Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/118963
" The Whistle in 2006, the series was suspended. There was some renewed contact when Adam Shell took over as head coach at RMC for the 2007-08 season, but it took a little longer for the games to resume, as RMC returned to Tate Rink last year for the 76th playing of the game, a 9-1 Army romp. That wasn't the kind of tradition RMC was looking to restore, but this year's game was a tightly contested affair, in which the Black Knights got all they could handle from the Paladins and goaltender Paul Dorsey before pulling away with two goals in the final eight minutes for a 4-1 victory. "We had a chance to win that game with 10 minutes left in the third," Shell lamented afterward. "We did want to redeem ourselves from last year, so I was pleased with that. We're a better team. There's no question that we're building." Army head coach Brian Riley, the third member of his family to coach in the Army-RMC series, seconded that notion. "I think the more we get back to playing, the more the rivalry will pick up," Riley said. Some of that involves educating a new generation of players about the meaning of the rivalry, but they seem to be getting the message. "We have a board in our room where they put pictures of the teams that win these games every year – Air Force and RMC – and we wanted to come out and beat RMC so we could get our picture on there," Alvarez said. That sentiment had a familiar ring for Jack Riley, who coached the Black Knights from 1950 to 1986 before handing the reins over to his sons Rob (1986-2004) and Brian (2004-present). "It's big for hockey," the elder Riley said. "It's a big deal at West Point, but hockey is the thing that gets all the publicity for it. We love to beat them, and they love to beat us." we're dogs out there against each other, but as soon as we graduate, we're on the same team, no matter what." —Maurice Alvarez, Army sophomore And, while that rivalry remains undeniably intense between the whistles, the spirit of camaraderie is equally palpable. The Army and RMC pep bands sat side by side during this year's game, with the two bands playing in unison on both schools' fight songs and some members even exchanging jerseys, a fitting complement to the camaraderie on display when the game was over. "Someday down the road these guys could be across the table from one another, serving somewhere around the world," Brian Riley said. "There is a passion on both sides to win, but after the game, to have them come together like that … to me, that's what I think was meant when this rivalry was started." Without a doubt, MacArthur would be proud. N Elliot Olshansky is a freelance writer based out of Hartsdale, N.Y. USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM April/May. 2013 29