The Rampage Report: Rapid Recap
A few days after their memorable season came to a close, most of the members of the San Antonio Rampage packed up their belongings, said their good-byes, and made the trek back home, or to wherever they’ll be spending the off season. This season, the team managed to do many great things.
After only winning 3 games in the month of October, the Rampage were off to a grim start. But things started to turn around after Jacob Markström was reassigned to the Rampage by the Panthers early in November. In December, the Rampage entered the holiday break with a four game win streak, as the team heated up after signing goalie Dov Grumet-Morris in the beginning of the month. The Month of January things got real hot in San Antonio, as the Rampage won 9 of their 12 games that month before embarking on their annual rodeo road trip, in February. Before they hit the road, the Rampage played in front of a sold out crowd for the first time ever on February 3rd for their “Pink at the Rink” night.
During the Rodeo Trip, they traveled more than 7000 miles and played games in 9 different cities, picking up 15 points and tying a team record for most wins on the Rodeo Trip. When the team returned home on March 3rd, they were greeted by the third largest crowd in the team’s history. They continued to add to their point total in March, picking up 14 total points and keeping them in the very tight race for the playoffs. The Rampage started the month holding the 6th spot in the Western Conference, and that is exactly where they finished the regular season. They clinched a playoff berth during their final game of the season and for only the third time in the 10 year history of the team.
The Rampage kept on rolling during the post season, too. They faced off against the Chicago Wolves for the opening round of the playoffs and advanced to the second round after Roman Derlyuk netted the series winning goal during double overtime in the 5th game of the series. This goal allowed the Rampage to the second round for the first time in franchise history. They faced the top seeded Oklahoma City Barons for the second round, and were unfortunately eliminated after 5 games.
During their 6 ½ month journey, the Rampage managed to do amazing things. They were the first team to win more than 20 games both at home and on the road, tallied the second highest amount of wins in franchise history, performed countless hours of community service, entertained fans with their tweets, set personal and team records, raised over $180,000 for various organizations through game worn jersey auctions, advanced past the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time in the 10 year history of the team, and the list goes on. Everyone should all be extremely proud of the season this team had. I would just like to say thank you to all of the players, coaches, and fans for an awesome season and putting up with me for the year. This was my first year following the San Antonio Rampage and I cannot wait to see what next season brings. I think it’s safe to say that the future looks bright for both the Rampage and the Florida Panthers.
As always thank you for reading and feel free to leave any comments or opinions.
Follow the Rat Pack on Twitter: me @HockeyGirl2530, Frank Rekas @TheRatTrick , David Lasseter @davidlasseter , Josh Luecht@joshluecht, Patrick McLaughlin @PatrickRattrick3, Scott Mullin @GreatScottsman, David Rodriguez @davidbub_2, Paige Lewis @peejlewiz Gabby Kiger @gabbykiger, Adam Reid@AdamReid and Chrissy Parente @chrissaay44. Also, please join our Facebook Fan Page and hit the like button, send us photos, and make some comments.