General | 9/27/2025 9:50:08 PM

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders head coach Mark Carlson has tied the United States Hockey League (USHL) record for all-time, regular season wins, steering the RoughRiders to a 9-1 victory for his 778th career win. He will have an opportunity to break the record on Friday, Oct. 3 against the Lincoln Stars at 7:05 p.m. CT in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

The win gives Carlson a share of the title with P.K. O’Handley, who accrued 778 regular season wins as a coach for the North Iowa Huskies and Waterloo Black Hawks before stepped down from the post following the 2020-21 season.

Last February, Carlson broke the record for all-time, regular season games coached. He is the active leader with 1,498 games coached as of Saturday, September 27, 2025, all with the RoughRiders since their inaugural season in 1999-2000.

A native of Lawrenceville, N.J., Carlson played at UMass-Lowell (1990-93) and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 11th round of the 1987 NHL Draft (215th overall). Before joining the RoughRiders, he coached at UMass-Lowell (1995-96) and Northeastern University (1996-99).

About the USHL

The United States Hockey League (USHL) and its 16 teams are committed to being the world's leading 16–to 20-year-old junior hockey league. During the 2024-25 season, USHL alumni held over 50% of NCAA Division I roster spots, and over 25% of NHL players had USHL experience. With 10 first-round selections and 49 total picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, the USHL has developed the most draft choices of any junior hockey league since 2012.

Elevated through the recently announced Declaration of Excellence with the NHL and USA Hockey, the league's player-first approach, including a 2:1 practice-to-game ratio and a schedule with 92% of games played on weekends, provides its players with the optimal environment for athletic and personal growth, creating pathways for the next generation of stars like Kyle Connor (Youngstown Phantoms), Macklin Celebrini (Chicago Steel), Matthew Knies (Tri-City Storm), Adam Fantilli (Chicago Steel) and Jeremy Swayman (Sioux Falls Stampede). More.