In one moment, I was happy.  Elated.  The Bruins won game seven to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.  A team that I like mostly, I’ll admit, because of Tim Thomas.  If ever there was a goalie I could describe as ‘plucky,’ it’s Thomas.  For me, he’s been the comeback story of the year.  Last season was a bust for Thomas, and the Bruins fans I talked to last season (and there were plenty) thought he was washed up.  Done.  The Burins had made the mistake of the century.   One hip surgery later, and Thomas has been a beast.  If he doesn’t win the Vezina (again), something is rotten in Denmark.  I was psyched for the Finals.

Then I saw this:

F.

There was another game seven played tonight, and this one was for all the marbles.  Hardly anyone noticed, just a drop in the bucket when the NHL is playing a game 7 for the chance to win the greatest trophy in sports, and the Memorial Cup is going on.   This is nothing, unless you are paying attention.  Unless you are a fan.

FFFFFFFFFF.

The Eagles and the Mudbugs own one of the more unlikely rivalries in the minors.  Usually, you find that neighbors make for the worst bedfellows.  And while I may be mixing my metaphors, I can’t help but think of the cross-Pennsylvania rivalries, the Spokane – Tri-Cities WHL rivalry, and the hate across Edmonton. This is a rivalry born in blood and losses.  These are the rivalries that fans chew on, spit out, and run over with a car.  Twice.  And when you lose to your rival, it never feels good. Never.

The future for the Mudbugs is uncertain.  There are rumors that the team will be moving to a less expensive league, perhaps the NAHL (US juniors) or the SPHL (Southern Professional Hockey League).  This was a season of massive changes for the Central Hockey League, incorporating several of the teams from the flailing IHL (formerly the UHL), and expanding to the North and East in places they have never been.  There was a time, not that long ago, that the Colorado Eagles were the most remote team in the CHL.  The league then expanded to Youngstown, and fans of the Central wondered what the league was thinking, putting a team on the far side of Ohio, when their main concentration lived in Texas.  It didn’t last.  This season, with the league taking on teams in Ft. Wayne, IN, Dayton, OH, and two in Illinois, the league stretched itself wider, while already losing teams in it’s base (Amarillo following this season, and Corpus Christi and Lubbock, TX in previous seasons). The Mudbugs are on uncertain footing, but hopefully, a trophy will buy them some time.  They are a good team, with a great fan base.  And although I would like nothing more than for the Eagles to have crushed them, I hope they return next season.  That is what great rivals do sometimes, make you want them back.

So thanks for a great season, Colorado Eagles.  Even if you move to the ECHL (as rumored), you have been one of the best things the Central has had in many years.  And your fans love you for it.