"Head Coach" Jordan Cameron gives the boys some direction during a time out

Brahmas open the pre-season with a 4-3 win

A.J. Gale scores a pair in four-goal second period

It was a night of firsts at the Allen Events Center on Thursday evening where the Central Hockey League Champion Texas Brahmas and the expansion Allen Americans met for the first of two pre-season match-ups.

It was the first game the Allen Americans played in the club’s history after only four days in training camp together. It was the first hockey game to be played in the newly constructed Events Center, although the game was played on the community rink as the main rink is still under construction. Unfortunately for the Americans, the CHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, it was also their first loss as a team.

Donning Stars sweaters (the Americans sweaters are not ready yet), the Brahmas and the Americans played a spirited game in front of a small group of friends, family, media and sponsors as well as Event Center and Americans staffers.

The Brahmas and Americans coaches watched the game from opposite corners of the ice. On the bench for the Brahmas were Justin Kinnunen and Jordan Cameron.

2nd year goalie Charlie Effinger was in net for the Americans and rookie Joe Palmer got the start for the Brahmas.

The Americans got on the scoreboard first at the 4:31 mark with a goal from defenseman Ryan Bartle. It would be the only score in the first period.

The Brahmas went on an offensive frenzy in the second frame marked by two goals from A.J. Gale. Mark Rooneem got the first tally 2:40 into the period. Just over a minute later, Gale scored his first goal on the power play at the 3:44 mark. Alexandre Lacombe got the third goal at the 7:28 mark. A.J. Gale managed his second goal with just 2.1 seconds remaining in the period. After 40 minutes, it was 4-1 Brahmas.

Derek Merlini connects with Ryan Bartle

The Americans rallied in the third with two goals, the first scored by Justin Todd and the other coming from Bill Loupée. It was a very physical game for both sides but the only skirmish developed between Allen defenseman Ryan Bartle, who took on a towering Derek Merlini, who despite appearing to take an uppercut to the chin, promptly dispatched Bartle to the ice.

Despite a last minute attack, the Americans, who had a narrow shot advantage of 26-25, were held off by the Brahmas defenders and rookie goaltender Joe Palmer.

The Americans had 11 penalties while the Brahmas had nine.

In the aftermath of the game, the Americans made six cuts to their training camp roster, including defenseman Ryan Bartle, who scored the first goal of the night. The Brahmas have waived defenseman Joey Wilson and forwards Kevin Huck, Jason Bloomingburg, Jeff Gumaer and Brett Pikington.

The two teams will meet again at the NYTEX Sports Centre on Saturday night at 7:05pm.

I’m not going to comment on who showed what on the ice. Everyone appeared to work hard and outside of Gale’s two-goal output in the middle frame, I wouldn’t really say there were any standouts. It’s really too early to make such judgments. I think we’ll be able to tell a little more after Saturday night’s game.

I do want to comment on the facility. First off, I was amazed at the progress on the Village at Allen since my last trip out there. The Marriott is up and looking good and the parking garage is open. Parking is free and it’s a very short walk to the front entrance of the Events Center.

The 121 toll road is open all the way to Stacy road, which, outside of the added cost to the trip, really makes it a nice ride with very little traffic. I made the trip from work in Irving at 5pm and the drive took about 40 minutes. Not bad. It took me about 45 minutes to get home to Bedford, having left at about 9:30pm.

While the Events Center is still getting its finishing touches, the community rink, which is attached to the South side of the building was a very adequate spot to hold the game. Equipped with a great sound system and manned by a couple of announcers who were trying to win the full-time position, the well-lit rink includes two rows of metal benches, similar to those at NYTEX and also had a scoreboard. Everything was so new and clean, it was a shame to see the first smudges on the glass.

A personal high-five to Lindsey Perkins, Director of Media Relations and Marketing for the Americans who did a great job and was a terrific host at the event.

I’m going to try to make some time to do a tour of the Events Center before it opens to show you what it all looks like inside (It’s really nice).

I had a lot of computer problems last night so it will be later tonight before I can photos...

Photo Credits: Robert Keith