Amarillo Gorillas

Amarillo Gorillas
City:	Amarillo, Texas
League:	Central Hockey League
Conference:	Southern Conference
Division:	Southwest Division
Founded:	2002
Home Arena:	Amarillo Civic Center
Colors:	Black, Red, White
Owner(s):	Randy Sanders
General Manager:	Randy Sanders
Head Coach:	Brian Pellerin
Media:	1010 AM The Canyon
Affiliates:	Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
Franchise history
2002 to Present:	Amarillo Gorillas
Championships
Regular Season Titles:	None
Division Championships:	None
Conference Championships:	None
Ray Miron President's Cup:	None

The Amarillo Gorillas were a minor league hockey team based in Amarillo, Texas. The team was affiliated with the Central Hockey League. The Gorillas began play in the Western Professional Hockey League in 1996 as the Rattlers, the name they would carry until an ownership change in 2002. As the Rattlers, the team frequently finished at the bottom of the WPHL and CHL divisions, but they made the playoffs four straight years as the Gorillas through the 2006-2007 season. The Amarillo Gorillas played in the Amarillo Civic Center. The team's most recent head coach was Brian Pellerin.

On May 19, 2010, the Gorillas announced they had ceased operations. However, hockey will remain in Amarillo, as the North American Hockey League, a Junior A league affiliated with USA Hockey, named the Amarillo Bulls will start play for the 2010-2011 season.

2007-2008 Season

The Amarillo Gorillas franchise seemed to look like it was falling apart coming into this season. Coach Jim Wiley waited until the last minute to sign players, with the majority of them being rookies. The Gorillas would find huge talent in All-Stars David Nimmo, Shaun Arvai, and Nate Fornataro. 2nd year players Bill Vandermeer and Chris Lipsett would add too the talent. The Gorillas finished the season with a 22-32-10 record, their worst ever. They finished just 6 points shy of the Austin Ice Bats for the final playoff spot.

2008-2009 Season

The Amarillo Gorillas fell into the off-season upset, and confused after falling short of their 6th straight playoff appearance. Coach Jim Wiley was cut, and the new boss Tom Coolen was brought in by new owner Randy Sanders. Coolen has breathed a little fresh air into the Gorillas franchise as he brings in a good coaching record with him. Tom has already begun stocking up on some players and prospects for the 08-09 season.

Season Records

Season	W	L	OTL	Pts	Win %	Result
2003-04	37	24	3	77	.602	Lost in Semifinals
2004-05	31	20	9	71	.592	Lost in Semifinals
2005-06	35	26	3	73	.570	Lost in Quarterfinals
2006-07	32	28	4	68	.531	Lost in Quarterfinals
2007-08	22	32	10	54	.422	No Playoffs

Schedule

October

Record: 1–6–0; Home: 1–5–0; Road 0–1–0:

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 17	Amarillo	3 – 6	New Mexico	-	Loss	3,155	0–1–0	0
2	October 18	New Mexico	6 – 0	Amarillo	-	Loss	1,928	0–2–0	0
3	October 24	Texas	4 – 3	Amarillo	-	Loss	1,739	0–3–0	0
4	October 25	Colorado	6 – 2	Amarillo	-	Loss	1,789	0–4–0	0
5	October 28	Odessa	7 – 1	Amarillo	-	Loss	2,510	0–5–0	0
6	October 30	Texas	1 – 2	Amarillo	Yes	Win	1,125	1–5–0	2
7	October 31	Arizona	6 – 3	Amarillo	-	Loss	1,103	1–6–0	2

November

Record: 4–6–0; Home: 2–1–0; Road: 2–5–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
8	November 2	Arizona	2 – 3	Amarillo	-	Win	1,226	2–6–0	4
9	November 7	Rapid City	3 – 6	Amarillo	-	Win	1,886	3–6–0	6
10	November 8	Amarillo	1 – 3	Tulsa	-	Loss	4,282	3–7–0	6
11	November 14	Amarillo	6 – 2	Odessa	-	Win	2,692	4–7–0	8
12	November 15	Amarillo	4 – 5	Corpus Christi	-	Loss	2,962	4–8–0	8
13	November 20	Amarillo	2 – 3	Oklahoma City	-	Loss	5,537	4–9–0	8
14	November 22	Amarillo	1 – 2	Laredo	-	Loss	3,850	4–10–0	8
15	November 26	Amarillo	1 – 4	Oklahoma City	-	Loss	5,531	4–11–0	8
16	November 28	Rocky Mountain	5 – 4	Amarillo	-	Loss	2,154	4–12–0	8
17	November 29	Amarillo	3 – 2	Rocky Mountain	-	Win	2,853	5–12–0	10

December

Record: 4–7–0 ; Home: 1–5–0 ; Road: 3–2–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
18	December 5	Amarillo	2 – 8	New Mexico	-	Loss	2,841	5–13–0	10
19	December 6	Amarillo	6 – 3	New Mexico	-	Win	2,577	6–13-0	12
20	December 9	Amarillo	2 – 5	Odessa	-	Loss	1,907	6–14–0	12
21	December 12	Amarillo	5 – 3	Colorado	-	Win	5,289	7–14–0	14
22	December 13	Corpus Christi	7 - 1	Amarillo	-	Loss	2,204	7–15–0	14
23	December 19	Rapid City	5 - 7	Amarillo	-	Win	1,854	8-15-0	16
24	December 20	Mississippi	2 - 1	Amarillo	-	Loss	3,109	8-16-0	16
25	December 23	Colorado	5 - 2	Amarillo	-	Loss	1,632	8-17-0	16
26	December 26	Amarillo	7 - 4	Odessa	-	Win	2,551	9-17-0	18
27	December 27	Odessa	7 - 3	Amarillo	-	Loss	2,024	9-18-0	18
28	December 31	Odessa	5 - 2	Amarillo	-	Loss	2,336	9-19-0	18

January

Record: 0–0–0 ; Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
29	January 2	Rio Grande Valley	4 – 5	Amarillo	-	Win	1,863	10–19–0	20
30	January 3	Amarillo	1 – 4	Rocky Mountain	-	Loss	2,217	10–20–0	20
31	January 9	Amarillo	2 – 9	Colorado	-	Loss	5,289	10–21–0	20
32	January 10	New Mexico	6 – 2	Amarillo	-	Loss	2,505	10–22–0	20
33	January 11	New Mexico	4 - 1	Amarillo	-	Loss	1,634	10–23–0	20
34	January 16	Amarillo	1 – 3	Rio Grande Valley	-	Loss	3,590	10-24-0	20
35	January 17	Amarillo	2 - 3	Rio Grande Valley	-	Loss	4,529	10-25-0	20
36	January 23	Texas	4 - 3	Amarillo	Yes	Loss	2,817	10-25-1	21
37	January 24	Texas	4 - 3	Amarillo	-	Loss	2,789	10-26-1	21
38	January 28	Amarillo	0 - 0	Colorado		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
39	January 30	Tulsa	0 - 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
40	January 31	Oklahoma City	0-0-0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0

February

Record: 0–0–0 ; Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
41	February 4	Amarillo	0 – 0	Arizona		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
42	February 6	Amarillo	0 – 0	Arizona		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
43	February 7	Amarillo	0 – 0	Arizona		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
44	February 11	Amarillo	0 – 0	Rapid City		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
45	February 13	Arizona	0 - 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
46	February 14	Arizona	0 – 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
47	February 17	Amarillo	0 – 0	New Mexico		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
48	February 20	Amarillo	0 - 0	Odessa		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
49	February 21	Laredo	0 - 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
50	February 22	Laredo	0 - 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
51	February 25	Amarillo	0 - 0	New Mexico		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
52	February 27	Amarillo	0 - 0	Texas		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
53	February 28	Amarillo	0-0-0	Odessa		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0

March

Record: 0–0–0 ; Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
54	March 3	Amarillo	0 – 0	Rapid City		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
55	March 4	Amarillo	0 – 0	Rapid City		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
56	March 6	Oklahoma City	0 – 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
57	March 7	Rocky Mountain	0 – 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
58	March 11	Amarillo	0 - 0	Arizona		TBD	TBD	0–0–0	0
59	March 13	Laredo	0 – 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
60	March 14	Amarillo	0 - 0	Colorado		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
61	March 15	Odessa	0 - 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
62	March 19	New Mexico	0 - 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
63	March 20	Amarillo	0 - 0	Rocky Mountain		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0
64	March 21	Rocky Mountain	0 - 0	Amarillo		TBD	TBD	0-0-0	0

External links

• Amarillo Gorillas' Official Website