rhinos

(RIO RANCHO, NM) -- Though the New Mexico Renegades are playing for the playoff lives, the El Paso Rhinos outshot their hosts, 53-24, and dominated throughout for a 6-1 win Friday night. Listen to Saturday's and Sunday's games on 600 ESPN El Paso.

It wasn't a clean sweep, but Sunday's 7-0 shutout over the Phoenix Knights gave the El Paso Rhinos a lift as they charge into their series with the New Mexico Renegades to finish the regular season this weekend. We'll have the action on 600 ESPN El Paso.

The El Paso Rhinos and the Boulder Bison saved the best for last. After Friday's 3-0 Rhinos' win and Saturday's 4-1 Bison victory, Sunday's rubber match promised to be the best of the three-game series. It lived up to the billing, going to the ninth frame of a shootout before Taylor Barger scored on a top-shelf wrister to win it for El Paso.

The first thing that ran through my mind was, "You want me to do play-by-play for what?!" Call it a blind date that turned into a 16-year relationship spanning Acts II and III of hockey in the high desert. I wasn't around for Act I in the 1970's (Paul Zimmerman's excellent attached video on El Paso's hockey history shows a little of that). Like most of us here, I didn't know hockey from

The El Paso Rhinos are back in action this weekend against the Boulder Bison. You can listen to the action on 600 ESPN El Paso, but it's even better in person, especially when the Rhinos' team captain, Mike Rivera, is from right here in El Paso. It also helps that Mike is pretty good, too, as you can see.

What do you get when you combine some speedy skaters, solid defense and a line brawl? Highlights of the El Paso Rhinos shutting out the Cheyenne Stampede, 4-0, in the second game of the teams' three-game series. The Rhinos held the Stampede scoreless for over 149 minutes through the series.

Andrew Bradford scored twice, including notching the game-winner early in the third period, as El Paso survived a scare with a 4-2 come-from-behind win over the Cheyenne Stampede. Check out the video highlights from the game courtesy of the Rhinos and Southwest Video & Media and listen in again tonight at 7:30 and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as we'll have the call on 600 ESPN El Paso.

It's nice to stretch my legs a bit after an all-night bus ride to Dallas as we get ready to bring you some Rhinos hockey for the first time this season. That said, after a few minutes staring at my mall food, I felt the need to contribute something rather than merely feeding at the trough of humanity here at the Grapevine Mills Mall.

Maybe El Pasoan and Rhinos' team captain Mike Rivera was relieving a little stress after taking his accounting final at UTEP earlier Friday morning. Whatever it was, his hockey team was the beneficiary of it, as Rivera scored three goals against the Tulsa Junior Oilers and El Paso rolled, 8-1.

Tyler Basham and Tommy Malkmus each had Texas hat tricks and the Rhinos' scored a team-record six short-handed goals to dominate the Wichita Junior Thunder in a second straight game, 14-2. An incredible three of Basham's goals came with the Thunder on the power play. Game three is Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.