Yellowstone Quake’s 20th Anniversary Season Honoring the Past, Building the Future

CODY, Wyo. — Twenty years of Yellowstone Quake hockey have created plenty of memories in

Cody, Wyoming. This season, the Quake want to create a few more.

As the organization prepares to celebrate its 20th Anniversary Season, there is a renewed sense of optimism surrounding the program. After taking an important step forward during the 2025-26 season, Yellowstone enters the new year with a returning core, a developing identity and a belief that the program is moving in the right direction.

For the Quake, the anniversary is more than a number. It is an opportunity to recognize everyone who has worn the sweater since junior hockey arrived in Cody in 2006, while challenging the current group to add something of its own to that history. That history includes some outstanding teams.

From 2015-16 through 2017-18, the Quake finished atop the Frontier Division in three consecutive regular seasons. The 2016-17 team finished 40-4-3 before advancing to the Silver Cup, and the following season Yellowstone again won the Frontier playoff championship and advanced to the Fraser Cup Championship Tournament. The Quake have also helped players continue their careers beyond Cody.

Among the program’s notable alumni is Montana native Jacob Doty, who played for Yellowstone from 2008-10 before eventually signing a three-year NHL entry-level contract with the St. Louis Blues organization in 2013. Doty has gone on to build a lengthy professional career and recently re-signed for the 2026-27 season with the Ontario Reign, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings.

It is that history that Head Coach Gaetano Moirano wants his players to understand when they put on the Quake’s special 20th anniversary jerseys this season.

“When these guys put that jersey on, I want them to understand that they are representing something bigger than just this year’s team. There have been a lot of great players and great teams that have come through Cody over the last 20 years. I want our players to be proud to wear that sweater, understand the history behind it and play in a way that makes the alumni who wore it before them proud. It’s not just one person that makes an organization great; it’s a culmination of everyone from the key members (Jon, Josh, Brit, Sierra, Ryan, and Kris), scouting staff, volunteers, and fans that make us who we are as an organization and community. The countless hours of volunteering do not go unnoticed, from putting the ice in, to running game day operations, it all adds up to give our players the best junior hockey experience.”

— Head Coach, Gaetano Moirano

A Program Back on Track

Before arriving in Cody, Coach Moirano had experienced success at previous stops, including helping build a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights team that reached the national championship game and leading the Binghamton Buzz to the Fraser Cup Championship Tournament during the 2024-25 season. He brought that experience and a clear vision to Yellowstone, with an emphasis on culture, accountability and building a team capable of sustained success.

The first step had very little to do with systems, statistics, or standings. It started with culture. Coach G set out to establish a brotherhood inside the Quake locker room, building a team that would compete, refuse to back down when challenged, and develop the mentality to keep pushing regardless of the circumstances. That change began to show on the ice.

Yellowstone finished last season 11-33-3, a significant step forward after a difficult two-year stretch in which the Quake recorded just one victory. The record was not the destination, but it was evidence that the foundation of the rebuild had started to take hold.

For Coach Moirano, the biggest accomplishment of Year One was not simply adding wins. It was beginning to change what players expected from themselves and from one another.

“I had a clear vision for what I wanted this program to become before I ever took the job. Last year was about establishing that foundation and creating a brotherhood. We wanted guys who would play for each other, compete for each other and never quit on each other. Now the challenge is to build on that. We don’t want to be satisfied because we improved. With the help of our Head Scout, Laramie Davies, who also serves as the 18U AA Head Coach and Director of Player Development for the state of Wyoming, this transformation has been possible. It’s an organizational effort at this level. It all starts with the right people with the right intentions. We want to keep pushing this program forward.”

— Head Coach, Gaetano Moirano

That philosophy will remain at the center of the Quake in Year Two.

A Returning Core Leads the Way

Unlike last season, when nearly everything surrounding the program felt new, Yellowstone will enter its 20th anniversary campaign with a group of players who already understand what Coach G expects.

The Quake are set to bring back eight returning players, including veterans such as Damen Baxter,

Shayne Smith, Carson Joersz, Chance Bryson, and Cameron Beaver.

That continuity matters.

The returners experienced the first year of the rebuild firsthand. They understand the expectations inside the locker room, the work required during the week and the standard Coach Moirano is establishing throughout the organization.

Now they will be asked to help teach that standard to a new group of Quake players.

The returning core also gives Yellowstone something it did not have in the same way a year ago: players who can explain what the program is trying to become because they helped begin building it.

For a young junior hockey team, that leadership can be every bit as valuable as goals and assists.

The Next Step

No one inside the Quake organization is pretending the rebuild is complete. Eleven wins represented progress. This season is about proving that progress can continue. The next challenge will be closing the gap in a competitive Frontier Division and giving the Quake an opportunity to make a legitimate push toward the postseason. That does not mean making guarantees in August. It means raising expectations. It means turning close games into wins. It means learning how to handle difficult stretches. It means becoming harder to play against as the season progresses. And it means developing the consistency required to remain in the playoff conversation when the schedule reaches its most important weeks. For Coach G, those expectations start long before the puck drops on game night. The identity remains simple: play together, compete together and continue building a culture where teammates are accountable to one another. If Yellowstone can do that consistently, the standings will begin to take care of themselves.

Junior Hockey in Cody

There may also be no better season to bring excitement back to Quake hockey in Cody. Located near Yellowstone National Park, Cody offers one of the more unique settings in junior hockey. It is a world-famous tourist destination with a passionate local community that has supported junior hockey for two decades.

Former Quake coaches have spoken publicly about the relationship between the team and the Cody community, from packed nights at the rink to players volunteering and becoming part of life around town.

For the players who arrive in Cody, the opportunity is about more than playing hockey. It is about representing a community, developing as a player and person, and becoming part of a program that has sent generations of young men on to the next chapters of their lives. That is what Coach G and the Quake are trying to bring back.

Now, as the organization celebrates 20 years, the Quake hope to give that community another team it can rally around. Most notably, the Quake will wear special 20th anniversary jerseys this season. Quake fans are encouraged to head to Riley Arena for the season home opener on October 9th at 7:30 p.m.

Twenty Years Behind Them. A New Season Ahead.

The anniversary jerseys will tell the story of where the Yellowstone Quake have been. What happens while wearing them will determine where the program goes next. There will be former players who remember championship runs. There will be fans who remember packed nights at Riley Arena. There will be alumni scattered throughout college hockey, professional hockey and life beyond the rink who once called Cody home.

The 2026-27 Yellowstone Quake now have an opportunity to represent all of them.

Last season was about getting the program back on track. This season is about taking the next step. And as the Quake prepare to celebrate 20 years of hockey in Cody, Coach Moirano wants his players to understand both the opportunity and the responsibility that comes with wearing the sweater.

Honor the players who came before them.

Make the community proud.

And begin writing the next chapter of Yellowstone Quake hockey.

For more information or to keep up on the Quake, see the schedule, visit theyellowstonequake.com

or follow on Instagram @Quakehockey.