The Rapid City Rush are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Rapid City, South Dakota, and play their home games at The Monument. As Rapid City’s premier sports team, and South Dakota’s only professional hockey team, the Rapid City Rush has been proudly based at The Monument since 2008.
The Rush hosts 36 home games at The Monument from October to April during the regular season, drawing over 100,000 hockey fans each year. Season tickets, Mini Plans, and single-game tickets are now available! Scroll down to view the upcoming game schedule and purchase your Rush tickets.
On June 2, 2007, the Central Hockey League announced an expansion team for Rapid City, which began play in the 2008-09 season. Two months later, the team named Joe Ferras as their head coach and director of hockey operations, and Jason Rent as general manager. Rent resigned from the organization, and Tim Hill was named general manager in the spring of 2009. In September 2007, the Rush unveiled their name, colors, and logo. The team is owned in majority by Scott Mueller. Mueller was previously involved in ownership with the Colorado Eagles, also of the Central Hockey League.
The first home game in team history was on November 29, 2008, a 4-0 win over the arch-rival Colorado Eagles. In the 64-game regular season, the Rush posted a 22-33-2-7 record in its first campaign.
Ray Miron President's Cup Victory
In their second season (2009-10), the Rush defeated the Allen Americans 4-3 with 39.3 seconds left in double-overtime in Game 6 of the Ray Miron President's Cup Finals at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City to win the Ray Miron President's Cup. The Rush lost Game 1 of the series, but rebounded to win Game 2 in overtime on a Blaine Jarvis goal. The Rush then traveled to Allen for three straight games, where Allen won Game 3, but the Rush responded to win Games 4 and 5.
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In Game 6, the series returned to Rapid City, and initially looked as if there would be a Game 7 entering the third period with the score 3-1 in favor of the Americans. The Rush's Blaine Jarvis scored with 5:06 remaining in the third to bring the Rush within one. Exactly two minutes later, Brendon Cook scored, evening the score at 3 and forcing overtime.
The 2009-10 season saw the Rush accomplish their most successful season to-date. With the acquisition of key free agents Colt King, Scott Wray, and rookie goaltender Danny Battochio, while keeping most of the inaugural team’s core, the Rush almost doubled their win total from their inaugural season. The team went 43-14-1-6 with 93 standings points, finishing first in the Northern Conference and clinching their first of six consecutive playoff appearances across two leagues. The 43 wins, 93 points, and 14 losses still remain team records to this day. In the postseason, the Rush had a first-round bye, swept the Missouri Mavericks in the second round, and defeated the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in seven games in the Northern Conference Final to advance to the Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup Final. In the Final, they played the Allen Americans, who remain fierce rivals of the Rush still to this day in the ECHL. In Game 6 of the Final on May 5, 2010, Scott Wray scored the championship-winning goal with 39.3 seconds left in double-overtime to crown the Rush 2010 CHL champions.
During the 2010-11 season, the Rush were the host to the 2011 Central Hockey League All-Star Game. The Rush ended up losing to the All-Stars 11-6. Also, the Rush made the playoffs for the second straight season. In the first round, the Rush swept the Dayton Gems. During the second round against the Fort Wayne Komets, the Rush's leading scorer, Ryan Menei, was blindsided in Game 2 on a dirty hit by the Komets' Sean O'Connor. O'Connor was suspended the rest of the series, and the Rush went on to win the series in seven games. Next, the Rush faced their arch rivals, the Colorado Eagles.
The 2012-13 season brought new changes to the Rush organization. Assistant coach and former team captain Mark DeSantis accepted the head coaching position with the Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) and head coach, Joe Ferras, became the lone bench boss for the season. Rush All-Star and fan favorite goalie Danny Battochio was able to return to the team after suffering a serious injury in the 2011-12 season. During the regular season, inconsistent play left the Rush battling for a play-off spot and were plagued with a low-scoring offense (last in the league).
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For the 2014-15 season, Rapid City announced that former assistant coach and team captain Mark DeSantis would return as an associate coach. DeSantis had a successful 2013-14 season as the head coach of the expansion Brampton Beast. In addition, several roster changes were made. Goaltender Tim Boron was released, and former CHL Rookie of the Year Danny Battochio was signed to replace him.
Transition to the ECHL
The Rush enjoyed four more seasons in the CHL until October 7, 2014, when the ECHL absorbed the remaining CHL teams as new members to the League. In their first ECHL campaign in 2014-15, the Rush used a second-half 23-8-5 run to clinch their sixth consecutive playoff berth in their seven-year existence, as well as home-ice advantage in the first round. They defeated the Quad City Mallards in the Central Division Semifinals, securing the series win in exhilarating fashion in the final 63 seconds of Game 7. The Rush advanced to the Central Division Finals and fell to the eventual Kelly Cup Champion Allen Americans in six games.
On August 11, 2015, the Rush announced that they had signed a one-year affiliation agreement with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes and the American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons.
The Rush have been affiliated with an NHL franchise three times: once with the Minnesota Wild (2017-18), and twice with the Arizona Coyotes, the latter of which they are currently affiliated with (2015-2017, 2019-Present). Since joining the ECHL and becoming an NHL affiliated team, the Rush have produced five players that have advanced to the NHL: goaltenders Marek Langhamer, Adin Hill and Ivan Prosvetov; forward Michael Bunting and defenseman Dakota Mermis.
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Ownership and Management Changes
On January 11, 2019, the Rush announced an ownership change with Barry Peterson departing and Jeff Dickerson and T.J. Puchyr of Spire Sports + Entertainment joining.
Following the 2020-21 season, head coach Tetrault and the Rush agreed to end his contract.
Damian Surma Creative Shotout Goal
Honoring Team Legends
The Rush organization has immortalized a player’s number on two different occasions. On April 4, 2015, the #17 of Scott Wray, 2010 CHL champion and the longest-tenured captain in team history, was lifted to the rafters of Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena. Three years later, on March 30, 2018, Danny Battochio, the winningest goaltender in team history that captured 2010 CHL Rookie of the Year honors and the 2010 CHL championship, saw his #30 raised next to Wray.
Recent Events
UPDATE: The Rapid City Rush announced Saturday that Sunday’s home game against the Tahoe Knight Monsters has also been postponed because of a Professional Hockey Players’ Association strike.
Fans who purchased tickets for the Dec. 28 matchup can exchange them for a future game, team officials said.
The postponement also affects the team’s planned Star Wars Night, which included pregame Sith training and a lightsaber giveaway at the door. Those events will be rescheduled for a later date.
The Rush confirmed that Wednesday’s Dec. 31 home game against Tahoe remains on schedule.
The Rapid City Rush said Saturday that tonight’s home game against the Tahoe Knight Monsters has been postponed due to a Professional Hockey Players’ Association strike.
The Rush, an ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, said all ticket holders for the Dec. Team officials also cautioned that advertisements for upcoming games may not reflect the current situation.
The ECHL said its latest offer includes a 20% salary increase and other measures to address player concerns.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2008-09 | Inaugural season in the Central Hockey League |
| 2009-10 | Won the Ray Miron President's Cup |
| 2014 | Joined the ECHL |
| 2015 | Affiliated with the Arizona Coyotes (NHL) |