Finally, it's game day

By Jim Holland, Journal staff | Saturday, November 29, 2008

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RAPID CITY — By this morning the Rapid City Rush will have completed yet another long bus ride, just as they’ve done for the last 14 games of their first Central Hockey League season.

But this time, the 12-hour round trip from Colorado will end with Rapid City’s first home game.

Because of construction of a new ice arena addition at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center continuing into the start of the 2008-2009 CHL season, Rapid City’s first home game was set for today.

The final game of the 14-straight road skein was last night at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo., against the Colorado Eagles, also today’s opponent for Rapid City in the first-ever professional hockey game played in South Dakota.

The original schedule released by the league in July called for an evening start time for today’s game, but Rush officials soon moved the drop of the puck to 2:05 p.m. to avoid a conflict with tonight’s annual Parade of Lights in downtown Rapid City.

That meant both the Colorado Eagles and Rapid City Rush planned to leave immediately after last night’s game for the six-hour drive to Rapid City.

“Obviously it’s going to be tough for both teams,” said Rapid City coach Joe Ferras. “It’s very unique in pro sports to have a home-and-home with an afternoon game, but the way the circumstances are, we’re not going to let that bother us. We’re just excited to have a home game in a brand-new building.”

It’s not unheard of for teams to travel long distances to meet the demands of the 64-game CHL schedule.

Earlier this season, Rapid City made a three-game swing through south Texas, playing the Corpus Christi IceRays on a Friday night, making a three-hour swing to Hidalgo, Texas to take on the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Saturday, then concluding the trip with a Sunday afternoon game against the Laredo Bucks.

Colorado Eagles head coach Kevin McClelland recalls a similar three-fer when he was at the helm of the Mississippi RiverKings.

“We played a home game on Friday, traveled nine hours to play at Texas on Saturday, then came back to play Texas in another home game Sunday afternoon,” he said. “It’s a no-win situation for either team.”

Ferras said normal game-day routines will go out the window.

“Even though we get in at 4 (a.m.), the guys will get up and eat about 7:30 or 8 o’clock, then go back to bed for a little bit and then be at the rink about noon,” he said. “It’s kind of an odd day anyway. No morning skate, obviously. You play the game in Colorado and then right on the bus, six hours back. And they’re doing the same thing, dead-heading it back here.”

The players may or may not get some rest coming back to Rapid City.

“You’re usually pretty wired after a game, so it’s tough to settle down to sleep on the bus, said Rapid City defenseman Gio Flamminio.

Someone fully expecting no sleep is Rush equipment manager Shawn “Stixy” Smith, who will put in a full day in Colorado, then bring the team gear directly to the civic center to prepare for the afternoon game.

Uniforms for both teams will need to be cleaned and skates re-sharpened, then set up in the arena’s new locker rooms.

“It’s going to be a lot of long hours. Everything is in a mad scramble. The deadline’s here. It’s crunch time,” he said.

Smith spent much of the week moving into training and equipment rooms at the civic center, even as construction continued around him.

 “There may not be everything situated where you want it, even though we have (the game) here,” he said. “Anyone who’s ever moved into a new home knows what that’s like.”  

McClelland said he had no concerns about stepping into a brand-new arena, sight unseen.

‘It’s nice for Rapid City to finally have a place to play their home games, but for us it’s just another hockey game on the road,” he said.

Flamminio said finally skating in front of a home crowd, something the Rush hasn’t seen all season, will overcome any problems with sleep-deprivation.

“With the crowd and all the excitement that’s built up, it’ll be easy for us to get going,” Flamminio said. “I think we can definitely pull off a win on Saturday.”

Title: Rapid City Rush Date: November 28th, 2008 Follow the Rush at www.rapidcityjournal.com. VIEW PRESENTATION »