In a frustrating performance this past weekend, the Amarillo Wranglers find themselves struggling through a midseason slump.
The Lone Star Brahmas rode into town as one of the hottest teams in the North American Hockey League, and stayed that way sweeping the Wranglers with dominating 5-0, and 5-1 wins Thursday and Friday.
The games
In front of 1,500 elementary school students on a special Thursday “Kids Day Game”, the Wranglers came out flat.
Lone Star came out firing both barrels and at the 4:46 mark of the first period, opened up the scoring when Kyle Furey fired a glove side laser shot.The Brahmas scored four more unanswered goals from that point forward to secure the shut out.
Friday night’s game was the same as Thursday, with the exception of the second period.
Slumping
In their inaugural season, the Amarillo Wranglers have far surpassed most prognosticators’ expectations. As with all teams, slumps happen. The Wranglers have lost 5-of-6 games of the most current homestand. Coming off the holiday break, the Wranglers were decimated with continuing Covid challenges and injuries. The mark of a quality team is how they handle the slumps and only time can gauge this. Knowing this moving forward into the second half of the season, expectations are high and this team is up for the challenge. North American Hockey League South Division is the strongest division in the league, top to bottom. Every game in the South Division from this point forward has meaning. As we all know, hockey is a mental game as much as a physical game and fan support during times like this is crucial.
Mahood named NAHL South assistant to prospects team
Harry Mahood has been announced as the assistant coach for the North American Hockey League South Division Top Prospects team. The Top Prospects Tournament is one of the highly scouted events in junior league hockey. Mahood has a rich history in hockey, and will represent the Wranglers and the Texas Panhandle at the Top Prospects event in Cranberry Township, PA.
The tournament begins the week of Feb. 7.
Next up
The Amarillo Wranglers are 19-14-1-1 (40points), and currently sit in fourth place in the NAHL South Division.
The Wranglers look to get back to their winning ways this weekend when they visit the Corpus Christi IceRays at the Bank American Center on Friday and Saturday.