Wichita Falls Wildcats

The Wichita Falls Wildcats were a Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The Wildcats played out of the 7,380 seat Kay Yeager Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas. After failing to find a buyer, the Wildcats ceased operations for the 2017–18 season.

Previously known as the Wichita Falls Rustlers (and before this, the Butte Irish of Butte, Montana and the Vail Avalanche of Vail, Colorado), the franchise was a part of the American Frontier/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. After 13 seasons as the Wildcats, ownership had been trying to sell the franchise to keep it in Wichita Falls during the 2016–17 season. After failing to find a buyer, they announced they would not be operating the team in the 2017–18 season. In 2018, there was an attempt to bring junior hockey back to Wichita Falls with the Wichita Falls Force, a team in the USA Central Hockey League, but the entire league folded after only six weeks of operation. The NAHL later announced a Wichita Falls expansion team for the 2020–21 season.

Season GP W L OTL PTS GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs Avg AttendVail Avalanche (AFHL) 1993–94 Statistics unavailable 1994–95 Statistics unavailable League Champions 1995–96 Statistics unavailableButte Irish (AFHL) 1996–97 60 38 17 5 81 264 181 N/A 2nd Lost in finals 1997–98 60 25 33 2 52 229 264 N/A 6th Did not qualify Butte Irish (AWHL) 1998–99 60 32 23 5 69 224 238 N/A 3rd Lost in semifinals 1999–00 58 23 32 3 49 205 263 1,283 6th Lost in 1st round 2000–01 60 6 51 3 15 166 345 1,969 8th Lost in 1st round 2001–02 56 21 28 7 49 214 240 N/A 8th Lost in 1st round Wichita Falls Rustlers (AWHL) 2002–03 56 43 11 2 88 215 115 1,255 1st, South Lost in semifinals Wichita Falls Rustlers (NAHL) 2003–04 56 29 20 7 65 200 172 1,039 3rd, South N/A Wichita Falls Wildcats (NAHL) 2004–05 56 28 21 7 63 206 218 1,163 4th, South Lost 1st Round, 0–3 vs. Texas Tornado 1,948 2005–06 58 26 28 4 56 171 189 1,045 4th, South Lost 1st Round, 2–3 vs. Texas Tornado 1,987 2006–07 62 22 34 6 50 175 227 1,126 5th, South Did not qualify 1,872 2007–08 58 38 18 2 78 221 181 1,715 3rd, South Lost 1st Round, 1–3 vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs 1,890 2008–09 58 24 25 9 57 163 203 1,695 3rd, South Lost 1st Round, 2–3 vs. Topeka RoadRunners 1,826 2009–10 58 18 34 6 42 175 251 1,530 5th, South Did not qualify 1,907 2010–11 58 26 27 5 57 189 190 1,527 4th, South Lost Div. Semifinals, 2–3 vs. Topeka RoadRunners 1,894 2011–12 60 20 35 5 45 149 204 1.134 6th, South Did not qualify 2,038 2012–13 60 26 30 4 56 183 200 955 5th, South Did not qualify 1,895 2013–14 60 31 25 4 66 170 157 1,170 4th, South Lost Div. Semifinals, 0–3 vs. Amarillo 1,506 2014–15 60 39 16 5 83 242 182 858 3rd, South Won Play in series, 2–0 vs. Rio Grande Valley Killer BeesLost 1st Round, 1–3 vs. Topeka RoadRunners 1,593 2015–16 60 44 11 5 93 224 141 1,093 1st, South Won Div. Semifinals, 3–0 vs. Odessa JackalopesWon Div. Finals, 3–0 vs. Topeka RoadRunnersWon Robertson Cup Semifinals, 2–0 vs. Bismarck BobcatsLost Robertson Cup Championship Game, 0–2 vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs 1,6592016–17 60 29 24 7 65 187 203 1,672 4th, South Lost Div. Semifinals, 0–3 vs. Lone Star Brahmas 1,086