The Rapid City Rush are a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

based in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

, and play their home games at

The Monument The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known simply as the Monument, is a fluted Doric column in London, England, situated near the northern end of London Bridge. Commemorating the Great Fire of London, it stands at the j ...

. The Rush are currently a minor affiliate of the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

franchise.

History

On June 2, 2007, the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

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 A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

and director of hockey operations, and Jason Rent as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. 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 A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

. The team is owned in majority by Scott Mueller. Mueller was previously involved in ownership with the

Colorado Eagles The Colorado Eagles are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League. The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hoc ...

, also of the

. Barry Petersen and Donald Ward are minority owners. In their second

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

(2009–10), the Rush defeated the

Allen Americans The Allen Americans are a professional ice hockey team headquartered at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, which currently plays in the ECHL. The team was founded in 2009 in the Central Hockey League (CHL) where they played ...

4–3 with 39.3 seconds left in double-

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

in Game 6 of the

Ray Miron President's Cup The Ray Miron President's Cup is a trophy that was awarded to the playoff champion of the Central Hockey League (CHL) from 2002 until 2014, when the remaining CHL teams joined the ECHL. The trophy was known as The William "Bill" Levins Memorial Cup ...

Finals at the

Rushmore Plaza Civic Center The Monument, formerly known as Rushmore Plaza Civic Center and Rushmore Plaza, is a exhibition center, in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Monument is the main event center for the Black Hills Region, serving Western South Dakota, South West North ...

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 Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...

for three straight games, where Allen won Game 3, but the Rush responded to win Games 4 and 5. 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. With 39.3 seconds left in the second overtime, a shot by

Les Reaney Les Reaney (born July 8, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Career Reaney began his career in the ECHL for the Stockton Thunder and the Dayton Bombers before joining the Rapid City Rush of the Central Hockey League. In th ...

deflected off the Allen goaltender Chris Whitley and the Rush's

Scott Wray Floyd Elliot Wray (born August 22, 1960) is an American country music singer, known professionally as Collin Raye, and previously as Bubba Wray. Under the latter name, he recorded as a member of the band The Wrays between 1983 and 1987. He made ...

, rolling into the goal, sealing the win for the Rush and their first President's Cup. 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 The Dayton Gems were a minor league ice hockey team based in Dayton, Ohio, and members of the International Hockey League from 1964 to 1977, and 1979–1980. In the fall of 1964, the lobby of their new arena, Hara Arena, had a natural gas ex ...

. During the second round against the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This team was previously a member of the Central Hockey League, the original Inte ...

, the Rush's leading scorer,

Ryan Menei Ryan Menei (born July 31, 1986) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He last played for the Tulsa Oilers in the Central Hockey League. He previously played with SG Cortina in the Italian Serie A and after one season with the Tulsa ...

, 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

. The series lasted seven games but the Eagles came away with the series win. 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 The Fayetteville Marksmen are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They currently play in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) and play their home games in the Crown Coliseum. The team, o ...

of the

Southern Professional Hockey League The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the mid ...

(SPHL) and head coach, Joe Ferras, became the lone bench boss for the season. Rush All-Star and fan favorite goalie

Danny Battochio Danny Battochio (born December 21, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He retired playing with the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL and is a goalie consultant. Playing career Battochio played major junior hockey with the O ...

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). The Rush finished the regular season strong, finishing fourth in the regular season standings. 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 The Brampton Beast were a professional ice hockey team based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The team originally played in the Central Hockey League for one year during the 2013–14 season prior to the league's folding before joining the ECHL f ...

. 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. Also, longtime team captain Scott Wray and Konrad Reeder both announced their retirements. On October 7, 2014, soon before the 2014–15 CHL season was set to begin, it was announced that the CHL had ceased operations and the Rush, along with the

Quad City Mallards The Quad City Mallards were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa that competed in the International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL. They were named after the Mallards team ...

Missouri Mavericks The Kansas City Mavericks are an ice hockey team in the ECHL. Founded in 2009 as the Missouri Mavericks of the Central Hockey League, CHL, the team plays in Independence, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, at the Cable Dahmer Arena. H ...

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

, and

Wichita Thunder The Wichita Thunder are a minor league hockey team based in Wichita, Kansas. The team played in the Central Hockey League from 1992 until 2014, and then in the ECHL since the 2014–15 season. From 1992 until December 2009, the Thunder played in ...

, were all approved for membership into the

for the 2014–15 season. On August 11, 2015, the Rush announced that they had signed a one-year affiliation agreement with the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

and the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

Springfield Falcons The Springfield Falcons were a former ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and played in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center. In 2016, the Falcons' franchise was purchased by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ar ...

. This marks the first time the Rush has ever been affiliated with an NHL team. On February 18, 2016, head coach and general manager, Joe Ferras, announced he was stepping down from his coaching position and promoting Mark DeSantis to head coach. On July 14, 2016, the Rush and the Coyotes organization renewed their affiliation along with the

Tucson Roadrunners The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, the team plays i ...

of the AHL. After one-and-a-half seasons, DeSantis was fired. He was replaced by former Rush captain

Daniel Tetrault Daniel Tetrault (born September 4, 1979) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, having last played for and was a team captain with the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL. Tetrault was originally drafted 91st overall by the Montreal Canadiens i ...

for the 2017–18 season as head coach. The Rush also changed their affiliations to the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

(NHL) and the

Iowa Wild The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, that began play for the 2013–14 season. The team plays at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. The team was f ...

(AHL) but ended it after one season. The Rush entered the 2018–19 season independent of an affiliate after three seasons of affiliations and missed playoffs. 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 A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

joining. Scott Mueller remained the majority owner. On July 24, 2019, the Rush began a two-year affiliation agreement with the

and the

. By October 2019, Spire had launched a criminal investigation into possible embezzlement during Mueller's tenure in charge of operations. Spire, as Spire Hockey, then became the sole owners of the team in May 2020, buying out Mueller, while an employee from Mueller's tenure was being investigated. The former finance manager of the team was found to have stolen nearly $700,000 from the team between 2010 and 2018, eventually being sentenced to three years in prison and $1 million in restitutions. Following the 2020–21 season, head coach Tetrault and the Rush agreed to end his contract. Over four seasons, Tetrault had led the Rush to a 116–134–25 record and never made a playoff appearance. He was replaced by Scott Burt in July 2021. On August 25, 2022, the Rush reached an affiliate agreement with the

for the 2022-23 season.

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL=Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalty infraction minutes''

Players

Current roster

Updated December 5, 2022.

References

External links

Official website
{{Dakota Sports ECHL teams Arizona Coyotes minor league affiliates Calgary Flames minor league affiliates Central Hockey League teams Minnesota Wild minor league affiliates Ice hockey teams in South Dakota Ice hockey clubs established in 2008 Sports in Rapid City, South Dakota 2008 establishments in South Dakota