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Texas Tourney Preview
TORNADO ENJOY CONTINUED
UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
By Alex “Cheeks” Kyrias, Texas Tornado
From the Stanley Cup to the Super bowl, great accomplishments in sports are often appreciated after they are achieved. The how and why of it all is answered only after it has been accomplished.
Enter the Texas Tornado Hockey team... Whether you have followed the Tornado since their inception in 1999, or when they moved to their new home in Frisco in 2003, or after winning their two Robertson Cup Championships in 2004 and 2005, one thing is for sure… what is happening right now is history in the making.
As the 20-team North American Hockey League playoffs culminate with the 2006 NAHL Robertson Cup Championships this May, the Texas Tornado will try to accomplish what few teams have ever done in the history of United States Junior ‘A’ Hockey… win three straight championships.
However, if there is any team to set the record, it may as well be the Tornado, because since they became the first junior hockey team in the Southwest back in 1999… breaking records, setting standards, and raising the competitive bar is what they have done best.
As the Tornado was completing a sweep of the Texarkana Bandits in the South Division Finals with a 2-0 win over the Texarkana Bandits, Texas Tornado head coach and general manager Tony Curtale paused for reflection on what his team had just accomplished… winning its third straight NAHL South Division Playoff title.
“This unprecedented success is a testament to the strong and committed ownership, our incredible fans, and all of the Texas Tornado players,” he said.
Combine the three straight playoff titles with the seven straight NAHL regular season division titles and seven straight 40-plus win seasons, and the Tornado have rewritten the NAHL record book. Their seventh straight division crown this season tied a 30-year NAHL record, originally set back in 1976 by the Paddock Pools Saints from Michigan, and their seven straight 40+ win seasons is an ongoing NAHL record.
“Every year is special for me with these players because it is all about providing them a good experience, and we have been fortunate enough to have some very good players and teams help in this accomplishment,” said Curtale.
A key element to this success is the coaching. Under Curtale’s direction, the Tornado have won an incredible 77 percent of their games during their seven-year history, all of which has been with Curtale as head coach and GM.
However, Curtale’s devotion and impact runs much deeper. His knowledge of the game and the business helped to establish and develop the Texas Tornado organization from the ground up back in 1999, and earned him the NAHL Executive of the Year. The Tornado established an entirely new fan base in a state which had never seen junior hockey before, while winning an NAHL expansion record 42 games.
In 2003-04, Curtale was named NAHL Coach of Year, as the Texas Tornado set an all-time NAHL record with 48 wins. However, Curtale’s ultimate impact is felt by his players. Curtale explains that years after his players are gone, they still come back to “coach” and thank him for his guidance and direction during a time in their lives when there is a level of uncertainty and growth.
“So much about what we try and teach is about life experiences,” explains Curtale. “We want our players to have an unforgettable experience during their time with us and so much of that is helping them with their life and hockey.” Combine all this with the fact that, alongside the U.S. National Team Development Program, his players are the most scouted and developed in the league, and it is easy to understand why the Texas Tornado has placed over 70 players in NCAA or professional hockey programs in just seven years.
What has made the Tornado on-ice accomplishments even more impressive is that unlike the NHL, where players can stay with the same team for years, the goal of the Tornado is to move almost half their roster on to college and professional hockey from year to year. Every year is literally a rebuilding year for the Tornado.
“People need to understand that half your roster leaving from year to year is a good thing,” said Curtale. “The ultimate goal here is to keep guys for one to two years, and move them on. We get as much satisfaction in seeing our players have success after they have moved on to other programs, as we do when they are here succeeding for the Tornado.”
This year’s string of on-ice success did not come easy for the Tornado. At the start of the season, the Tornado was faced with their youngest team ever, with an average age of only 18.3.
The biggest question was goaltending, who would replace Ben Bishop? Bishop not only backstopped the Tornado to a second straight National Title last season, but was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the summer of 2005. He then led University of Maine to this year’s NCAA Frozen Four, and was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie team.
Enter goaltender Troy Redmann.
Redmann was a veteran goaltender with NAHL experience, and performed beyond all expectations during the regular season. “People understand me now when I say that Troy Redmann is worthy of MVP consideration,” said Curtale. “He gives us an opportunity to win every game, and comes up with the big saves when we need it.” Redmann finished second overall in NAHL regular season goaltending statistics and led the league in games and minutes played. As a team, the Tornado allowed the second fewest goals against in the entire league this season.
Maybe the most exciting thing about this year’s Texas Tornado was the rookie class. “I have said it many times, but I believe this year’s rookie class could go down as the best in Tornado history,” said Curtale.
One of those rookies is defenseman Lyon Messier. Messier is the son of former NHL superstar and second all-time leading scorer Mark Messier, but Lyon’s game is all his own. Messier is a defenseman who loves to hit, but also enjoys joining the rush, which gives Tornado fans a hint of the forward in him. He led all Tornado rookie defenseman in scoring. Earlier this season, his father paid a couple visits to the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Frisco to see his son play and was in awe of what has transpired since his time playing junior hockey back in the late 1970’s.
“Lyon is playing at one of the top junior facilities in the county,” said Messier during an interview on the Tornado Hockey Network. “Hopefully he can take advantage of the unbelievable situation here in Texas and become a better hockey player. Plus, the talent level of the league is amazing. These guys skate so well, and have tremendous size and speed.”
Recent Tornado players with NHL ties aren’t just limited to Messier.
Back in 2003, when the Tornado moved to their new surroundings in Frisco, a set of twins came to the forefront. Trevor and Tyler Ludwig were fresh-faced prospects who both showed signs of walking in the footsteps of their former NHL veteran father, Craig Ludwig, who now works for the Dallas Stars.
Success came easy for the Ludwig boys while playing for the Tornado. Trevor, now a sophomore defenseman at Providence College, scored 32 points in his final season with the Tornado and was a 2004 draft pick of the Dallas Stars. Tyler, was on his way to Western Michigan University this past fall, but was sidelined with a serious knee injury two weeks before going to school. He returned to the Tornado line-up in late February and has made a huge impact ever since. Ludwig will finish out his junior career with the Tornado before heading to Western Michigan to begin his collegiate career in the fall.
Since joining the Tornado in 2003, perhaps no players have progressed more than Tornado defenseman Brett Blatchford, pictured at left, and Tornado forward Karl Sellan. Blatchford has quietly, but effectively become a leader and arguably the best defenseman in the league. Blatchford led all NAHL defenseman in points this season, and this fall will become the first Texas Tornado player to move onto the University of Notre Dame.
Sellan’s breakout season came in 2004-05 when he set a Tornado single-season record in goals (43), while also leading the league in that category. The unfortunate thing for Sellan was now everyone in the league knew who he was and what he was capable of and, despite being a marked man for the 2005-06 season, Sellan has responded. He led the league in goals for a second straight season, and has become the all-time leading scorer in Tornado history.
“It goes to show you that despite everyone knowing who these guys (Blatchford and Sellan) are, they still manage to get the job done on a nightly basis. Great players find a way to succeed, and Karl and Brett have both done that,” said Curtale.
The Tornado has also enjoyed a large amount of off-ice success, thanks in large part to owner and president, Kirby Schlegel. During the past three seasons, the Tornado has averaged 3,470 fans per game, which is tops in the NAHL, and puts the Tornado close to capacity on a nightly basis.
Schlegel was the visionary behind the successful Pros vs. Prospects Tornado Charity Classic. Originally established in 2005 because of the NHL lockout, the Pros vs. Prospects Classic was created so that fans of the NHL, and specifically those of the Dallas Stars could see their favorite NHL stars play in a game during the season in which there was unfortunately no NHL hockey being played. Schlegel contacted NHL players such as Dallas Stars captain Mike Modano, who also has a small ownership stake in the Texas Tornado, as well as other Dallas Stars players such as Sergei Zubov, Marty Turco, and Brenden Morrow. After word spread of the game between the NHL stars and the Tornado, Schlegel, whose family is renowned for their philanthropic work in the arena, decided that all proceeds from the game, including ticket sales, would go directly to charity.
The game sold out in less than four hours, and on March 25, 2005, a record crowd of over 4,200 fans watched the Pros team defeat a determined Tornado team, 6-2. Fans came away from the game with a new appreciation for the Texas Tornado, not only because of the ability to be competitive with current NHL players, but because Schlegel and staff had brought everyone together for a night of charity and hockey during a time of unrest in the NHL.
The much-anticipated sequel to the inaugural Pros vs. Prospects came this past February, but this year it was a group of former NHL stars such as: Brett Hull, Dave Gagner, Neal Broten, Bill Ranford, Bernie Nicholls, Craig Ludwig, and others who defeated the Tornado, 8-6. The past two Pros vs. Prospects Tornado Charity Classics have raised significant amounts of money for charity, and all indications are that it has now become an annual event.
Because of the swift success of the Tornado, Schlegel took his partnership with the Dallas Stars to the next level this past summer by acquiring the ownership rights to the Iowa Stars of the American Hockey League, now the primary AAA minor league affiliate to the Dallas Stars.
Call it optimism, call it destiny, but hockey fans are witnessing history in the making. Looking back to 1999 no one thought an expansion team in Texas had a chance. Seven years later, people are now talking about an unprecedented third straight Championship.
It seems like a fairy tale, but in reality it is pure history. A story the Texas Tornado would like to continue to write year after year.
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