Meet The Team NAHL Lone Star Brahmas
By Kirk Estes
Lone Star Brahmas Logo
The Lone Star Brahmas will hold a Meet The Team at the NyTex Sports Centre from 6:00 – 7:00pm on Thursday Sept 5th. Owners, players, and coaches will be on hand to greet fans and give them a taste of Junior Hockey before kicking off the preseason schedule on Friday and Saturday against the visiting Odessa Jackalopes.
With the move from the CHL minor pro ranks to the NAHL Tier II level of play, fans can expect to see some changes on the ice. The teams will be younger consisting of players ranging in age from 16 – 20 years old. However, for those who think that the NAHL is high school hockey, they will have a pleasant surprise with the quality of play they see on the ice. In addition those CHL fans will see some old rivalries renewed against Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Odessa and Rio Grande Valley.
The NAHL is full of talented players from across the country and around the world who are competing for a coveted NCAA scholarship or an NHL draft selection. There were approximately 200 NAHL players who signed NCAA Div I and Div III college commitments last season. In the past two NHL drafts, the NAHL South Division which the Brahmas will compete in, has seen six former players drafted. Fans at NyTex will definitely be watching the stars of tomorrow.
Tarrant county has a rich tradition of hockey and the Lone Star Brahmas franchise will only strengthen that tradition. The franchise entered the NAHL as the expansion Texas Tornado playing at NyTex during the 2009/10 season setting the record for wins by an expansion team with a 41-12-2 record. In 13 seasons the Tornado never failed to reach the post season and five times finished as the NAHL Robertson Cup National Champions. With the team now returning to their original roots at NyTex they will take on the Lone Star Brahmas moniker and look to extend their playoff run to 14 straight.
Nine veterans will be returning from last season’s team who made it to the Division Finals round of the playoffs before being eliminated by the eventual Robertson Cup Champions. The Brahmas should be strong on the blue-line with five veterans in the lineup who played 39 or more games last season. On the offensive side four forwards are back to help generate a scoring punch. The roster heading into the preseason schedule will include three rookie goalies who have all shown great promise. The current 25 man roster is listed below with returning veterans in purple.
Forwards
| Name | Height Weight | Last Team League | Games Played | G | A | Pts | PIMs | Comments |
| Cam Brown | 5′ 11″ 154 | Texas Tornado – NAHL | 48 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 47 | 2012 Tornado 9th round selection |
| Ryan Watson | 5′ 11″ 179 | Stratford Cullitons – GOJHL | 51 | 20 | 37 | 57 | 76 | 2010 9th round pick by Windsor Spitfires of OHL |
| Gordie Helmuth | 5′ 11″ 154 | Little Caesars U18 – HPHL | 26 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 2012 4th round futures draft pick by Lincoln USHL / 2012 10th round pick by Sault Ste. Marie in OHL draft |
| Brandon Anderson | 6′ 4″ 209 | North Iowa Bulls – NA3HL | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | Also played 7 NAHL games with 1G + 0A and 4 PIMs / Tornado Tender |
| Connor Millard | 5′ 11″ 201 | Peoria Mustangs – NA3HL | 45 | 13 | 7 | 20 | 152 | 2013 7th round draft pick of Michigan Warriors NAHL |
| RJ Salvato | 6′ 1″ 161 | Colorado Rampage U18 – MWEHL | 40 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 44 | 2013 2nd round pick of Corpus Christi Icerays |
| AJ Duggan | 5′ 9″ 165 | Texas Tornado – NAHL | 38 | 16 | 15 | 31 | 40 | Stats from last full season 2011/12 – 2012 Tornado 6th round selection – 2G+2A in 4 games with Tornado 2012/13 before season ending injury |
| Matt Lison | 5′ 10″ 181 | Bay State Breakers – EJHL | 43 | 21 | 19 | 40 | 18 | Played two season with Breakers racking up 73 points in 87 games played |
| Leo Lumm | 5′ 8″ 181 | Texas Tornado – NAHL | 39 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 29 | 2012 Tornado Tender |
| Mitch McPherson | 6′ 1″ 190 | Texas Tornado – NAHL | 59 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 54 | 41 points in 106 games with Tornado over two seasons. |
| Alex Dagnal | 6′ 0″ 201 | Buffalo Jr Sabres – OJHL | 36 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 23 | 2010 8th round pick by Barrie Colts in OHL |
| Will White | 5′ 9″ 170 | Northwood School | 2013 Invited to Dallas Stars Development Camp | |||||
| Liam Stirzinger | 6′ 2″ 194 | California Titans – NAPHL | 22 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 46 | 2013 Tornado Tender |
Defensemen
| Name | Height Weight | Last Team League | Games Played | G | A | Pts | PIMs | Comments |
| Nick Blasé | 6′ 0″ 205 | Texas Tornado – NAHL | 40 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 39 | 2012 Tornado 3rd round selection |
| Mitchell Mueller | 6′ 3″ 196 | Texas Tornado – NAHL | 40 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 39 | 2012 Tornado 10th round selection |
| Anthony Mousseau | 5′ 9″ 170 | Texas Tornado – NAHL | 55 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 51 | 2012 Tornado Tender |
| Ayrton Valente | 5′ 10″ 174 | Mississauga Chargers – OJHL | 47 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 14 | Recorded 40 points in 101 Ontario Junior Hockey League games |
| Jordan Deckard | 5′ 11″ 170 | Dallas Ice Jets – WSHL | 39 | 15 | 22 | 37 | 196 | Played for WSHL Thorne Cup Championship last season |
| Austin Thielges | 5′ 7″ 141 | Dallas Stars U18 – MWEHL | 40 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 20 | Invited to 2011 USHL Prospects Combine |
| Alexey Solovyev | 6′ 1″ 185 | Texas Tornado – NAHL | 39 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 4 | Joined Tornado mid-season |
| Donovan Gardiner | 5′ 10″ 161 | Texas Tornado – NAHL | 45 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 70 | 3 NAHL teams last season Kalamazoo / Janesville / Texas |
| Johan Steen | 6′ 1″ 190 | Dallas Stars U16 – T1EHL | 14 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 2013 8th round pick of Muskegon Lumberjacks USHL |
Goalies
| Name | Height Weight | Last Team League | Games Played | GAA | SV% | Comments |
| Sean Keating | 5′ 11″ 180 | Honeybaked Midget Major – HPHL | 17 | 2.34 | 0.901 | 2011 Long Island hockey Player of the Year – 2013 MI State Champions and Bronze Medal at US Nationals |
| Mattias Soderqvist | 6′ 1″ 212 | Manglerud Norway – Norway2 | 17 | 2.88 | 0.893 | 7 of 17 games played was with Indian Ice in USHL |
| Jacob Nehama | 6′ 0″ 161 | Dallas Stars U18 – MWEHL | 24 | 2.41 | 0.909 | Just missed making 2013 USHL Lincoln Stars roster out of main camp |