Rampage face high flying Stamps in CIHL action at the Jim tonight

A tough challenge awaits the Prince Rupert Rampage tonight as the hometown Rhinos take on the league leading Williams Lake Stampeders,  an offensive juggernaut that so far this year has 83 goals over the course of their 13 games.

With the Stamps boasting of a record of but three losses on the year, the Jim should see some high energy hockey as the Rampage coming on the heels of a burst of scoring against Kitimat last weekend, look to make it three wins in a row for the New Year.

The Rampage however might have wanted to keep some of those 17 goals of last weekend in the bank for this weekend,  combined with their strong play in the offensive zone the stingy Stamps have only surrendered 54 goals so far this year.

Stampeder hockey offers up one of the most complete rosters in the six team league, and the squad from the Cariboo is one that year in and year out rises to the top of the CIHL standings and is a perennial playoff contender.

The Stamps head west as part of a two game adventure for the Stampeders, once they finish up with their reunion with the Rampage, they will be heading to Kitimat for a Sunday afternoon match up with the Ice Demons.

Fans could be in for a goaltenders duel tonight as the game plays out.

As the season winds down, both Devin Gerrits of the Rampage and Justin Foote from Williams Lake sit one/two in the Goaltender's stats.

Tonight's game is a pivotal one for the Rampage who currently hold down fourth place in the league, one behind Smithers in third, three off the pace of the Terrace River Kings who are lodged in second place at the moment.

Both those teams have a game in hand over Prince Rupert, having played only 12 games each heading into weekend play, time is also running low for the Rampage to make a run at the top end of the standings, after tonight, they will have just two more games left in the regular season.

The have two games with Smithers to bring the season to an end, the first at the Jim on January 21, followed by a road trek to the Pond on the 28th.

Game time tonight is 7 PM at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.

The Ramapge took twitter earlier today to give a sneak preview of the line up for tonight's showdown with the top dogs in the CIHL.

The Rhinos have also gone all in when it comes to the community efforts to boost Prince Rupert's chances in the Kraft Hockeyville competition, you can find out more about how the community is putting forward its plan from our blog item from yesterday.

You can find more notes on the Rampage from their Facebook page, website and twitter feed.

On the blog, we have an archive of Ramapge Results available for viewing here, while a larger look at news from the CIHL can be found here.