“Braving that walk from the hotel to the rink (in Rapid City). Walking to the rink and it’s minus-30, that’s part of the history that you don’t forget.”Įagles assistant coach Ryan Tobler suddenly perks ups. The guys have a lot of fun and build relationships on those little trips. “That’s something I’ll never forget,” he said. But the ride home sticks out to Schneekloth, the packed bus pulling off to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins on the way home so he could make the birth of his daughter. The rivalry came to a head in the 2011 CHL Western Conference championship, a tight seven-game series, which the Eagles won 1-0 in Game 7 to make the finals. There are 39 to be exact, a total of 27,066 miles crammed on a small bus for roughly 416 hours all told. Schneekloth holds the distinction of being one of the only people to make every trip dating back to his days as a player, a realization that pries a hearty chuckle from the second-year head coach. It’s the only road trip the Eagles take by bus, a unique quirk to the Rapid City rivalry and an aspect that makes it stick out to the coaches and players. “I could probably drive to Lusk, Wyoming with my eyes covered.” “It’s the same routine and you know it like clockwork,” McGlue says. There’s one stop each way on the five-hour journey, a tiny convenience store just on the outskirts of Rapid City. “What a form of a compliment.”īack and forth the bus rocks in the windy corridor between Loveland and Rapid City, a sleepy 347-mile stretch of empty road and tiny towns. “Their game ops have mimicked ours,” Eagles coach Aaron Schneekloth said. ![]() and you’ll notice an eerily similar gameday environment as the Eagles provide at the BEC. Go to a game at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City, S.D. Mueller would eventually leave and Rapid City joined the CHL in 2008. Majority Rush owner Scott Mueller was formerly part of the Eagles’ original ownership group along with current Colorado owner and CEO Martin Lind. “I think it was one of our best rivalries, and one of the best rivalries there ever was in the CHL.”Ĭolorado and Rapid City are as close to relatives as you’ll find in professional sports. No exceptions,” longtime Eagles radio broadcaster Kevin McGlue said. “I don’t think there’s ever been any lack of respect just because they have always played the Eagles so tough and so tight. The New York Jets should take notes.Īs for the parents who were offended by the blown chunks during intermission, hopefully the two fights between grown men during a professional athletic event helped distract your children from learning about the dangers of alcohol abuse.Sure, there are other clubs Colorado’s fan base have grown to truly hate more than Rapid City over the years, but none of them provide the same consistency or memories. Look on the bright side: The Rush at least attempted to keep the vomit on the ice rather than having it spew all over the people seated in your section by the end of the game. ![]() But we’ve attended hockey games with eating competitions before … although not ones that involved spinning your head on a hockey stick. Was it inappropriate? Well, the outcome was. ![]() That said, Rapid City Rush Marijuana Triathlon Night is still scheduled for this weekend (just kidding). The intermission game was not appropriate, and it's just something we will never do again." "It was meant to be fun, but it went completely wrong," said Hill.
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