The Wichita Falls Wildcats are a Tier II Junior A ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team in the North American Hockey League's

North American Hockey League

The North American Hockey League is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is enterting its 36th season in 2011-12. It is currently the only Junior A Tier II league, sanctioned by USA Hockey. The NAHL currently acts as an alternative to the United States Hockey League...

 South Division. The Wildcats play out of the 6,500-seat Kay Yeager Coliseum

Kay Yeager Coliseum

The Kay Yeager Coliseum is a 6,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was built in 2003.It is home to the Wichita Falls Wildcats ice hockey team.-External links:*...

 in Wichita Falls, Texas

Wichita Falls, Texas

Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...

. Current coaches of the team are Paul Baxter

Paul Baxter

Paul Gordon Baxter was an National Hockey League defenceman from 1979 to 1987 and an NHL assistant coach for eleven seasons. He was coaching the Wenatchee Wild in the NAHL before his firing in late November 2010...

, Brian Huebel, and Sean Fish.

The team's games are broadcast over the internet via FASTHockey. Additional support is provided by Wichita Falls' KOLI

KOLI

KOLI is a radio station serving Wichita Falls, Texas and Vicinity with a country music format. It operates on FM frequency 94.9 MHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media. It is the radio flagship station for the Wichita Falls Wildcats hockey team....

 94.9 FM ("The Outlaw"). The team's announcer is Drew Pelto.

History

Originally known as the Wichita Falls Rustlers (and before this, the Butte Irish of Butte

Butte

A butte is a conspicuous isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; it is smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table landform tables. In some regions, such as the north central and northwestern United States, the word is used for any hill...

, Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

 and the Vail Avalanche of Vail, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

), the franchise was a part of the America West Hockey League prior to 2003, and became an NAHL team after the two leagues merged for the 2003-04 season. The Irish, Rustlers, and Wildcats are technically three separate franchises, but with a major overlap of players and coaches between the organizations, they are often listed together as one.

Regular Season Records

Season	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	GF	GA	PIM	Finish
2004-05	56	28	21	7	63	206	218	1,163	4th in South
2005-06	58	26	28	4	56	171	189	1,045	4th in South
2006-07	62	22	34	6	50	175	227	1,126	5th in South
2007-08	58	38	18	2	78	221	181	1,715	3rd in South
2008-09	58	24	25	9	57	163	203	1,695	3rd in South
2009-10	58	18	34	6	42	175	251	1,530	5th in South
2010-11	58	26	27	5	57	189	190	1,527	4th in South

Playoff Records

Season	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PIM	Finish
2005	3	0	3	0	14	24	109	Lost in 1st Round
2006	5	2	3	0	8	15	60	Lost in 1st Round
2007								Did Not Qualify
2008	4	1	3	0	7	14	61	Lost in 1st Round
2009	5	2	3	0	13	15	101	Lost in 1st Round
2010								Did Not Qualify
2011	5	2	3	0	11	17	100	Lost in 1st Round

Current roster

Goaltenders

35 Tyler Green



Defensemen

2 Chris Leone

18 Miha Stebih

23 Brian White

6 Keil Zornow



Forwards

16 Russell Blaser

25 Bobby Chapman

11 Tanner Fahlstedt

10 Nick Marsh

21 Mac Olson

15 Mikhail Sentyurin

7 Will Suter

8 Patrick Yudez

Notable Alumni=

• Luke Salazar (Denver)
• Chris Nutini (Denver)
• Wade Bennett (Denver)
• Sean Duddy (Ohio State)
• Cal Heeter (Ohio State)
• Jeff McNeil (Ohio State)
• Adam Cardwell (Alaska)
• Michael Hill (Alaska)
• Ricky Doriott (Michigan Tech)
• Shea Walters (Bemidji State)
• Zach Josepher (Michigan State)
• Kyle McMahon (Michigan State)
• Kyle Delaurell (Air Force)
• Aaron Quick (Air Force)
• Zach Trotman (Lake Superior State, 2010 Boston Bruins Draft Pick)
• Nick Shkreli (Lake Superior State)
• Brett Hartung (Bentley)
• Zach Ledford (Bentley)
• Chris Rial (Minnesota)
• Daniel Gentzler (Colgate)
• Steven Hoshaw (American International College)
• Brandon Stroud (Sacred Heart)
• Brian Sheehan (Sacred Heart)
• Dan Sexton
  Dan Sexton
  Dan Sexton is an American professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for the Anaheim Ducks.-Playing career:...
  
   (Anaheim Ducks
  Anaheim Ducks
  The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
  
   NHL
  National Hockey League
  The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
  
  )
• Chad Costello (Lake Erie Monsters
  Lake Erie Monsters
  The Lake Erie Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They began play in the 2007–08 AHL season at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio...
  
   AHL
  American Hockey League
  The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
  
  )
• Andrew Conboy
  Andrew Conboy
  Andrew Conboy is an American professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League ....
  
   (Hamilton Bulldogs
  Hamilton Bulldogs
  The Hamilton Bulldogs are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They play in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, at Copps Coliseum, nicknamed 'The Dog Pound'. They are the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens...
  
   AHL)
• Kyle Kraemer (Ontario Reign
  Ontario Reign
  The Ontario Reign is a ice hockey team from Ontario, California that play in the ECHL. Their home arena is the Citizens Business Bank Arena. They are a minor league affiliate team of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.-Team History:...
  
   ECHL
  ECHL
  The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...
  
  )
• Jack Wolgemuth (Mississippi Surge
  Mississippi Surge
  The Mississippi Surge is a professional team in the Southern Professional Hockey League that began play in the 2009-10 season. Based in Biloxi, home games are played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum also known as "The Power Plant".-History:...
  
  SPHL)
• Nick Klaren (Mississippi Surge, SPHL)
• Brent Sarcone (Rochester Institute of Technology)
• Dan Dileo (Cornell University)
• Chris Ochoa (University of Connecticut)
• Kyle Gallegos (Tufts University)
• Dakota Klecha (Ferris State University)
• Anthony Iaquinto( Toledo Walleye, ECHL)
• J.J. Waldrop (Bakersfield Condors, ECHL)
• Mike Henderson (Army)

External links

• Official site
• NAHL website