Laredo & Rio Grande Valley will battle for Mayors Challenge Cup

In an effort to help spice up the Texas Border rivalry, the mayor of Laredo has announced an agreement between the Laredo Bucks & Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees in an event called the "Cricket's Mayor Cup" which was announced in a press conference with Laredo Mayor Raul G. Salinas. Now will we need to hear a response from the mayor of Hidalgo Mayor David Franz will need to accept the challenge before the event can take place.

This is an interesting idea to spice up hockey in the Southwest. Hopefully both teams will team up to help build up one of the most unlikely hockey rivalries in North America.


Press Release from the Central Hockey League

From Laredo, Texas: Mayor of Laredo Raul G. Salinas, conjunction with the Central Hockey League's Laredo Bucks, challenged the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees' Monday to participate in the first ever Cricket Mayor's Cup for the 2010-2011 season. The challenge was made in front of the media and a number of fans during a press conference at Laredo's City Hall.

"We want to boost our Bucks rivalry with the Bees to the next level and get the city of Hidalgo involved as well," Salinas said. "We are proud of the Bucks and went to challenge the city of Hidalgo and the Bees during the season to see who earns the most points between the two teams. The team who earns the most points head-to-head against each other will win the Cricket Cup."

If Hidalgo Mayor John David Franz and the Killer Bees accept the challenge more details of the Cricket's Mayor's Cup will be announced.

The winning team will pick a local charity to donate $5,000 to on behalf of Cricket.

"We will be waiting for the city of Hidalgo and the Killer Bees response to the challenge. I think it will be a great addition to the ice rivalry."

The Bucks and Killer Bees will meet 16 times this season with eight taking place at Laredo Energy Center and eight at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo. In seven seasons facing off against each other the Bucks lead the all time regular season series with the Bees 64-21-8, including 11-0-3 last season.

"We went to Cricket Wireless with the idea of the Mayor's Cup and they were very excited to get involved with this project. Cricket is well represented in Laredo and in the Valley and make a great partner of the Cup", said Salinas.

Texas Brahmas VS. Allen Americans: Rivalry in the Making

Back on Saturday night, the Texas Brahmas and the Allen Americans played their first ever game at the NYTEX Sports Center. From What I have seen, this game was one of the best so far in the early season in the Central Hockey League and was up for the Performance of the Week for the Brahmas tied the game with 36 seconds left, then in the 8th round of the shootout, James Hiebert who made his debut with the Brahmas just a day after being traded from the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, scored the SO Winner.

Now, Usually I would have game summary on how this game turned out as the Brahmas won 3-2 against Allen. But, this post is about how great this rivalry is going to get this season and in the near future between the D/FW Area teams.

What I saw on Saturday night was a preview of things to come between these 2 teams. Even though, it wasn't a full house. The crowds were very passionate as the Brahmas fans made it very loud inside in the NYTEX. However, a small but very vocal fan base from the Allen Americans made things who made the short trip from Collin County to support their team as this was their first chance to see the team as they have been on a long early season road trip as the Allen Event Center was getting some last minute to the rink to get them ready for their home debut this Saturday against the Corpus Christi Icerayz.

So far this season, Allen has traveled to Arizona, Laredo, and will have a game in Tulsa, Oklahoma tonight.

It's one thing to have an inter state or cross state rivarly that meet up in a neutral location like the Texas VS. OU game every year at the Cotton Bowl. However, what makes this rivalry so fun is that when you 2 teams in the same area, you will allow fans from both teams to travel to their opponents arenas for every game this season.

Saturday's game was the first of 9 games against each other and fans will have a chance to take sides and to see the games at the NYTEX Sports Center and the Allen Event Center to see how good this matchup can be.

BTW: Here's the schedule for the Texas Brahmas VS. Allen Americans Rivalry throughout the season.

11/11: @ Allen Event Center 7:30 PM

11/28: @ Allen Event Center 7:30 PM

12/9: @ NYTEX Sports Center 7:05 PM

12/26: @ Allen Event Center 7:30 PM

1/8: @ NYTEX Sports Center 7:05 PM

2/13: @ NYTEX Sports Center 7:05 PM

2/15: @ Allen Event Center 1:00 PM

3/10: @ NYTEX Sports Center 7:05 PM

All hockey fans need to take a look at the schedule and find one of the games to attend this season because the games are only going to get better and with both teams in the Southern Conference. As we get later in the season, playoff seedings could be on the line which could make the difference between home ice and having to travel especially early in the playoffs.

Another part that's still to be found out is what the name of the rivalry. Most rivalries like this have a cool nick name. For instance, you have the Silver Boot Series between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. The Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma in Football. In the AHL, The Texas Stars, Houston Aeros and the San Antonio Rampage recently called their rivalry the Lone Star Faceoff.

Once when this rivalry gets an official name, hockey fans in the D/FW area will know this rivalry for years to come and will want to get out the see the teams play each other. The only thing better would be if they get matched up in the CHL Playoffs, it would clearly be the most exciting matchup in the league for sure because of both teams playing in D/FW.

This is the latest in the growth and development of hockey in the Southwest and fans should get behind this rivalry in the making. As we get later in the season, I want to see sold out crowds in both arenas during the season and see the passion what I saw back on Saturday night.