The Corpus Christi IceRays are a Tier II junior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team playing in the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

(NAHL). The IceRays are based in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

, and play in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The "IceRays" moniker derives from the many different species of

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea Batoidea, rays, a type of cartilaginous fish. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae (deepwate ...

s that inhabit the nearby

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

History

The franchise originally joined the NAHL as the Pittsburgh Forge from 2001 to 2003. They relocated to

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, and became the Toledo IceDiggers from 2003 to 2005. They then became the

Alpena IceDiggers Alpena may refer to: Places in the United States Michigan *Alpena, Michigan, the sole city in, and the county seat of Alpena County *Alpena County, Michigan, a county in the state of Michigan ** Alpena County Regional Airport, county-owned public ...

, playing in the Northern Lights Arena located in

Alpena, Michigan Alpena ( ') is the only city and the county seat of Alpena County, Michigan, United States. The population was 10,197 at the 2020 census, making it the third most populated city in the Northern Michigan region, after Traverse City and Cadillac ...

, from 2005 to 2010. The original IceRays organization was established in 1998 and played in the minor-professional

Western Professional Hockey League The Western Professional Hockey League (abbreviated WPHL) was a minor professional ice hockey league. The WPHL operated from 1996 to 2001 with teams based in the southern United States, primarily Texas and Louisiana. The league started with six te ...

(WPHL) from 1998 to 2001 and the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

from 2001 to 2010. Following the 2009–10 season, the IceRays' ownership purchased the IceDiggers franchise and transferred the IceRays' name, logo, colors, management, and coaching staff to the NAHL franchise before folding their CHL franchise. The new IceRays junior franchise played their first game on September 15, 2010, against the Traverse City North Stars at the NAHL Showcase, falling 1–0. The IceRays played their first junior game at the

American Bank Center The American Bank Center is an entertainment complex located in Corpus Christi, Texas. The complex consists of an auditorium, convention center and arena. The facility hosts numerous conventions, trade shows, exhibitions, live performances and sp ...

on October 1, 2010, against the Wichita Falls Wildcats, winning 4–3 in a shootout. During the 2011–12 season, IceRays goaltender Anthony Stolarz was scouted heavily by the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL), ending the season fourth in the NHL Central Scouting List among North American goaltenders. On June 23, 2012, Stolarz became the first player in IceRays junior franchise history to be drafted by an NHL franchise, joining the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

as the 45th overall pick (2nd Round). After just three seasons in the NAHL, the IceRays earned their first playoff bid during the 2012–13 season, finishing with a 28–26–6 record and fourth in the South Division under former head coach and professional player, Justin Quenneville. The IceRays won their first playoff game on April 5, 2013, against the Amarillo Bulls in a 2–1 road victory before falling in three-straight games to drop the best-of-five series. Following that season, Quenneville stepped down as head coach after two years at the helm, making way for new hire John Becanic to take over for the next three seasons. The IceRays set multiple franchise records during the 2014–15 season, marking the best record in junior franchise history at 31–24–5 and their second appearance in the Robertson Cup Playoffs. The team would fall in two-straight games at the

to the Wenatchee Wild in the South Division Quarterfinals, 3–2 (SO) and 3–2, respectively. On Feb. 7, 2015, the IceRays set a junior franchise record for the highest attendance as well as a league attendance mark, bringing in 6,965 fans during the annual Stars & Stripes Night, honoring military, first responders and law enforcement. In the 2015–16 season, the IceRays set one more junior franchise milestone thanks to former goaltender

Pheonix Copley Copley (born January 18, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career USHL and college Undrafted, Copley played in the United States Hockey League (USHL) ...

. On Feb. 27, 2016, the 24-year-old replaced

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

goaltender Jake Allen with 4:26 remaining in the second period, marking the first player in junior franchise history to earn playing time in the NHL. On June 30, 2016, the IceRays hired former assistant coach Brad Flynn as the team's fourth head coach in junior franchise history. Flynn left after the 2017–18 season to become an assistant coach with the

Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta. The Rebels are members of the Western Hockey League and play home games at the Marchant Crane Centrium. The Rebels won the President's Cup and the Mem ...

in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

. He was replaced by Ryan Cruthers, who had been with the

Chicago Steel The Chicago Steel are an ice hockey team that plays in the United States Hockey League since 2000. The Steel have played their home games at Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Illinois since 2015; previously, the team played at Edge Ice Arena in ...

the previous season. Cruthers was hired as an assistant for

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris (financier), Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the American Revolution". It enr ...

in 2019 and Al Rooney was promoted for the 2019–20 season. Rooney was fired after less than a season and a 13–33–3–3 record to be replaced by assistant Nate Weossner in the interim. The end of the 2019–20 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

with the team already eliminated from the playoffs. The IceRays withdrew from participation in the 2020–21 season due to the on-going complications during the pandemic. Prior to their return in the 2021–22 season, Michael Lysyj was named the new head coach.

Season-by-season records

References

External links

Corpus Christi IceRays
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corpus Christi Icerays North American Hockey League teams Sports in Corpus Christi, Texas Amateur ice hockey teams in Texas 2010 establishments in Texas Ice hockey clubs established in 2010