and regulate the rink's temperature.

Only a few days before the opening preseason, and this is definitely not something that the Ice Arena staff are happy about. Buried underneath the freshly installed ice, paint work, and 2-year-old cement floor, to repair the tubing would take god knows how long. My guess is that it's going to have to just stay until the RoughRiders have a break, possibly in December between December 13th-December 30th when there are no home games. What a pain.

I wonder if this could possibly affect the RoughRiders home record during the first half of the season. It's really quite hard to say at this level of play because they are some of the best skaters around. I just can't imagine having to skate on that during a game "that matters" for a few weeks let alone nearly half the season. Hopefully the rink is able to figure something out or the players learn how to avoid troublesome spots and work with what they've got.

It's a shame. Usually Cedar Rapids has one of the best ice surfaces in the USHL, and after making improvements it goes downhill. Just a stroke of bad luck, I guess. Regardless I know the general manager will do his best to take care of the issue. There are worst things, I suppose. More embarrassing problems....like when Tri City misspelled "Anniversary" on their 10th year logo a few years back. I'm sure that person was kicking themselves all season.

Young Guns and team Chemistry

It's been great to be reading pieces about young talent coming to join the Rough Riders this season recently in the local papers including a nice story on Mac Bennett. If hockey even gets some spotlight it's a shock a lot of the time, and usually it seems that the stories take on a negative focus.

I think the raw talent of this season's team will really help the season be a successful one. In years past we've had a lot of "hot shot" players (I'll refrain from saying names) that simply were a one man show, would rarely pass, would often get picked off by the other team, turn over the puck, and then our team would get scored on. It's almost like Carlson took Herb Brooks' method of "choosing the right player for a certain reason" because it's true that not every player on the squad seems to have been necessarily "the best" at tryouts. I just think he picked the "right" players who had good chemistry.

Team chemistry is important for so many reasons. It goes far beyond getting the W and improving a team record. Hockey isn't just about the game. The relationships you build and the memories mean more to the players than any championship ring. The goal of reaching that point is simply what brings them together.

I'm looking forward to this weekend's preseason game to get a real look at what the team's greatest strengths and weaknesses are. It's still early to really have a true gauge of how they'll rank in the league, but it'll be great to see some quality hockey none the less!

RoughRiders doing good for the community

" Cedar Rapids—St. Luke’s Sports Medicine and the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are teaming up to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

On Sunday, September 13, 2009 the entire RoughRiders team and children affiliated with JDRF, will wash cars in the Surgery Center Cedar Rapids parking lot located at 1075 1st Ave SE from 1-3 p.m.

All proceeds/donations from the car wash will go to the local JDRF chapter. People who donate will be signed up for a chance to win a pair of RoughRiders season tickets. "

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It's great to see that the RoughRiders are beginning the season by helping the community one way or another. For a lot of the players it is their first time away from home and probably the first time they've ever lived in a community that truly sees them as a 'celebrity' of sorts. These sort of programs are great for raising awareness and funds for programs like the JDRF chapter and really allows fans to interact with the players on a personal level. Good luck to them tomorrow, I hope they receive a lot of donations and meet some fans to get used to "the fame" before the preseason officially starts on Sept. 19th. It'd sure be a shame to have the rookies freezing up on the ice as soon as they hear people chanting their name. ;)

Cedar Rapids Adult Hockey begins...

I just looked up my team's schedule and was amazed to see how many players have signed up. Cedar Rapids hockey has truly grown over the past few years and it's more than obvious now---there are 19 teams combined for A, B, and C leagues. This means there are approximately 200 adult hockey players in the area who are playing organized leagues, up from only a handful when the rink first began. This is such great news!

 I've also seen that the youth house leagues are filling up as are travel teams. There's a huge amount of beginning players taking part in the "Mini Riders" program as well. I think hockey director Kevin Brooks is truly doing a great job improving the level of hockey in the area and it's great to see that he's trying out a ton of new ideas (such as "Mini Riders" learn to play hockey) and working with the girls to form the Lady RoughRiders team. It's very encouraging and shows that he cares about helping the rink succeed and wants to see players develop their skills.

Hockey's almost here!

I was working at the rink this weekend and was glad to see that the RoughRiders NHL rink is now being built for the season! Paint is down and now everyone is working to build up the thickness. The Olympia should be able to drive on it very soon! 

Quad City Mallards bring former Rough Rider back to Eastern Iowa

From QC News.com:

The Quad-City Mallards have announced the signing of seven players, including goaltender Sebastian LaPlante, a veteran of 249 games and 123 wins between the pipes.

Also in the group is forward Chris Lipsett, a 14th-year professional who has averaged more than 23 goals per year and who played two seasons for Mallards coach Frank Anzalone in the ECHL a decade ago.

Two more forwards, second-year pro Mike Lombardi and rookie Mike Maier, are among the first class of Anzalone recruits, as are veteran defensemen Jason Goulet and Darren McMillan and rookie blueliner Shane Lovdahl.

"I think the key to this whole group is I have chosen not to mass-recruit," Anzalone said. "I have cross-referenced players into oblivion, and in addition to them hopefully being good players, hopefully they are good people and team men. That's what we're trying to do and that's why it has been slow."

Anzalone said the initial group has committed to the Quad-Cities, with Lipsett having already enrolled his daughter in school. LaPlante stepped up to help in the recruitment of McMillan.

"He is ecstatic about coming to the Quad-Cities," the coach said of the goalie.

LaPlante, 28, could be challenged by another verbally committed netminder, but Anzalone said, "He still has a lot of hockey left in his tank and is considered a guy who might be a franchise goalie."

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Goulet, meanwhile, could fill a key role as well.

"He is a stopper defenseman who is tough and can handle the gritty part of the game," said the coach. "I was fortunate to get him."

Anzalone said another five contracts are pending, including one agreement reached Wednesday with a "really good centerman.

"I'm happy with the way it's going," the coach said. "It's slow but I think it's better that way."

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It's awesome to hear that former Rough Rider bad-boy Shane Lovdahl will be returning to Eastern Iowa to play with the Mallards. He was always a pretty solid defenseman and it's great to see him continuing with hockey beyond his college years. Hopefully he'll make his way up to Cedar Rapids for a few games to sign some autographs and take some pictures with the local kids who hope to someday be in his shoes. He was always one of those players that gave 100% effort on the ice and that definitely counts for something in my book. Having heart and passion for the game truly is what matters the most.

New owners really trying to spiff things up...

From the Gazette Online:

Hectic, productive preseason for Riders’ new owners

Posted on Aug 30, 2009 by Jeff Johnson.

Jeff Jauch is the new president/CEO of the RoughRiders. Photographed Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009, at Cedar Rapids Ice Arena in Cedar Rapids. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

CEDAR RAPIDS — Jeff Jauch has what he calls “my bachelor pad.”

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders CEO has rented an apartment in town. He’s here Monday through Thursday, then heads home to Madison, Wis., to be with his family.

It’s a lot of travel, and his new job has been a lot of work. It’s not easy running a junior hockey franchise when you’ve never done it before.

But Jauch and his partners in ownership group Newco Riders LLC (Tony Sdao and Mark Carlson) are determined to make the RoughRiders as successful off the ice as they have been on it. The Gazette sat down with Jauch at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena for a chat Thursday.

The smell of paint was strong as workers continue putting the finishing touches on improvements at The Stable: green and black paint everywhere, new video screens, large television screens hanging outside every suite, cameras on the ceiling pointing down at the goal-crease areas …

The place looks good.

Q: What have the first three months been like for the new ownership?

A: What we’re trying to accomplish in three months is usually done in a year. So it’s been fast and furious. A lot to get done in a short amount of time. But in the long run it’s going to be great. Because it’s like get it done right, get it done now and then get on to normal business operations and hockey operations. That’s the objective. Get it done now, and get it done right, and not wait for a year or two to fill these seats.

Q: What has been the reaction of the community to the new ownership?

A: The reaction I have gotten is positive. Everything has been positive. I haven’t heard anything negative. Obviously, there’s going to be something, you’re always going to have bumps in the road and that. I understand that. But you know what, the initial indication I have gotten is that everyone likes what we’re doing. With the product that has been on the ice, plus this, I think we’re going to have a great entertainment (opportunity) for people. We’re going to make it a lot of fun.

Q: Have you set any goals as an organization for this first season?

A: Yes, we do have some goals. Our main goal, really, is to sell out every game. That’s our goal, what we want to do. Whether that’s done with season tickets or group tickets or just individual tickets, we need to figure out what that combination is going to be. Obviously, with the economy, there are some real challenges. But you know what, this is a great town. If you compare it to other places in the country from an economic standpoint, actually this area is not doing so bad. So I think we’re in a great area, and I’m very confident that we can get close to our goal.

I think our real opportunities are with groups, group sales. That’s where we really feel our opportunities are going to be. And it’ll build on itself. When people come here and look at the environment and the fun, word of mouth, telling their friends, that’ll take care of itself.

Q: Could you tell me about everything you have going on with arena improvements?

A: The long and short of it is that we want to make this rink feel like the home of the RoughRiders. Hence, the painting … What we want to try and accomplish here is almost like a sports bar type of theme. We’ve got four video screens here, and they can all work independently of each other. So you can have replays on one, logos on the other, you can have another game on one. You can have all kinds of things going basically on four video screens. But you can also link them up so the same things are happening on all of them. You can have “Goal” reach across all the screens. There are a lot of things we are trying to do there.

We’ve also put in what they call Gobo lights, there are eight of them in here, and that’s what’s going to give a lighting effect during goals, pregame, all sorts of other stuff. We’ve got quite a pregame introduction show planned. Hopefully, it’ll get the crowd all riled up and excited about the game.

Q: So are you excited about everything?

A: Very much so. I think the easy part will be the season. We get all of the remodeling one and get the season going, get things all organized. Then it’s just a matter of execution.

It's really great to see that the new owners are putting in some effort to help make the RoughRiders a success instead of simply relying on arena staff and the marketing team to make things happen. With a sports organization (and really organization, really) I think communication is key, and for there to be a group of owners who are working alongside each other to make things happen is really great. This first season might not go completely smooth considering the new ownership is trying to change how the organization has been ruin in the past, but I believe it will definitely be worth the wait.