Riders are Home, at Last
By Mike Koolbeck
Freelance writer
CEDAR RAPIDS – A year ago at this time, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders were like an old Clash song.
Would they stay or would they go?
Fueling that speculation was an ongoing battle between team ownership and the city’s Five Seasons Commission. The ownership had a laundry list of items to negotiate with the city, but most prominent was the cost of its annual rental fee at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. The lease was set to expire following the 2009-10 season. When discussions about a long-term lease finally reached an impasse, the team was placed up for sale.
The Stable
All of this swirled about the junior hockey league team as it continued its quest for another Clark Cup. When the RoughRiders lost in the first round of the United States Hockey League playoffs, many of their fans wondered if that was the last they would see of their beloved team.
After much handwringing, an ownership group (New Riders, LLC) that included coach/general manager Mark Carlson, businessmen Jeff Jauch and Tony Sdao, and three unnamed partners stepped forward and bought the team.
In quick order, the new owners arrived at a 10-year lease agreement with the city and Carlson, the only coach or general manager the team had in its previous 10 years, was awarded with a 10-year contract.
So, what’s the mood heading into this season?
“Knowing that there is that stability is great,” Carlson said during media day Wednesday (Sept. 30) at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. “All of the owners the team has had have been great. But Jeff Jauch is doing a tremendous job in our front office.”
Jauch, who resides in Madison, Wis., is the day-to-day operations chief/CEO of the team.
“He talks to everyone,’’ Carlson said of Jauch. “There’s not a business side and there’s not a hockey side to the operation. There’s just the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, all working together. To me, that’s how you should run every business, whether it’s a sports team or not.’’
Carlson was asked if he felt like that division existed within the previous ownership structure.
“I like to be positive,” he said. “There are people in every organization that have ideas. You may have an equipment man that might have the best idea for selling tickets, but he’s usually not included in that part of the operation. Why not include him? Why not ask him what he’s thinking? Jeff gets input from everybody and makes them feel like they are important to the organization.”
Many of the decisions that have been made have to do with the renovation of the arena, which is better known as “The Stable.” The team has embraced that identity with rail streamers in the seating bowl. The team website welcomes fans to THE STABLE, which it proclaims as “the premiere junior hockey facility in the country.”
The inside of the arena has been painted in team colors with walls of forest green, silver and black replacing the original metallic white. High-definition video boards hang from the rafters beyond both goals. Suites have been updated and televisions added.
“It looks like home,” Carlson said.
Home, at last.
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