It's a familiar script, but instead of Lake Placid, the Red Stars will head to West Point on Dec. 30, where instead of Team USA, they'll find the Army Black Knights.
A touring club of 18- to 21-year-olds run by the minor-league MHL (motto: "The league of strong"), the Red Stars defeated Army in 2010 and 2012 at West Point's Tate Rink, but those games came before Russia's recent re-emergence as a potential foreign policy foil.
"Every time I pick up the paper, I'm like, 'Oh, man, Russia ...'" said Brian Riley, now in his 11th year as head coach of the Black Knights. "This is probably the one game that they're determined to win of the whole tour. It'll be a good experience."
Riley's squad has yet to solve the Russians, but the coach certainly has the pedigree for doing so: His father, Jack, coached 36 seasons at West Point before yielding to Brian's brother, Rob, whom Brian served under as an assistant before taking the top job in 2004.
But alongside their West Point legacy, the Riley family has the ultimate Cold War hockey trump card: Jack Riley coached Team USA in the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, beating the Soviet Union in the semifinals en route to a gold medal. It was the first time an American hockey team defeated a squad from the USSR.
"Growing up and understanding and knowing about the 1960 Olympics, it was kind of neat, knowing you'd have the opportunity to be on the bench, coaching against a Russian team," Riley said.
The Red Stars will play their part, wearing uniforms featuring the Kremlin among other highlights of the Moscow skyline. A sellout crowd is likely, Riley said: "The average hockey fan understands how good Russian players can be, and then you factor in a little bit of Russia vs. U.S., it creates a little excitement."
A look at the Red Stars' uniform, featuring Moscow's Red Square.
Photo Credit: mhl.khl.ru
The all-star touring team will face five U.S. college squads as part of their trip, starting Dec. 27 against Yale and ending Jan. 3 against Princeton.
Despite the international flavor, Riley said he hopes the game will serve a practical purpose for his 4-12-2 team, knocking off the rust from holiday break and getting the club ready for a busy January of league play. He said the Black Knights will get in three days of practice before the exhibition, but will use that time to get their own game in gear instead of preparing specifically for the Red Stars.
Besides, Riley said, he doesn't have any game tape or scouting reports of the Russians to study. Yet.
"I know they're playing Harvard on the 28th," he said. "I might make a little call."
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
