AMARILLO, Texas – Everything with the Amarillo Gorillas is new this season… new owner, new head coach, new media/announcer and with the exception of three players, all new faces on the ice this season. You can’t tell the Gorillas without a program this season. New faces in the head office While Todd Chisnell is not axactly a new face with the Gorillas, his position is new with the owner Randy Sanders taking over the General Manager positions. Chisnell, a Philadelphis native, is now the VP of Corporate Partnerships, his responsiblity is to see that the dasher boards and catwalk banners get filled with local businesses that want hockey to stay viable in Amarillo. New Owner Randy Sanders While perhaps new to Amarillo hockey fans after taking over ownership of the Gorillas in April 2008, Randy Sanders is familiar name to Austin Hockey fans and the CHL. Sanders became partial owner to Ice Bats in 2006, and took over sole ownership last season.
The Ice Bats currently have suspended operations in the CHL, while Sanders sorts through all his options for building a new facility for the Ice Bats. While insuring Ice Bat fans of his commitment to hockey in Austin, Sanders spoke about his enthusiasm for seeing hockey grow in Amarillo. “I believe that the Amarillo franchise has great potential for success,” Sanders said. “All the ingredients are there. It is a loyal city with good facilitities, and I hope to keep hockey in Amarillo for a long time.” “They are two separate business opportunities,” Sanders added. “Each has its strengths and its weaknesses.” In September of this year, Sanders also took over majority ownership of Amarillo’s professional AF2 team, the Dusters. Sanders hopes to cross-market the two teams.
“By improving the level of entertainment available to Amarillo residents, we feel we can provide a quality product for our fans and corporate partners in the future,” Sanders said. Head Coach Tom Coolen Guiding the Gorillas from behind the boards this season is Tom Coolen. It may be his first year as head coach in the Central Hockey League, but Coolen is an experienced coach with twenty years of excellence under his belt. He began his career as an assistant coach in the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union (CIAU) at the University of New Brunswick. Coolen’s first head coach assignment was with at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He was voted Canadian University Coach of the Year his first season by guiding the Axemen to a remarkable 22-1-3 record. During his ten year stint with the Acadia Axemen, he never had a team finish below .500, and pushed the Axemen to two national championship seasons in 1993 and 1995. Following he tenure at Acadia, Coolen was an assistant coach with the AHL St. John Flames prior to coaching two season in German Elite League’s Kaufabeuren Eagles. Coolen, was tagged as a mid-season replacement , for Amarillo rival Waco Wizards during their second season in 1997-1998. Coolen has spent the last five seasons coaching overseas in Europe in the Finnish Elite League, German Elite League, Austrian Elite League and the Denmark Elite League. He comes to the Gorillas looking to put a winning product on the ice as well as establishing a presence in the Amarillo community. Coolen’s experience in the European hockey circles is reflected the selection of players participating in the Gorillas training camp. Twenty seven players from Denmark, Slovakia, and Sweden, as well as 14 Canadians and the 7 U.S. players are fighting for positions on a squad that will eventually be paired down to 18 players. It is obvious that Coolen’s experience and work ethic is going to be a big positive fact in the Gorillas this season.
Contact the author at: rushe.hudson@prohockeynews.com
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