NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX – The Lone Star Brahmas open 2018 with a bang. With the players reporting for the second half of the season on January 2, the team has announced they are shipping forwards Austin O’Rourke and Jared Domin to the Amarillo Bulls for forwards Jon Russell and Steven Ipri.
In need of some offense, the Brahmas bring in two NCAA committed forwards who combined for 41 points this season in the South Division.
Russell (19) is second in the North American Hockey League in goal scoring and leads the way with 12 power play goals, an area the Brahmas need some help. Though he still has one more season of junior hockey eligibility, Russell is set to play at Harvard University next season. Goaltender Mitchell Gibson will join him for the 2019-20 season.
Ipri (19) has 56 points through 82 career games with Amarillo and was fourth on the team in scoring this season prior to the trade. The Michigan native is set to play for Mercyhurst University next season. Last year, Ipri was named to the All-South Division Rookie Team.
Austin O’Rourke played a critical part in the Brahmas Robertson Cup Championship run in May, scoring four postseason goals including an insurance goal in the championship game to make it 2-0. Starting this season as the alternate captain, O’Rourke was a key cog in the locker room and showed immediate improvement over the summer. With 17 points at the midway point of the season, the Georgia native had already equaled his point production from his first NAHL season.
The Brahmas would like to thank Austin O’Rourke for the last year and a half of being a Brahma. 2017 will always be a special year for this organization and he will forever be known on the Robertson Cup as a Brahma.
Jared Domin will also be joining O’Rourke in the panhandle of Texas to wrap up his junior hockey career. Playing over 100 games in the BCHL, the Brahmas drafted Domin with high expectations and he made an immediate impact. The Novi, Michigan native scored three goals before the Brahmas’ home opener and was catching stride before missing nearly two months of the season before the holiday break.
The Brahmas would like to wish both O’Rourke and Domin the best in finishing their junior careers and we look forward to watching their successes in the future.
Jon Russell and Steven Ipri are expected to report midweek and should dress this weekend against the Corpus Christi IceRays.
Tickets are still available for this weekend. Be sure to join the Brahmas on Friday night for an ACME Brick Poster giveaway and also Olympic Night as DJEJ will be performing one final time in the arena before heading to South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Fans will get a taste of the in-arena Olympic music before the games begin next month. Saturday night is a youth jersey giveaway presented by NRH2O.
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. both nights.