Professional hockey leaving Amarillo

AMARILLO, Texas – After 14 seasons in the Texas Panhandle, the Amarillo Gorillas have announced that they have ceased operations for the 2010-11 season.
 
“Despite our best efforts to secure local and other investors, the Gorillas could not obtain financing to continue to play in Amarillo,” Owner/President Randy Sanders said.
 
A press conference has been scheduled for this Friday at the Amarillo Civic Center where the decision will be discussed further. It’s no secret that Sanders has looked into the possibility of moving the team to another market but without additional local investors, that may not happen.
 
The Gorillas are the second team owned by Sanders to go dark in the past two years. In May of 2008, the Austin Ice Bats went dark under similar circumstances after 12 seasons of play.  
 
“Professional hockey has a long history in Amarillo and one with many memories over the years for players, management and fans alike,” CHL Commissioner Duane Lewis said. “We thank the great hockey fans in Amarillo for the 15 years they have shared with the Central Hockey League and the Western Professional Hockey League, and we would love to bring CHL hockey back to Amarillo in the future.”
 
The team began play in the WPHL in 1996 as the Rattlers. They joined the Central Hockey League in 2001 when the two leagues merged. Under new ownership in 2002, the team changed its name to the Amarillo Gorillas.
 
As the Rattlers, the team frequently finished at the bottom of the WPHL and CHL standings, but they made the playoffs every year as the Gorillas through the 2006-07 season. They’ve struggled ever since. Over the past three seasons, the team has posted a 62-108-22 record, finishing last in their division each year.    
 
Along with the lack of success on the ice came the loss of corporate sponsorships. Marketing dollars shrank and attendance waned, falling from an average of 2,757 seats sold per game in 2007-08 to 1,761 per game last season, lowest in the league for the second year in a row. If you counted actual fans in the seats, that figure was significantly lower along with the average dollars spent per fan on concessions and team merchandise.
 
Although Sanders did his best to keep the team on the ice, his financial losses prompted the decision to go dark next season.  
 
Players learned of the team’s demise through e-mails from head coach Brian Pellerin. All players currently under contract for next season or whose CHL rights were held by the Gorillas immediately became free agents.
 

Goaltender Mike Brown has been through this before. In fact, this is the third team in three years to fold while he was on the roster. Brown wasn’t too surprised that the Gorillas wouldn’t be playing next season. “I think we all saw it coming so no one was shocked…so now we’re all trying to find teams for next year,” Brown said. “It’s good we know early though so we aren’t behind the eight ball.” With several months to go before training camps begin for the coming season, Brown is already busy contacting other teams, hoping to find a spot as a number one goalie. “I’m thinking about staying in North America ,” Brown said. “I did love Germany so I would consider an offer from Europe …I will be spending a lot of time checking my email.” Defenseman Andrew Smale has also been through this before and lamented the situation on his Facebook page. Smale came to the Gorillas after three seasons with the New Mexico Scorpions who folded last summer. Later in the day, he advised that he had already received an offer from another team.
  The Central Hockey League will shrink to 14 teams, with seven in each conference. No changes to the playoff format for next season are expected.
 
Ice hockey will remain at the Amarillo Civic Center in the form of a yet-to-be-named member of the North American Hockey League. The NAHL is a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier II Junior A League – a developmental league with players ranging in age from 16 to 22 years old. As for the Gorillas, only time will tell if the organization will find a new home or join the eight other former Texas teams that have become a footnote in the history of the Central Hockey League.  
Contact the author/photographer at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com