Tag Archives: hockey in el paso

While we may be in the throes of August and all the summer heat, your El Paso Rhinos are looking to get on the ice early this year.

The defending Thorne Cup champs will take the ice in the Sun City in September for the first-ever Black and Orange Game.  Team officials announced the game Friday, adding that admission to the inter-squad match will be free.

On Saturday, September 29 at 7 pm, the Rhinos will play an inter-squad game where half the team, clad in black home jerseys, will face off against the other half who will be suited up in white away jerseys.

Not only will fans see the Rhinos take the ice for the first time, Season Ticket Holders can pick up their season tickets before the game and all fans can skate with the Rhinos following the match up. Fans can also take advantage of all the usual promotions like Jerseys Off Our Backs, Hot Diggity Dog, Miller Lite Scorer of the Game and more.

In another do-or-die game, the Rhinos took on Idaho Saturday night in their Thorne Cup Semi-Final.

The Icecats came out fighting, but the Rhinos responded and shut out the Idahoans 4-0. With the win, the Rhinos will now face the Ogden Mustangs Sunday at 4:30.

Our very own Steven Cottingham was there and brings you his view of the game in this ‘Story in Many Pics.’

After rampaging through the regular season and playoffs, the Rhinos now turn their attention to hosting and dominating the Thorne Cup this week.

In their first round-robin game, the Rhinos will take on the Long Beach Bombers at 7 pm on Wednesday, April 11. On April 12 at 7 pm, they’ll face off against familiar foe, the Oklahoma City Blazers, before ending round-robin with a match up against the Utah Outliers on Friday at 7 pm.

After round-robin, the four teams with the highest point totals will advance to the semi-finals on April 14. These games will be played at 2 pm and 7 pm.

The two winners will advance to the finals on April 15 at 4:30 pm. For more information on the tournament structure, click here.

The Rhinos will start the Thorne Cup with the organization’s 10th Annual Teddy Bear Toss in memory of Joni Arnett. Remember to toss your teddies onto the ice after the Rhinos’ first goal of the game!

Also starting on Wednesday, the Rhinos will auction off their orange game-worn jerseys. The bidding will end at the 10 minute mark of the third period on Saturday.

For questions or more information regarding the Thorne Cup game schedule or the Rhinos, go online or call 915-479-PUCK (7825).

With two dominating wins over the Dallas Snipers – 11 to 0 and 10 to 0 – the red-hot El Paso Rhinos punched their ticket to the WSHL Midwest Division Finals.

Our very own Steven Cottingham was there for Game 2 Saturday night and brings you his view of the domination in this ‘Story in Many Pics’

As the regular season starts to wind down, the red-hot El Paso Rhinos are on a roll and headed to the playoffs.  And the tickets for the WSHL Playoffs, which the Rhinos are hosting, are now on sale.

Friday night, in the first game of their three game series against the Wichita Jr. Thunder, the Rhinos dominated, winning 21-0.

Our very own Andres Acosta was there and brings you his view of the game via this ‘Story in Many Pics’

For the third time in the team’s 12-year history, the El Paso Rhinos will host the annual Western States Hockey League season finale tournament, featuring six of the best teams in the nation, at the El Paso County Coliseum Events Center (4100 East Paisano.)

The first round gets underway April 11, with the semifinals April 14 and the championship April 15.

“We are excited to have teams from around the country experience the hospitality of the Sun City,” said El Paso Rhinos coach Cory Herman. “We’re also thankful to have the support of El Paso behind us as we make a run for the Thorne Cup here in Rhino Country.”

The Rhinos have two Thorne Cup titles – 2008 and 2014.

The last time El Paso hosted the Thorne Cup tournament, the team won the championship with a stellar 44-2 record. Currently, the Rhinos are in the midst of a phenomenal season with a 46-1-1 record, so far, in their quest to win the title once again on home ice.

The Rhinos have only three games left in the regular season – 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 2-3, and 4:30 p.m. Sunday, March 4, against the Wichita Jr. Thunder at the Events Center – before competing in the Thorne Cup playoffs.

The WSHL is an Amateur Athletic Union-sanctioned Tier II Junior A ice hockey league, which features 23 teams split into four divisions: Mid-Western, Western, Northwestern and Mountain.

El Paso plays in the Mid-Western Division, along with the Oklahoma City Blazers, Dallas Snipers, Springfield Express and Thunder.

Tickets, which will cost $7, $10, $15, $20, $30 and $35, plus fees, will be available at the Coliseum Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000 and online.

The red-hot El Paso Rhinos returned home Friday night to start a three-game series against the Dallas Snipers.   The Rhinos did not disappoint, dominating Dallas 13-0.

First period goals scored by Leeam Tivers, JC Dubecky, Max Kamper, and Jayden Ritchie; Second period goals scored by Leeam Tivers, Jared Marquette, Dallas Klaassen, Nick Hames, and Chaseton Sare; Third period goals scored by JC Dubecky, Maguire Blair, Austin Simpson, and Chaseton Sare.

Our very own Andres Acosta was there, and while he didn’t get in on the Goalapalooza, he did capture all the action and brings it to you in this ‘Story in Many Pics.’

For the third time in their twelve-year history, the El Paso Rhinos have been selected to host the Thorne Cup Championship.

Succeeding Ogden, the 2017 location, the Sun City will welcome five teams from around the country for the Western States Hockey League’s annual end-of-season tournament.

Tentatively, round robin play will begin on April 10 and continue through April 12. The semi-finals will be played on Friday, April 13, and the tournament will conclude with the championship game on Saturday, April 14. As the host team, the Rhinos are guaranteed three games.

The Rhinos’ head coach, Cory Herman, explains how the franchise is looking forward to the tournament.  “We are excited to have teams from around the country experience the hospitality of the Sun City. We’re also thankful to have the support of El Paso behind us as we make a run for the Thorne Cup here in Rhino Country.”

The last time El Paso hosted the Thorne Cup, the Rhinos topped the Idaho Steelheads to win the championship on home ice. With a record of 28-1 this season, the Rhinos will look to repeat 2014’s outcome and hoist the 2018 Thorne Cup in Rhino Country. Another Thorne Cup would give the Rhinos three League titles in addition to their 2014 National Championship.

Tickets for all Thorne Cup games will go on sale to the public on March 1. More information about the schedule and the attending teams will be released near the end of the regular season.

The El Paso Rhinos continue to roll through the early part of the 2017-18 with victory after victory.  This weekend’s sweep over the Springfield Express extended their win streak to 15 games as they head to Colorado this weekend.

The streak includes five straight series sweeps since the season began.

Game 1: 11-1 W

On Friday, the Rhinos showed their offensive strength, notching 11 goals over three periods. During the first twenty minutes, the Express held the Rhinos to only two goals.

Max Kamper put the Rhinos on the board with a shorthanded goal and Austin Simpson followed up with a power play goal.

The second period saw seven more goals for El Paso with Tim Heffner earning a hat trick and Austin Simpson solidifying his three-point game with two more goals. Leeam Tivers and Carlo Wittor also posted two goals throughout the period. Springfield avoided the shutout when Vegard Faret slipped one past Rhino netminder Filip Krasanovsky just over four minutes into the period.

Nick Hames increased the Rhinos’ lead to ten during the third period and Ty Erramouspe finished the game with a goal with only a minute and thirty-five seconds left in regulation.

Notably, Chaseton Sare earned four assists throughout the game although he never netted his own goal during the game. Filip Krasanovsky stopped all but one of 18 and shots and collectively, the Rhinos scored two shorthanded goals and three power play goals.

Game 2: 5-2 W

Springfield started off game two with eight shots on goal and no penalties, only allowing one Rhino goal by Lukas Moravsky. While the second period included 24 penalty minutes on both sides, the only goal of the period was a power play goal at 14:32 by Chaseton Sare.

The Rhinos posted 18 shots in the second period alone.

The Express again avoided a shutout when Stephane Doering scored only a minute and six seconds into the third period. Before reaching the ten-minute mark of the period, however, Austin Simpson, Chaseton Sare and Colby Haugen each netted goals, increasing the Rhinos’ lead to five.

Despite Springfield’s Filimon Ledenkov’s late goal in the third, El Paso still topped the Express 5-2.

Game 3: 1-0 W

On Sunday, Filip Krasanovsky finally earned his third shutout of the season when the Rhinos blanked the Express. Rhino defenseman JC Dubecky’s lone goal in the first period lifted El Paso over Springfield despite nine power play opportunities for Springfield and six for El Paso.

The Rhinos will face off against the Colorado Eagles in Fort Collins, Colorado this weekend. The Eagles, second in the Mountain Division, have 19 wins and 5 losses throughout the season.

With defensemen Cole Richardson and Egor Sevriugen back in the lineup, El Paso will look for their sixth straight sweep of the season.

While the calendar may say ‘August,’ your El Paso Rhinos are already looking forward to October and the cool confines of the El Paso County Coliseum Events Center.

On Monday, the Rhinos released their 2017-18 schedule for their Western States Hockey League campaign. The new schedule runs October through March.

The two-time champions again take on familiar foes from San Diego to Spingfield, as they begin their quest for a third Thorne Cup.

For ticket information, click here; for all the information on the Rhinos, visit their website or Facebook page

Petr Ceslik scored twice, including the game-winner, and the El Paso Rhinos broke out of their offensive doldrums to beat the Dallas Snipers, 4-1, in front of another packed house at the El Paso Events Center.

The win evens the three-game series at a win apiece after the Snipers beat El Paso, 5-2, in Friday’s series opener. The puck drops at 4:30 p.m. MST Sunday afternoon for the rubber match.

Ceslik’s return from injury was a bit shaky in Friday’s loss, but the lanky forward from the Czech Republic kept shooting and his work eventually paid off.

Things weren’t promising at the start, though, as defenseman Austin Grawbarger was thrown out of the game for targeting the head. The resulting major penalty put Dallas on a five-minute power play, but it only took the Snipers seven seconds on the man advantage to score the opening goal, as defenseman Daniel Nordlander’s drive from the blue line beat El Paso goalie Ryan Buttazoni just 5:16 into the game.

But the Rhinos equalized with a short-handed goal on the same Dallas power play, as Santeri Ketola’s pass found Connor Beaudet on the breakaway. Beaudet snapped his shot top shelf, over Sniper’s goalie Alexander Moustakis’ right shoulder, to even the game, 1-1, at 8:50.

Ceslik notched the game-winner from his knees after being dropped low in the left circle at 13:22 of the second period, beating Moustakis with a knuckling shot. Ceslik added to his tally with a nifty backhanded shot as he skated right to left between the circles. Not able to turn for a forehanded effort, Ceslik timed his shot well and it fooled Moustakis at 4:19 of the third.

Later, with Dallas’ net empty as the Snipers pressed for a goal, defenseman Kyle Keeder split the defense to find Robert Fogarty who wristed it home to wrap the scoring at 19:23.

El Paso moves to 5-11-0-1 on the season, while the Snipers — immediately above the Rhinos in the WSHL’s Midwest Division — fall to 10-12-0-1.

For tickets or information on Sunday’s series finale, contact the El Paso Rhinos’ front office at 915/479.PUCK (7825), or go to the team website at www.elpasorhinos.com.

Author: El Paso Rhinos