The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders held on against the Waterloo Black Hawks in USHL preseason action on Tuesday night. Here is a look at the standouts and top performers from the game.
The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders held on 3-2 against the Waterloo Black Hawks in USHL preseason action on Tuesday night.
Here is a look at the standouts and top performers from the game.
#2 Maxon Vig (Cedar Rapids)
Vig continued his strong preseason on Tuesday night with one goal, two shots on goal, and a +2 plus/minus rating. The Bemidji State Univ. commit opened the scoring on a beautiful shot through traffic that found the back of the net.
#9 Kole Hyles (Cedar Rapids)
Hyles had two points on Tuesday night, including a secondary assist on Vig's goal and a tally of his own in the second period. Hyles showed good anticipation to get to the side of the cage and received Heath Nelson's feed from below the net for an easy tuck and score.
#24 Hans-Martin Ulvebne (Cedar Rapids)
I really like Ulvebne's game, and he's made the most of expanded playing time since being acquired from Chicago last year. The Princeton commit led all RoughRiders skaters with four shots on goal and scored on a beautiful stretch pass in the third period. As I noted below, Cedar Rapids' transition game has been really good in preseason thus far.
#35 Rudy Guimond (Cedar Rapids)
Guimond was under heavy pressure for most of the night but stopped 27-of-29 overall. I don't fault him for the Black Hawks' second goal, as the puck took a funny bounce off the end boards right to Jackson Nevers' stick. Not much he could do there.
#26 Matthew Lansing (Waterloo)
No points for Lansing on Tuesday night, but he was consistently pushing the pace of play and forcing a team-high four shots on net. There's plenty to like in Lansing's skill set.
#18 Jackson Nevers (Waterloo)
Sometimes, it is better to be lucky than good. Fortunately, Nevers is both, and he showed tremendous positional awareness on Tuesday. He went to apply a heavy forecheck, but ended up receiving an awkward bounce off the endboards, resulting in what might be the easiest goal of his career.
#19 Eero Butella (Waterloo)
I've really liked Butella's game since first seeing an extended look at him in the 2023 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. The Northeastern commit recorded just one shot on goal on Tuesday, but he made it count, sending an absolute rocket from the left-wing circle into the back of the net.
