The Amarillo Wranglers played host to the Corpus Christi IceRays this weekend at the Budweiser Bullpen last weekend.

The Wrangler lost both games in two exciting overtime events. The IceRays won Friday night’s game 4-3 in a thriller and Saturday night’s contest saw another overtime thriller with the Wranglers falling short 3-2.

Amarillo is currently 14–20–2–1 with 23 games left in the regular season in the North American Hockey League’s South Division. Amarillo is seven points out of the final playoff spot.

The Wranglers will be on the road this weekend to take on El Paso.

Friday’s game

Amarillo, draped in their blue and red plaid “alter ego” Arena Clowns jerseys, stampeded onto the ice like a well organized, six horse hitch, looking to end their six-game losing streak in an attempt to holster much needed points.

The Arena Clowns scored first within the first minute of the game when defenseman Tiernan O’Rourke received a give-and-go pass from Caden Hegarty, starting the scoring off with his second goal of the season.   Amarillo’s newly acquired goalie from the Wisconsin Windigo Casimir Weckstrom played “lights out” for the remainder of the first period, as Amarillo went into the first break 1-0.

The second period saw a continuation of great goalie play on both ends of the ice. With just two minutes left in the second period, IceRays Alexander Skuratov got the bounce he needed for the “цель” (Russian for Goal) tying this game up going into the last intermission.

Under the watchful eye of the large and win-hungry Amarillo crowd, a very hot swede Alfons Jentler scored his sixth goal of the season, giving Amarillo a brief lead. Just one minute later, IceRays forward, Sam Troutwine, younger brother of former Amarillo Wrangler and current Skidmore College player Nick Troutwine, scored tying this nail biter up. The IceRays scored again and took the lead 3-2 at the 14:53 mark of the third period as Chayse Laurie scored his 5th goal of the season. Coming off the injured reserve list and his most recent debut appearance on the “Drive at Five” with Lance Lanhert, Wrangler Ian Buors scored his most important goal of the season thus far with just three minutes left in the game. The game remained tied for the last three minutes and overtime was necessary to settle this ferocious game.

NAHL hockey overtime rules are as follows;

A five minute three-on-three sudden death period.

If there is no scoring in the five minute overtime period, a shootout follows.

Unfortunately for the Amarillo Wranglers, halfway through the sudden death overtime, IceRays Nick Evans slapped one past Amarillo goalie Casimir Weckstrom, dampening the debut for the Wranglers with a final score of 4-3. The IceRays winning streak increased to five and continued the losing streak for the Amarillo Wranglers to seven. Amarillo obtained a much-needed point as a result of the overtime game.

Saturday’s game

The Amarillo hockey brigade was out in full strength Saturday night, along with parents of the players for the Wranglers. In a long standing Amarillo tradition, it was parents night at the Budweiser Bullpen. Prior to the opening puck drop, the team’s parents and families were recognized. These families came from all around the planet to see firsthand their sons’ hockey experience at the Amarillo Civic Center. In speaking with a few of the parents, they were all amazed by the enthusiastic crowds and impressed by the amazing facility that is the Amarillo Civic Center.

The chippiness and physicality of these two teams were on display Saturday night at the Budweiser Bullpen. The IceRays, trying to extend their winning streak to six as the Amarillo Wranglers were looking for some much needed points.

At the 13:39 mark of the first period, hot stick handler Alfons Jentler scored his second goal of the weekend, giving Amarillo the early lead. Penalties were a major disadvantage for the Wranglers as, in an IceRay power-play, Johnny Maruna sniped one past Amarillo goalie Gavin Schahn, tying this skirmish fest up. The game remained tied going into the first intermission.

Another hot puck handler for the Wranglers Kirill Evstigneev maneuvered the puck into the net within the first two minutes of the second period, giving Amarillo a 2-1 lead. IceRay Johnny Maruna struck again, scoring his second goal of the night, tying this game up as tempers flared.

Both goal tenders in the third period stood on their head as there was absolutely no scoring in the third period. This game went to the second overtime game of the weekend as the Amarillo faithful were exhausted after watching high intensity, quality hockey all weekend.

Not a single seat was being used in the overtime period and the Amarillo Civic Center roof had a challenge containing the intensity on the ice when, at the 2:33 mark in the five minute overtime, Easton Swift ended it, giving the IceRays their second win of the weekend and extending their win streak to 6 games. Amarillo garnered one much needed point as a result of this overtime game.

Boulanger commits to Tufts University

The Wranglers commitment in facilitating players getting that all-important college scholarship to play hockey was recognized this past weekend when it was announced that fan favorite Jake Boulanger would be attending Tufts University on a college hockey scholarship. Jake Boulanger has 12 goals and 15 assists for a total of 27 points this season and is in his second year with the organization. Boulanger came to the Wranglers at the midway point of last season from the New Jersey Generals.

Not only is Boulanger successful on the ice, he is extremely successful in the classroom. Tufts University is a highly rated private college located in Somerville, Mass., a Boston suburb. This “Little Ivy” has a competitive acceptance rate of 10 percent. Tufts is considered one of the best universities in our country and here at Press Pass Sports, we congratulate Jake on his hard work and his great opportunity at this amazing college.

Youth hockey explosion in the Amarillo market

The Amarillo Ice Ranch hosted the 2026 Stanley Cup youth hockey tournament, hosting 45 teams from five states that consisted of over 600 youth hockey players.

The Amarillo Ice Ranch is a world class ice-skating facility located at 301 South Grant Street, previously a storage facility used by the city of Amarillo and initially built to be a roller rink. This local ice facility has become a destination point for local youth hockey, regional and national youth hockey tournaments and has put Amarillo on the hockey map in this country. NHL players in the off-season use the facility for personal training as well.

The positive economic impact of the Ice Ranch has been meaningful and profitable for local hotels, restaurants and businesses throughout our community. Katelyn Anderson, General Manager of the Amarillo Ice Ranch and Director of Business Development for the Amarillo Wranglers, said well over 550 hotel rooms were booked for this most recent tournament.

She also stated that the positive feedback she received from coaches, parents and family members were overwhelmingly. These compliments were not just for the skating facilities, but for our community and our city. With a total of 83 games played between the Amarillo Ice Ranch and the Amarillo of Civic Center, restaurants hotels and local businesses enjoyed the benefits of having these visitors into our community.

Anderson stated that this was a record-breaking event relative to attendance and participation, and expects many more similar tournaments in the future for our community. The Amarillo Ice Ranch has been an unmitigated success with its family atmosphere, professional hockey training, ice sports, figure skating, and family fun. 

Editor’s Note

Please listen for Tommy Tee‘s weekly recap of Amarillo Wranglers hockey on the “Drive at Five” with Lance Lahnert every Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. exclusively on 710-AM KGNC. Join us this week as Wranglers head coach Michael Hill will be calling in from the bus on his way to El Paso for two games.