Yesterday, the Amarillo Gorillas announced they would cease operation for the 2010-2011 season. Meaning it could be a permanent goodbye. Sure the attendance was bad, but in my short 6 months here in the high plains, it happened to be one of my favorite things to go and shoot.
The Gorillas struggled to win and keep people in the seats. Coming from Oklahoma City, this is something that doesn't surprise me. The CHL once called the 405 area code home as well with the now defunct Blazers. Amarillo is losing one of it's hidden treasures. This sports landscape is built for football and baseball. I understand that, but at the end of the day, those games were a whole lot of fun. It renewed my faith in hockey. A faith I had lost after the NHL strike.
Now OKC has the minor league affiliate for the Vancouver Canucks. I'm not saying that will happen with Amarillo. Seldom does a franchise hit the bricks and an even better one come to town. It worked for OKC, but it wont work for Amarillo. The Gorillas are being replaced by a truly "minor" league hockey team. A junior national team that doesn't get paid to play.
Only time will tell how this new NAHL team will adapt to this sports landscape. In the meantime, I hope fans and non fans alike realize that we have lost an important asset to this market. If history says anything, it is that the NAHL is fighting an uphill battle to be successful in a place that has lost a professional team that struggled to make ens-meat.
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