It has been a whirlwind weekend for a hearty bunch of hockey fans in El Paso.
A couple hundred of them decided to make the trek up I-10 to go watch their local team, the El Paso Rhinos, in the Thorne Cup Finals, the championship series for the Western States Hockey League. Some of those fans decided to come at the last minute.
Not too many El Pasoans would be hardcore enough to travel six hours for a hockey game between teenage teams, but this bunch wouldn't miss it for the world.
It's all part of the special connection they have to a team that founder and head coach Cory Herman has worked hard to build into something more than an excuse to replace the El Paso Buzzards.
That's a comparison some will make, but it's an unfair one -- unfair to the Buzzards, who squandered a good name with rotten ownership and unpaid bills in the team's later existence.
Herman, a former Buzzard who stuck around after his playing days were over, has built a class organization; patiently putting a solid local junior hockey program in place that has turned into a great national team at the Junior A, Tier III level.
All those old Buzzards fans who stuck around easily found roost with this group of kids and their coach. Many of them opened their homes to the players who come from places near and far to play and work and study in El Paso.
Together, they made the Sierra Providence Events Center the toughest, loudest, most fun place to play in the WSHL. Many players say its the best organization in which they've played.
Herman has set the bar with a season ticket base approaching 800 in the 1200-seat SPEC, bringing a professional hockey experience to El Paso for Rhinos fans while teaching a rock-solid work ethic to his Rhinos team.
It hasn't been easy. In each of the Rhinos' two seasons of existence Herman has had to cut talented, popular players for violating team rules. But Herman's tough love is appreciated by his remaining players -- and their parents even moreso.
The fans -- well, many of them are just happy to have hockey played at a decently high level in their hometown. Many of them enjoy the promotions and the atmosphere. Many also enjoy the legendary tailgates thrown before and after Rhinos games at the SPEC.
Yes, tailgating for junior hockey. And they brought the tailgate to Phoenix for the finals...
And they were rewarded...
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Congratulations to Cory Herman, the El Paso Rhinos, and their fans -- Thorne Cup champions for 2008. And thanks for the dogs, Woodsy.