RMC vs. Army: There’s no game like it
RMC-Army hockey hits different, in more ways than one. Saturday was the 86th edition of annual Challenge Cup that sees the representatives of the two military colleges face off for both school and national pride. More than 2,000 braved -10-degree temperatures and slush on Tragically Hip Way to head to Slush Puppie Place, home of the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL, as the longest-standing rivalry in international hockey returned to the shores of Lake Ontario for the first time since 2020.
The annual contest between Canada’s military college and the U.S. Military Academy is unique on the U SPORTS calendar; a matchup of schools that in many ways have much more in common with each other than they do with their domestic counterparts.
“So much respect for RMC and their players and what they do,” said Army head coach Brian Riley. “I think there’s not many teams other than Army, Air Force and RMC that kind of really understand what they go through on a daily basis.”
“There’s a lot more on the ice than just a hockey game for points,” said RMC captain Brock MacNaughton, a third-year forward and Engineering student from Perth, Ont. “When we come to this game, we’re wearing the flag with pride. Canada vs. the U.S., it’s a long-time rivalry and that just puts more emphasis on the game.”
This series is one marked by mutual respect off the ice, but intense competition on it. After COVID-19 caused a three-year break in the series from 2021-23, it might have been easy to leave this matchup behind, but both institutions worked to maintain its presence, and its favourable spot, on their respective schedules.
“It was a big thing,” said Richard Lim, RMC head coach. “Fortunately, Coach Riley and I have a good relationship and the two of us have been part of getting this game back on the schedule twice now. And he was nice enough to host us post-COVID down there. It was honestly a big, big thing that Coach Riley and I both wanted to do.”
Riley agreed: “Working with Richard, we wanted to make sure that we were going to be able to do it. We’re coming down the stretch drive with a lot of important games to try to get home ice [in the playoffs], but this game means a lot to both schools, and so it’s really, really important, no matter where we play that we find a spot to play this game.”
Contests between Canadian and American schools are classed as exhibition games officially, but this looked and felt like anything but. The game being in downtown Kingston rather than tiny Constantine Arena, the loud chanting by students from both academies, the referees being drawn from military bases across Canada, and the hard hitting from the opening faceoff all made it clear that this was not just another date on the schedule.
Saturday’s game hit different as it marked the end of an era, with it being the last time Brian Riley would lead his team up against RMC. After announcing his retirement last August, this season closes 64 years of the Riley family coaching Army, starting with Brian’s father Jack in 1951 and continuing to Brian’s brother Rob from 1986-2004.
“This is a series I’ve grown up with,” said Brian Riley. “My dad coached at Army from 1950 to ’86 and the biggest game every year was the Army-RMC game, and it was so special. When they would come down, Danny McLeod [the RMC coach at the time] would stay at our house. As a kid growing up, I never would have imaged in my wildest dreams that I would ever have the opportunity to be a part of it as an assistant coach and then as a head coach.”
Recognizing his contributions to the series, Riley was presented with an RMC jersey in a ceremony prior to the game.
The game got off to a torrid start, with the teams hitting hard from the opening puck drop and coming together at Army net at the first stoppage, just 30 seconds into the game. Less than four minutes into the contest, RMC’s Isaac Pascoal and Army’s Michael Sacco what could be considered a “vigorous exchange of views” that fired up the crowd and for the home fans somewhat softened the blow of Sacco’s opening goal at 1:03. Altogether, the teams combined for 52 first-period penalty minutes. Two of those penalty minutes came back to haunt the hosts, as Adam Marshall scored on the power-play to give Army a 2-0 first-period lead.
The first intermission served as an effective ceasefire, and the teams settled in and took only two penalties for the remainder of the game.
“We definitely had a chat and a couple of words,” said Lim. “They’re a fast, skilled team that we can’t beat in the penalty box. The message I sent is, guys, at some point the ref is going to take one guy and you can’t be on the losing end of that.”
The teams settled in for the second and third periods, and the Golden Knights extended their lead as Barron Woodring fired home another power-play goal at 3:24 of the second. The Paladins mounted a comeback midway through the second, as Brent Broaders and Mathieu Hébert found the net at 8:04 and 11:06. However, the hosts could not find the equalizer and Army took its second straight game since the series resumed and extended their overall lead to 49-30-7, giving Riley the win in his final Challenge Cup game.
RMC returns to OUA action with another rivalry game on Thursday, this time the Carr-Harris Cup against local rivals Queen’s, again at Slush Puppie Place, where they’ll try to build on their showing against their American rivals.
“It’s all about building,” said Lim “There’s a lot of teams on our side that are jockeying for position. We want to play spoiler and play good hockey. It’s about building and making sure that in the next year we’re in the playoff.”