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There was probably never a doubt that the home team was going to come away with the two points on home ice on Saturday night, with a prime time spot awaiting them from the Cold Open to Hometown Hockey on Sunday.
What must have been a surreal hockey experience for the local side actually got underway the night before, as the Prince Rupert Rampage took care of some hockey business as they knocked off the league leading Terrace River Kings in front of another huge crowd at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre
The Rampage made it a perfect sweep of CIHL action on the weekend with Saturday's win, having also found success on Friday night when they hit the road to Kitimat and for the second time in less than seven days they took two points away from the Ice Demons.
Over the course of the two nights, the Rampage offensive engine roared into action, with 15 goals for the Rhinos in less 30 hours.
Friday night the scoring was fairly evenly distributed, with Kory Movold counted twice on the score sheet, while Jordan Weir, Kolton Chasse, Joshua Cook, Tyler Ostrom and Jared Carter all had singles on the way to the Rampage 7-4 victory over the Ice Demons.
It was also a three point night for the team and league's leading scorer Judd Repole who picked up assists on three of the Rampage goals.
Between his work on Friday and that of Saturday, the Prince Rupert playmaker secured the top dog status in the CIHL scoring listings with 4 goals and 15 assists to set the pace heading towards the middle of December.
The Friday night affair was a snarly one, with all three periods featuring a parade to the penalty box, as the two teams combined for 100 minutes in penalty time.
The Rampage sat out 43 minutes on 12 penalty calls, while the Ice Demons served 57 minutes in the box on 15 infractions.
It was another check in the win column for the Rampage's Tomoki Yoxhizawa, who added to his league leading totals atop the CIHL's goalie listings.
The Friday night game sheet can be viewed here.
Saturday night of course brought the Rampage to the big stage of the Hometown Hockey weekend in Prince Rupert, as they welcomed the league leading Terrace River Kings to town.
The long held rivalry delivering exactly what the Rogers' production team would want, with some high flying, hard hitting hockey in front of the rapturous Rampage fans.
It was a showdown between the rivals that delivered as many in the past have done, the two teams combining for 13 goals before the final whistle would deliver the verdict in favour of the home side with the Rhino's claiming the 8 to 5 victory.
The night opened with Tyler Ostrom's marker midway through the first period, with Joshua Cook providing for the helper.
Period two saw Cook pick up the opening goal of the middle frame at the seven minute mark, followed in a flurry by Jacob Santurbano on the power play one minute later and a Jared Meer marker thirty seconds after that.
The River Kings got one one back towards the end of the middle frame to send the two teams to the dressing room with the Rampage holding a 4-2 lead.
The third made for some great hockey at both ends of the ice, with seven goals keeping the fans on the edge of their seats as the Rampage and River Kings exchanged scoring opportunities, the Rampage managing to shut the door each time it looked like a Terrace insurrection was brewing.
Tyler Osrtrom opened the third period scoring with his second of the night six seconds in with an empty net goal, followed by Joshua Cook also with his second on the power play ninety seconds later.
Jordan Weir and Jean Luc Rendell-Fouriner put the finish on the Rampage scoring, with the River Kings making for the last goal on the score sheet, though it was not enough to bridge the three goal gap as the Rhinos took home the W on an 8-5 final.
Saturday night's affair was not near as rough and tumble as the previous night, with each team serving but ten minutes each of penalty time on the night, with both team assessed five penalties.
Kieran Sharpe claimed the victory for the Rampage, facing 34 River King shots on the night, turning aside 29. Patrick Leal took the loss with 12 saves on 19 shots.
The game summary from Saturday can be found here.
With the win the Rampage have successfully climbed back to the top of the CIHL standings, now tied with the River Kings with both teams holding similar 8-1 records.
The two teams will do it all again on Saturday night, as the Rampage travel to Terrace for a 7PM showdown with their rivals, the winner set to vault back into undisputed status as league leaders heading into the Christmas break.
The CIHL and Rampage also benefited from the Rogers Hometown Hockey spotlight, with a number of features on the home team and the league found throughout Sunday's broadcast, for those that missed them, the Rogers Hometown Hockey Facebook page is the place to go to explore the full package for Prince Rupert's remarkable weekend.
The Rampage themed pieces can be viewed below:
For more items of note on the Hometown Hockey weekend in Prince Rupert see our archive page here.
To keep up with the Rampage see their Facebook page.
Our notes on the CIHL and the Rampage can also be explored here.
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