The Amarillo Wranglers split the weekend series at Oklahoma City in a pair of North American League Hockey South Division games last Friday and Saturday. The Warriors took Friday’s clash 4-1 with Amarillo responding with a 4-3 victory on Saturday.

Amarillo is 18–24–1-3 with a total of 40 points and still alive in its push for the postseason. The Wranglers are eight points behind the final playoff spot currently held by the Colorado Grit. The Colorado Grit have three games in hand over the Wranglers, thus making the final 13 games of the season interesting with a path remaining for the Wranglers to make the playoffs.

Amarillo stays on the road taking a bus ride to square off with the New Mexico Ice Wolves for two games this weekend.

Friday’s game

The Warriors took the lead in the first period when, at the 10:39 mark, when forward Ben Likness got one past Amarillo netminder Matt Schoephoerster, giving them a 1-0 lead. The Warriors held the lead into the first intermission. The second period saw a defensive battle of epic proportions in this classic southern division match up, with a total of 11 shots on goal for both teams and nothing to show for it.

At the 11:02 mark of the third period the Warriors struck again, giving them a 2-0 lead. With just under seven minutes left in the game, with Amarillo in a power-play, fan favorite Jacob Miller hit the back of the net, bringing Amarillo within one goal. This was Miller’s sixth goal of the season. The Amarillo Wranglers were unable to score for the remainder of the game, however, while the Warriors found the back of the net two more times, ending this game with a 4-1 victory.

Saturday’s game

The Warriors, smelling blood in the water, took the lead at the 10:41 mark of the first period as Paul Wicek bottle-rocketed one past Amarillo goalie Charles-Antoine Girard. Newly acquired and former Danbury Hat Tricks player Mason Lupo scored his first goal as a Wrangler, tying this exciting game up 1-1.

The score remained 1-1 at the end of the first frame. Amarillo goalie Girard made a statement this night and put on a goaltending clinic for the Warriors home fans. At the 12-minute mark of the second period, Wicek snuck one past Girard, giving the Warriors a 2-1 lead going into the second intermission. With the Amarillo Wranglers’ backs to the wall and goalie Charles Antione Girard putting on a goaltending clinic, Amarillo needed to unload their six shooter and get some bullets in the back of the net.

At the 7:49 mark of the first period, newly acquired and recently announced southern player of the week Amarillo forward Kirill Evstigneev hit the back of the net, scoring his sixth goal of the season for the Wranglers, tying up this heavyweight fight. Wranglers forward Mark France scored his fourth goal of the season, giving Amarillo a 3-2 lead.

With victory only seconds away for the Wranglers and in the penalty kill with just 57 seconds left in the game, Warriors Trent Burlison found the back of the net, taking this classic southern division match up into overtime. The Warriors fan base was treated to one of the best hockey games thus far between these two teams. Unfortunately, they were met with a big disappointment when Evstigneev scored his second goal of the night, ending this battle and giving Amarillo the 4-3 victory, thus keeping their playoff hopes alive and basically ending any opportunity for the Warriors to make the playoffs this season. 

Charles-Antoine Girard played his absolute best game of the season and took advantage of his opportunities by saving 25-of-28 shots for his second win on the year.

Amarillo is a destination spot for hockey players

Amarillo has become a destination spot for highly skilled hockey players as part of their quest to be the best they can be. Amarillo has seen its disproportionate share of talent who have played in the Budweiser Bullpen.

Whether it’s the best goalie on the planet in Winnipeg Jets and team USA netminder Connor Hellebuyck, who played numerous games for the Odessa Jacakalopes or Amarillo legendary goalie Collin Delia who’s played for the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks, Amarillo continues to play host to great hockey players.

I recently had an opportunity to attend an American Hockey League game as the Texas Stars hosted the Grand Rapids Griffins at the H-E-B center in Austin to watch former Amarillo great Gabe Seger, who was part of the most prolific scoring line in the history of the North American hockey league.

This line included Logan Jenuwine and David Ojamae, scoring over 210 points in the 2018-19 season for the Amarillo Bulls. Seger plays center for the Griffins. A recent graduate from Cornell University and a Hoby Baker nominee, this Cornell MVP is making waves at the highest levels of professional hockey.

I met up with Seger in a small café outside of his hotel in Austin and we talked about his time in Amarillo and his transition to a professional athlete.

“The professional game is much faster,” said Seger. “The grind is much more intense. I went from playing 35 games in a season in college to now playing over 70. The mental and physical toughness needed to succeed at this level is top of mind awareness and worked on by the second. Amarillo will always have a special place in my heart. I have such fond memories of the great times in Amarillo.”

Gabe Seger graduated with honors with a degree in computer science engineering and is currently in his rookie year with the Detroit Redwings affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins. We will see Seger in the NHL soon maybe before the end of this season.

Amarillo native makes history

For the first time in the history of NAHL Amarillo hockey, a local athlete has been tendered by the Amarillo Wranglers. Gunnar Vick, who got his start playing in the Amarillo youth hockey program, was recently tendered by the Wranglers to play in the 2025-26 season. Vick is a proud native of Amarillo and is an outstanding young man. He currently plays 18U AAA hockey for the Boston advantage/EP Cup Series 18U. Vick’s family reside here in Amarillo, and I look forward to seeing more home-grown talent playing at the next level.

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 102.9 FM the Panhandle Sports Star.