CHL announces new conference alignment

Brahmas remain in the South

At long last, the Central Hockey League announced the conference alignment for the upcoming 2010-11 season today. They also announced the dates for the home openers for the 18 teams participating in the league this year.

The new alignment will split the teams into two conferences of nine teams as follows:

North

Bloomington PrairieThunder
Colorado Eagles
Dayton Gems
Evansville IceMen
Fort Wayne Komets
Missouri Mavericks
Quad City Mallards
Rapid City Rush
Wichita Thunder

South

Allen Americans
Arizona Sundogs
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
Laredo Bucks
Mississippi RiverKings
Odessa Jackalopes
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
Texas Brahmas
Tulsa Oilers

In the new future, the two conferences will be given names reflective of the histories of both the CHL and IHL and new trophies will be introduced for the conference champions, the regular season champions and the league champions.

Opening night for the 19th CHL season will be Friday, October 15th when 12 teams will take the ice marking six home opening games. Opening night hosts will be the Allen Americans, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, Colorado Eagles, Missouri Mavericks, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and Tulsa Oilers.

The Brahmas will have their home opener on Friday, October 22nd, indicating they will begin the season on the road. The length and dates of the 2010-11 regular season along with the league’s playoff format will be announced later this week.

The addition of the Mudbugs, the RiverKings as well as the Oilers to the South will create a bigger challenge for the Brahmas while Rio, Arizona and even Laredo will have a considerable battle on their hands for a playoff spot.

The North should be dominated by the Eagles, Rush and the Komets. I'm interested to see how the Komets will fare now that they won't be in their own made up little world battling the same teams over and over.

I'll have more once the schedule is released in a couple of days.

Brahmas defenseman Konrad Brand

An unofficial history of the Texas Brahmas

Part Two - Youngstown

The Brahmas were scheduled to finish up an eight-game road stretch with their farthest trip of the season, a 1,546 mile journey from Odessa (where they were defeated by the Jackalopes 3-2) to Youngstown, Ohio, where they would take on the expansion SteelHounds for a three-game series that would complete the 2005-06 season.

The games held no importance for the Brahmas. They had been eliminated from playoff contention long ago and were merely playing for pride. For the SteelHounds, who had gone 21-35-5 thus far in their inaugural season, the three-game series was the final opportunity to showcase the new team on home ice at the Chevrolet Centre. They would finish second in the Northeast Division behind the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, who had already clinched the division title for the third year in a row, but were also eliminated from the playoffs along with Fort Worth and Memphis.

The first game was played on a Wednesday night in front of 3,311 fans. The ‘Hounds had lost the last 10 in a row at home, but were fired up for the series against the hapless Brahmas who had lost all five previous matches. It would prove to be the most physical game yet between the two teams.

A cross-checking call on Ty Hennes led to a Youngstown power play and the first score of the game when center Chris Richards combined with Joey Sewell and Jeff Christian to take the 1-0 lead at the 8:31 mark.

Less than a minute later, a brawl erupted in the corner in the Brahmas defensive zone after Ryan Fairbarn tripped Sam Miller and Miller took offense, striking Fairbarn. Brahmas defenseman Sheldon Lee joined the fracus and then winger Chris Bain left the bench and threw a sucker punch on Miller. SteelHound defenseman Kris Mallete found Bain and the two duked it out at the other end of the ice. Both would earn double game misconducts. The two teams would share a total of 73 penalty minutes for their efforts. Mallette was given a two-game suspension and Bain, a recent acquisition from Wichita, would receive 10 games.

In the second period, the Brahmas cut the lead in half with Jimmy Sokol cleaning up a loose puck in front of the net for his 13th goal of the season making the score 2-1. Youngstown then padded their lead with goals from Chris Richards and Jeff Christian increasing their advantage to 4-1. Ty Hennes would tack on a goal late in the period, cutting the lead to 4-2 after 40 minutes.

Youngstown led the shot count 28-15.

The scoring stayed idle in the third period with the Hounds nursing their two-goal lead all the way until their was less than a minute in the period when Richards netted his first hat trick of the season and Christian earned his fourth point of the night and 100th point of the season with an assist.

What followed next was unsportsmanlike and disrespectful to say the least, but also showed the disdain to which SteelHounds coach J.F. Laforest held against his opponent.

With his team ahead by a score of 5-2 and with 44 seconds left in the games, Laforest, who had been going at it with Brahmas coach Guy Larose for most of the night, decided to pull goalie David St. Germaine in favor of the extra attacker to try and add a late goal. The SteelHounds, who were also on a power play, were running a promotion that would give each fan in attendance a coupon for a free Big Mac if the home team scored six goals.

The ‘Hounds were unable to score despite the two-man advantage but the SteelHounds coach was unrepentant when asked about his decision after the game.

"Hey, if we score a sixth goal, it adds to the tally and the fans go home happy," Laforest said. "You always try to score as much as you can and when one of our corporate sponsors is running a promotion, we try to help. I'd do it again until the cows come home."

Of course, the sponsor in question was McDonalds, and team owner Herb Washington owned 22 McDonald’s franchises. To say Guy LaRose was livid was probably an understatement.

"It's humiliating to have them pull their goalie when the game was already over," said Larose. "It's an unwritten rule in hockey that you just don't do that. There was no need for that. I don't know why they did it; I'm not their coach. But it kind of hit our pride there at the end."

The following evening, the SteelHounds had their way with the Brahmas as five different players (including four players with one goal and two assists each) scored goals on Andrew Martin who had yet to post a win since being claimed off waivers at the end of January. A sixth goal at the beginning of the third period sealed the shut out for the ‘Hounds and the fans got their free Big Mac.

Saturday night marked the season finale and the Chevrolet Centre was packed with a sold out crowd of 5,717. The Brahmas came out strong and although they were out shot 17-11, Cory Stillman and Ben Gustavson managed to score the opening period’s only two goals, both with the assist by Jimmy Sokol.

Youngstown right wing Joey Sewell answered with two goals in the second period to tie the game up after 40 minutes. The first came at the 3:21 mark with the assist from Jeff Christian. The second was a short-handed strike on a breakaway at the 15:54 mark with the assist from Christian and Chris Richards.

Christian jammed home a rebound off a Ben Manny shot 3:33 into the third period to score what would be the game-winning goal with the assist from Sewell. Later, with just one second left in the game, Sewell would get the hat trick on an empty net to provide the final score of 4-2.

With the win, the SteelHounds improved their final record to 24-35-5 and were 8-0 against the Brahmas.

Fort Worth finished officially with the worst record in the league at 17-39-8 and for the fourth season in a row, last in their division.

Next up: Aftermath

Brahmas add McLeod to 2010-11 roster

Speedy center is a huge scoring threat

The Texas Brahmas announced a huge signing today - former Colorado Eagle center Ryan McLeod is joining the 2010-11 campaign.

The 25-year-old native of Fernie, British Columbia has been described as "a fleet-of-foot skater who whizzes by opposing defensemen at the blue line and has the necessary puck-handling skills to avoid a cluster of them wherever he is out on the ice."

"He’s confident with what he can do with the puck, but that speed, that speed that’s going to scare a lot of defensemen; that’s going to help him out a lot," former coach Kevin McClellandsaid.

Sound good to you? Well it should - think of another Kinnunen on the ice...could a team be so lucky? When you see this guy skate, you'll see what I mean. Brahmas head coach Dan Wildfong
recognized how valuable McLeod would be to the Brahmas and was elated to sign him up for the coming season.

"Ryan has proven to be a great player on the ice in this league, so we look forward to seeing what he can do for us," Wildfong said.

McLeod played two seasons of Junior A hockey with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL), scoring 119 points (57 G, 62 A) with 136 penalty minutes. He had 77 points (35 G, 42 A) in the 2003-04 season, playing alongside Texas Brahmas defenseman Tyrell Mason.

He spent the next two seasons playing for the University of Alaska - Fairbanks (NCAA), scoring 39 points (17 G, 22 A) in 49 games. He was named to the CCHA Super Six All-Tournament Team in March 2005 and also set a CCHA record for fastest goal scored and fastest back-to-back goals in a 6-3 win during the first round of playoffs in his freshman year.

During his sophomore season, McLeod signed with the Victoria Salmon Kings (ECHL) to wrap up the 2005-06 season. He played in a limited role in 13 games.

He spent his rookie season with the New Mexico Scorpions, playing alongside former Fort Worth Brahmas defenseman Vladimir Hartinger and former Texas Brahmas goalie David Cacciola. He was named to the CHL All-Rookie team after tallying 64 points (24 G, 40 A) and 46 penalty minutes in 64 games played. In the post-season, he added 10 more points (4 G, 6 A) in 10 games - that's a point per game average in 74 straight contests!

McLeod crossed the pond for the 2007-08 season, playing for the Geleen Smoke Eaters (Hlnd), in the Dutch Eredivisie, the highest-level hockey division in the Netherlands. He was the second leading scorer on the team, putting up 42 points (14 G, 28 A) and 110 penalty minutes in 29 games played. Yeah, that's 1.45 points per contest. The Smoke Eaters finished 4th in the league that season.

In 2008-09, he joined Olofströms IK in Sweden and tallied 48 points (21 G, 27 A) and 65 penalty minutes in 31 games played. Joining the Rocky Mountain Rage in late February of 2009, McLeod went right to work, scoring a goal in his first game and finishing the regular season out with 10 points (6 G, 4A) in 10 games. In the first round of the playoffs against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, he had a goal and an assist in four games played.

Last summer, when word that the Rage were suspending operations, McLeod was considering going back to Europe when he received a call from Colorado Eagles head coach Kevin McClelland. He wound up signing to play with the Eagles and posted 58 points (21 G, 37 A) and 34 penalty minutes in 64 regular season games. He added a goal and an assist in four post-season contests (against the Mudbugs again).

Take a look at a couple of great videos of McLeod here and here.

Photo Credit: Les Stockton/Pro Hockey News

Palmer attending Chicago Blackhawks prospect camp

Former Brahmas goalie continues development in 'Hawks system

Among the players who began reporting to the Chicago Blackhawks Prospect Camp on Wednesday was goaltender Joe Palmer who finished his rookie season with the Texas Brahmas in April. This is Palmer's second summer prospect camp with the Stanley Cup Champions.

affiliate The prospect camp consists of most of Chicago’s draft picks over the past three seasons and several skaters vying for a free agent contract from either the Blackhawks or the team’s AHLIceHogs.


Palms would like to follow in the footsteps of Stanley Cup Champion goaltender Antti Niemi, who first appeared in a Blackhawks uniform during the 2008 Prospect Camp.

The on-ice portion of the camp began today and runs through Monday. Each day will feature two scrimmages as the camp is broken up into four teams. Palmer was in net for the first frame of this morning's scrimmage and at least one observer noted how improved he looks this year. Take a look at some photos from today's session here.

On another note - If you would like to own Joe's Rockford IceHogs sweater from last season, you can bid on it here.

Photo Credits: Top - chicagonow.com; Bottom: Melissa Wade

The 2005-06 Fort Worth Brahmas celebrating a rare home ice victory

An unofficial history of the Texas Brahmas

Part One - Bottom Feeding

The following is the part one of a series I've put together on the history of the Texas Brahmas. I'll be running this through the remainder of the summer. The series begins with the final days of the Fort Worth Brahmas...

For fans of the Fort Worth Brahmas, the 2005-06 season couldn’t end soon enough. They witnessed eight of the team’s 17 wins that season on home ice, where “a win every now and then was very special and unusual,” one fan said. This was half the number of home victories they witnessed during the previous season.

The Brahmas were in last place in their division for the fourth year in a row and last place in the league for the third time in four seasons. Yet Brahmas fans were loyal to their team and despite their poor performance on the ice, the crowd at the Fort Worth Convention Center was consistently larger than at several other CHL venues.

The team had lost nine of ten games, including three shut-outs before defeating the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs 3-2 to end the previous season. So when the Brahmas started the year with an 8-13-3 record, including just five wins on home ice, management decided something had to give.

On December 19th, head coach Al Sims was fired. Sims was in his second full season with the Brahmas after being hired by the club on December 3, 2003, replacing Bill Inglis. His overall record with the club was 46-66-15 in 127 games coached.

Few mourned the loss of Sims. He was considered classy, hard working and was well liked by the players. But some said he was unable to succeed because of a lack of recruiting skills needed to work with in a model that provided little money for travel or phone bills. This was also his second firing by a CHL team in three seasons; he was dismissed by the Corpus Christi Rayz just prior to being hired by the Brahmas.

"It all comes down to wins and losses," Sims said. "This is definitely a firing over the record and no other reason. It's just part of the game."

Larry Sterling/Photo Credit: Chip Crail

It was the fourth time in a row that the Brahmas had made a mid-season coaching change. Sims joined the likes of Ken Karpuk (9-23-3 in 2000-01), Todd Lalonde (48-64-13 in 2000-01 through 2002-03) and Bill Inglis (11-40-3 in 2002-03 through 2003-04). None of the previous replacements were successful.

Some questioned the timing of the move and wondered why he wasn’t removed at the end of the 2004-05 season when the opportunity of finding a quality replacement was more realistic.

Sims was notified of the move in the morning, and players were told by general manager Mike Barack in a meeting before practice. They were about to meet their new coach, who would direct the practice.

The Brahmas had hired Guy Larose, a retired player who lived in nearby Burleson, Texas and had spent the previous two years working in the mortgage business. Larose spent the majority of his 15-year career in the AHL and the IHL, but played 74 games in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. He had no previous coaching experience except for a stint as a player/assistant with the Augusta Lynx in the East Coast Hockey League, but he was enthusiastic.

“I know the game inside and out. It’s what I’ve done my whole life,” Larose said at the time of his signing. “I played for a collection of outstanding coaches during my career and I plan on using what I have learned from them to guide my coaching strategies.”

Larose had played with Brahmas captain Wes Mason in Augusta during the 2001-02 season.

"It's still early enough in the season where we can compete for the postseason, which has been our goal from the start," Barack said.

Larose’s early impression of the players he had inherited was summed up in an article that appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the following morning.

“They're young. They're not experienced athletes. You can't expect too much from them. You can't throw them too much information. We have to keep on doing the little things well and be disciplined.”

Left Wing David Silverstone/Photo Credit: Chip Crail

Larose was hindered from the start due to the fact that he inherited a team that was decimated by injuries. In fact, for the remainder of the season, the Brahmas did not play with a full 18-player roster. Larose would start 15 players 14 times and 14 players three times during his stint as head coach.

Outside of the injuries, part of the problem was also due in part to the team’s inability to find replacements.

“They had no one that knew the players available and that knew what it took to win in the CHL. Many nights we played short bench because they could not make the needed moves or even knew what those were,” said longtime fan Larry Westmoreland.

The team went through 34 players during the season and nearly all had negative +/- numbers. In fact, only defensemen Dion Hyman and Ryan Edwards had positive numbers, and they only played in 12 games between them. Hyman was placed on team suspension for insubordination on November 18th following a first period ejection during the Brahmas' 6-3 home loss to Oklahoma City on November 15th. He was traded to Corpus Christi on December 3rd. Edwards was signed on November 22nd and placed on waivers a week later.

The team lacked size and speed and struggled to find any consistency in playing disciplined hockey. They had the worst power play and the second worst penalty kill in the league. They were also bullied by every team they faced. Anyone who could score was constantly slashed, hooked and otherwise harassed with no one to protect them and keep things in check.

Defenseman Konrad Brand /Photo Credit: Fort Worth Brahmas

They did have some quality players. Bret DeCecco, Cory Stillman, Wes Mason, and Vladimir Hartinger were among the bright spots. Stillman was the most productive overall, finishing the season with 59 points (29 G, 30 A, -16) including 12 power play goals and 79 penalty minutes. Ben Gustavson, Sheldon Lee, Konrad Brand and Matt Reynolds also stood out, but overall the team wasn’t good enough to play as a unit in the CHL.

Six players scored 30 points or more with one defenseman, Hartinger, in the group. He was also a -33 for the season. There were only three players (Stillman, Hennes and Gustavson) who had a shot percentage higher than .100.

The team’s defense was a revolving door with eight blue-liners traded, placed on waivers or in the case of Justin Coutu, placed on season ending IR. Only rookie Sheldon Lee played in all 64 games. Konrad Brand played in 55 games.

Finally, Larose had taken on a team that seemed to have a curse. In four of their previous five seasons, the Brahmas had losing records in their final 25 games. The only exception was in 2001-2002, when they went 13-10-2. That effort led to Fort Worth's only overall record above .500 in the previous five seasons when the Brahmas finished 30-27-7.

In addition, Larose’s unfamiliarity with the Central Hockey League and the manner of play therein was evident.

By March 22nd, the Brahmas’ record under Larose’s direction was 9-23-5; hardly an improvement, and there were just three games left in the regular season.

Next up: Part 2 - Youngstown

The Insider Interview – Dan Wildfong

The Brahmas’ head coach talks about the challenges of the past year, the recruiting process and the idea of a single nationwide AA league.

Dan Wildfong is preparing for his fourth season as head coach of the Texas Brahmas. His overall regular season record with the club is 114-63-15 and his post-season record is 15-12 with a President’s Cup Championship earned in 2009.

After three seasons with three very different results, he is hard at work, along with assistant coach Ron Vogel, re-building the roster for the coming campaign.

I spoke with Fonger recently about the challenges of the past year, the recruiting process and the idea of a single nationwide AA league.

Here is our conversation.

Q: What was the most difficult thing to deal with, considering all the players who came through last season?

A: I guess it’s the work ethic, you know. When you see guys put up big numbers, you expect them to come in and work hard and you know, be able to put those numbers up here too. We’ve been known as a hard working team. We bring it to practice and in games it carries over…we’ve just got to end up playing a better team game over all.

Q: Considering the numbers of guys who came in and didn’t work out – was it hard to deal with for the players as well as the coaches?

A: I think it was tough because you don’t know if guys’ got another’s back; you don’t even know if he’s going to be there the next day. It’s definitely something we didn’t want to happen but it’s inevitable that if a guys going to be lazy, he’s not going to be here long. I always have it in mind to be the hardest working team in the league and our guys know that, so if they come in and work hard, then we’ll be successful. I believe 70% of it is hard work and the rest is skill.

Q: Despite the challenges last season, the Brahmas made it to the semi-finals against the Governor’s Cup Champion Odessa Jackalopes and managed to win the first two games on the road. Did that surprise you to start the series that way?

A: Yeah, and I think our guys were even a little surprised to win there. We felt like we had a good opportunity…and we started clicking on all cylinders. Our guys knew our systems; they knew what we demanded and they started to gel a little more in the last couple of months and going into the playoffs. I feel maybe injuries – we’re not making excuses, but it did play a part in the series. If you’ve got McLeod and Minard back in your line up, you know, it would definitely make it a lot more solid, especially in the one goal difference in games. We did have a young D Corps against them…it was frustrating, especially when you win two there. You would think you’d come home, with the record that we’ve had; the success we’ve had in our own building, that we would’ve won at least one of them. I think we might have gotten ahead of ourselves a little bit and we’ve got to learn from that.

Q: You’ve been through three seasons now as a head coach; all with very different outcomes. What do you think the culmination of all those experiences taught you?

A: Well, I’ve learned a lot in the last three seasons. The first season, obviously when we were getting started, when everything was new, we were pretty green and everything. But we had a goal in mind and we didn’t make a lot of changes. Our guys worked real hard and we got lucky with a couple of guys. And when you get lucky, you also take a chance, so we took a chance on some guys that you might of thought didn’t have the best numbers but they came in here and did they really well. And the next year we came in and added a few pieces to the puzzle. We already had a good foundation and I think guys had a good taste that we were almost there (to win it all) and they came back with a lot of hunger. Then we ended up adding the right pieces and it worked out – we won it all. Then we signed a lot of guys back and I think we kind of got a little complacent as players and maybe as a coaching staff too. It was a learning experience…our guys, it took them a while to get back into the groove of things again and then again it does take a lot of work; it does take commitment and it does take getting hit. Once they got it, then the young guys started getting it – I think we just got it a little too late last year. We kind of got behind the eight ball. I don’t think it was a terrible year by any means but we didn’t meet our expectations of what we wanted to do, which was repeating…It wasn’t a pretty year.

Q: With recruiting in full swing, is there anything you and Ronnie are doing different this year?

A: I think we’re doing a lot more background checks on guys. We’re calling probably 10 or 15 references before we make the decision on a guy. Before, we might make three or four calls. We’d hear good things, so we ended up signing them. Were doing a lot more research that way but at the end of the day, until you see a guy and see how he fits into your system, you don’t know how it’ll work out. But we’re really trying to fit guys into roles early; identify them early instead of playing it out and waiting until January before we figure that out. We’re going to try and change things up here a little bit this year.

Q: I wanted to get your feelings on a couple of guys who been great leaders on the ice. First, Craig Minard. Minzy suffered a tough injury that put him on season-ending IR in mid-March. What can say about your captain?

A: He’s been the center block of this team since I’ve been here. He’s been the heart and soul of our team. He’s been through the dog days, the good days and then back to the dog days again. It’s unfortunate what happened but he’s such a character guy – everyone loves him. He’s such a great leader. There are not enough guys out there like him and he’s so valuable for our team and our organization. Everyone likes the guy – he’s very friendly with all the players when they first come in and makes them feel very welcome and he’s very tough on guys and he’s not afraid to stand up for his team and to lead by example. He’s willing to say ‘Hey, I’m putting in the work; we need you putting in the work too.’

Q: Then I wanted to ask you about Jordan Cameron, who has been the leading scorer for you over the past three years…

A: You know, Cam’s a special player. He’s one of the most skilled, gifted players in this league and I don’t even think he belongs in this league with the skill level that guy has. Every team or every coach I talk to, they always bring up his name…they think he’s one of the best players and I definitely think that too.

Q: You have a challenge before you in re-building your goaltending for the coming season. How’s that going so far?

A: You know honestly, Jaeger’s are going to be tough shoes to fill. He’s been a fan favorite and he’s done a great job. He’s won a championship for us here. Ronnie’s been all over, phoning goalies. He’s going after the right guys. We feel like we’re looking at the right guys, so hopefully we can fill that void.

Q: What can we expect from the defense, player-wise this season?

A: We’re trying to find the right guys to bring in to play defense. We’re looking to get some guys that we’ve seen before with hopefully some younger guys to come in and prove themselves as well. It’s going to definitely be a new D core. We’ll get some new guys but hopefully we’ll still get some of our guys back…we don’t know yet – it’s up in the air right now.

Q: How hard is it to find players?

A: It’s a time-consuming job…I don’t know if people realize that. We are basically calling 25-30 guys a day, trying to sell our program to them – why wouldn’t they come here, this is the place to be, but it’s tough because a lot of guys want to go to the NHL or the American League and then if they don’t go there, they either consider us or the East Coast League. It’s not an easy job finding their number and tracking them down, getting references. And out of 30 people, there’s one or two that say yes. It just takes some time. It’s a process, that’s all it is.

Q: The biggest news of the off-season is no doubt the integration of IHL teams into the Central Hockey League. What’s your take on this?

A: I think it’s going to be good. I think it’s going to be exciting. It’s going to be nice going to Fort Wayne. I’ve always heard a lot about them and their organization as well as all the other teams joining. I think it’s going to be exciting to travel to new cities and for them, it’s going to be nice having 18 teams in the league instead of playing a few teams every night, game in and game out. It’s nice to have that rivalry but at the end of the day, it’s nice to see other teams as well.

Q: If you overlay the map of the “new CHL” on a map of ECHL cities, you can pretty much see a blueprint of what may someday become a nationwide AA league. Do you think having a single AA developmental league is a good idea?

A: I think that’s the way to go to, tell you the truth. On big AA league – then everyone’s on the same playing field. You’d have more people getting affiliated. That’s what I’d like to see, is more teams getting some affiliations which would bring good, young talent into their city and make this a real developmental league where you’ve got guys going up and down. You see guys that start young and they end up being in the NHL – that’s the ultimate goal. It’s definitely a good blueprint and hopefully it works out well and then it turns out that it makes an impact on the future of hockey.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith