Meet The Team NAHL Lone Star Brahmas

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

NameHeight WeightLast Team      LeagueGames PlayedGAPtsPIMsComments
Cam    Brown5′ 11″ 154Texas Tornado – NAHL48347472012 Tornado 9th round selection
Ryan    Watson5′ 11″ 179Stratford Cullitons – GOJHL51203757762010 9th round pick by Windsor   Spitfires of OHL
Gordie   Helmuth5′ 11″ 154Little Caesars U18 – HPHL2661218242012 4th round futures draft pick by Lincoln USHL / 2012 10th round pick by Sault Ste. Marie in OHL draft
Brandon   Anderson6′ 4″ 209North Iowa Bulls – NA3HL810127Also played 7 NAHL games with 1G + 0A and 4 PIMs / Tornado Tender
Connor    Millard5′ 11″ 201Peoria Mustangs – NA3HL45137201522013 7th round draft pick of   Michigan Warriors NAHL
RJ        Salvato6′ 1″ 161Colorado Rampage U18 – MWEHL40121729442013 2nd round pick of Corpus   Christi Icerays
AJ       Duggan5′ 9″ 165Texas Tornado – NAHL3816153140Stats 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         Lison5′ 10″ 181Bay State Breakers – EJHL4321194018Played two season with Breakers   racking up 73 points in 87 games played
Leo       Lumm5′ 8″ 181Texas Tornado – NAHL396511292012 Tornado Tender
Mitch   McPherson6′ 1″ 190Texas Tornado – NAHL591413275441 points in 106 games with Tornado over two seasons. 
Alex       Dagnal6′ 0″ 201Buffalo Jr Sabres – OJHL36101525232010 8th round pick by Barrie Colts in OHL
Will          White5′ 9″ 170Northwood School2013 Invited to Dallas Stars   Development Camp
Liam   Stirzinger6′ 2″ 194California Titans – NAPHL22131124462013 Tornado Tender

Defensemen

NameHeight WeightLast Team     LeagueGames PlayedGAPtsPIMsComments
Nick        Blasé6′ 0″ 205Texas Tornado – NAHL40257392012 Tornado 3rd round selection
Mitchell   Mueller6′ 3″ 196Texas Tornado – NAHL40134392012 Tornado 10th round selection
Anthony   Mousseau5′ 9″ 170Texas Tornado – NAHL5521517512012 Tornado Tender
Ayrton   Valente5′ 10″ 174Mississauga Chargers – OJHL477162314Recorded 40 points in 101 Ontario Junior Hockey League games
Jordan   Deckard5′ 11″ 170Dallas Ice Jets – WSHL39152237196Played for WSHL Thorne Cup   Championship last season
Austin   Thielges5′ 7″ 141Dallas Stars U18 – MWEHL404182220Invited to 2011 USHL Prospects   Combine
Alexey   Solovyev6′ 1″ 185Texas Tornado – NAHL391894Joined Tornado mid-season
Donovan   Gardiner5′ 10″ 161Texas Tornado – NAHL45279703 NAHL teams last season   Kalamazoo / Janesville / Texas
Johan      Steen6′ 1″ 190Dallas Stars U16 – T1EHL1435842013 8th round pick of Muskegon   Lumberjacks USHL

Goalies

NameHeight WeightLast Team     LeagueGames PlayedGAASV%Comments
Sean     Keating5′ 11″ 180Honeybaked Midget Major – HPHL172.340.9012011 Long Island hockey Player of the Year – 2013 MI State Champions and Bronze Medal at US Nationals
Mattias   Soderqvist6′ 1″ 212Manglerud Norway – Norway2172.880.8937 of 17 games played was with   Indian Ice in USHL
Jacob    Nehama6′ 0″ 161Dallas Stars U18 – MWEHL242.410.909Just missed making 2013 USHL   Lincoln Stars roster out of main camp