The Amarillo Wranglers suffered a tough home weekend after being swept by Lone Star in a pair of games and a Sunday loss to Odessa at the Amarillo Civic Center’s Budweiser Bullpen.

Amarillo fell in a pair of games to the Brahmas 5-0, and 2-1 on Friday and Saturday, and then suffered a 7-6 defeat to the Jackalopes on Sunday.

The Wranglers are struggling at the moment, currently sitting at 14-20-0-1 with 29 points.

Amarillo will try and bounce back, playing host to the Corpus Christi IceRays Friday and Saturday in a pair of North American Hockey League South Division games.

Friday’s game

The Amarillo Wranglers attempted to recreate the successful spark of their alter ego, the Amarillo Arena Clowns, as the alternative jerseys were worn this Friday evening.

Looking to end a three-game losing streak and notch its first victory of the season against Lone Star, Amarillo’s hopes were dashed quickly when, at the 17:25 mark of the first period, Lone Star’s Jackson Vaites sniped one passed Amarillo goalie Charles Antoine Girard. The Brahmas held onto the 1-0 lead going into the first intermission. Lone Star went on to score 4 more unanswered goals in this rare beat down of the Wranglers.

Girard took the loss, stopping 27-of-32 shots, taking his record to 10-10.

Girard has left the organization to pursue opportunities in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). The BCHL is a prominent Canadian junior hockey league known for developing NCAA Division I players. 

Amarillo has acquired goalie Casi Weckstrom from the Wisconsin Windigo for a future NAHL asset.

Saturday’s game

Lone Star started off the scoring at the 14:05 mark of the first period when Christian Venticinque scored his first unassisted goal of the season, giving Lone Star an early 1-0 lead. Amarillo backup goalie Gavin Schahn in his new role as the starter in conjunction with the departure of Charles Antoine Girard played very well for the remainder of the first period. Lone Star held onto the slim 1-0 lead going into the first break.

While in the power play, Brahmas forward Venticinque scored his second goal of the night, extending Lone Star’s lead  2-0. With just three minutes left in the second period, Amarillo’s Caden Hegarty scored his seventh goal of the season on a cumbersome series of events. Amarillo‘s captain Jacob Miller launched a shot from the point that hit Hegarty’s chest, bounced behind the net as Hegarty retrieved the puck, he then shot it towards the front of the net, which then hit Lone Stars’ Jackson Vaites’ skate and bounced into the net, giving Amarillo their only score of the evening.

There was no more scoring in this defensive struggle of a game as Amarillo fell 2-1, extending their losing streak to five.

Amarillo is 0–4–0-0 thus far this season against the Brahmas.

Sunday’s game

In a unique Sunday night matchup at the Budweiser Bullpen, the Odessa Jackalopes came to town looking to snap their five-game losing streak. There was an opportunity to win the much sought after Hoser Cup. The Hoser Cup is a trophy awarded for the West Texas rivalry series between the Wranglers and the Jackalopes. Long time NAHL sponsor Austin Hose introduced this in season tournament challenge a few seasons ago. The team with the best win-loss record against one another is awarded the trophy and bragging rights throughout the season.

Amarillo started the scoring off first when Ian Buors grabbed a target pass from Jacob Miller, finding the back of the net and giving Amarillo the early 1-0 lead. On the power play, the Jackalopes bounced one past Amarillo goalie Gavin Schahn, knotting this game up 1-1. Amarillo’s grinder Mason Lupo out-hustled the defense and hit the back of the net, giving Amarillo a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission. 

The second period saw a scoring bonanza from both teams, with a total of seven goals scored in the period. Highlighted by Amarillo’s Caden Hegarty two goal effort, this game was tied 5-5 going into the final intermission.

With blood in the water for both teams, Odessa took the lead when Caden Ghiossi took a pass from Amarillo native Austin Richards, giving them a 5-6 lead with nine minutes left in the game. Wranglers defenseman and Grand Rapids native Ethan Ogle scored his second goal of the season after receiving a bounce pass from Caden Hegarty, tying this “hog killing time” game up 6–6. With two minutes and five seconds left in the game, Amarillo’s Tiernan O’Rourke was called for holding, giving Odessa a power-play opportunity. As a result of this very questionable call and with just 17 seconds left in the game, Odessa’s Jack L’esperance found the back of the net, giving the Jackalopes the 7-6 victory and the Austin Hose 

A long journey back 

At the end of October, a young Amarillo Wrangler defenseman from Brest, Belarus, Yury Karatai was injured in a game against the El Paso Rhinos.

As a result of this injury, minor surgery was required and a monumental trip back to Belarus was required. Karatai has played hockey most of his young life in Eastern Europe and came to this country in an attempt to recognize his dream to play the sport he loves at the highest level in the greatest country on the planet. 

Brest, Belarus is a small eastern European Polish border village. Sandwiched between Russia and Ukraine, this country provides a disproportionate share of hockey players. Coming from a humble family life, Yury came to this country to realize the American dream. Part of this dream was to play in the great state of Texas and to be an Amarillo Wrangler. In speaking through a translator to Yury, I have found him to be personable, smart, with a real passion for the community of Amarillo. As part of his time here he has immersed himself into community service projects and being part of the Amarillo culture.

When it was evident that surgery would be needed and the surgery would have to take place in Belarus, the long journey back from this injury would be monumental. The current political climate in that part of the world makes travel extremely difficult and, in some circumstances, dangerous. Yury has talked about nights when he was home and he would hear the sounds of weaponized drones flying over Belarus from Russia going into Ukraine as part of the ongoing war between the two nations. 

With the help of the medical team and owner of the Amarillo Wranglers Austin Sutter, the monumental task of getting Yury home for the surgery was started. With his commitment and desire to play in Amarillo and the undying support of his Billet family, Yury began his journey by being driven from Amarillo to Dallas.

Then the 23-hour flight back to his homeland. Yury flew from Dallas to Helsinki, Finland, then took a flight to Warsaw, Poland. He was picked up by family members in Warsaw. They drove the dangerous and arduous eastern European roads to a border crossing into Belarus. The surgery began only hours after his arrival. After a few days of recovery, Yury’s journey back to Amarillo began: the drive through the eastern European countryside was cold, gray and snowy; the Polish border checkpoint that took almost 9 hours; then back on the plane to Helsinki; 18 hour flight to Dallas, where his Billet family awaited his arrival for the 6 hour drive back to Amarillo. Yury’s first request when back on US soil was a stop at Raising Cane‘s for the infamous “Caniac” dinner. 

I have written often about Amarillo becoming a destination point for world class hockey players to enhance their career, thus making playing in Amarillo a very important part of their hockey journey. This is a perfect example of the importance that the Amarillo Wranglers play within the junior hockey world.

Yury will play his first game back this weekend at the Budweiser Bullpen against the El Paso Rhinos. I know I’m not alone in welcoming this young man back and wishing him god‘s speed.

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.