Tornado fall in Chowder Cup quarters to eventual champs
August 11, 2004 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
"We did what we wanted to and a lot of scouts got a good, first look at our guys."
With those words, Texas Tornado head coach Tony Curtale summed up his team's weekend in the Boston suburb of Walpole, Massachusetts, at the annual pre-season tournament, the Chowder Cup, which includes some of the best players in the junior and college ranks on 40 teams.
The Tornado lost in the quarter-final round to the New England Alouettes, the eventual champs of the tournament, 2-1 on Sunday in a shortened 30-minute contest. The Tornado got a goal from Karl Sellan, but failed to convert on some early chances.
The line of Tom Train, Brad Cooper and Karl Sellan had dominated the first three games of the Chowder Cup for Texas. Train had three goals and six assists for nine points, one shy of the tournament best. Sellan added three goals and three assists. Cooper had one goal and five assists.
Goaltender Ben Bishop shut out Northern Elite 4-0 in the Tornado's third contest of the tournament on Saturday, a game in which Sellan scored twice and Train and Chris Nichols each added a goal. Brad Cooper added three assists in that game.
The Tornado was also very impressive on Friday in the most anticipated match-up of the tournament, when they notched a 6-1 win over Hub City Red, a team loaded with eight NCAA Division I players, three USHL players, and one player from the Quebec Major Junior League. Rookie Sean McCauley had two goals and Nick Mazzolini, Train, Sellan, and Cooper added the others. Rookie goaltender Eddie Wheeler got the win.
The Tornado opened the tournament with a 5-2 win over the Jr. Bruins, a team with seven NCAA Division I players on it. Sellan had two goals, while Train, Bryan Horrigan and Justin Liut had the other goals for Texas. Bishop got the win in his first start. The Tornado were faced with an early 1-0 deficit, but scored five unanswered goals. "The team we played against was one of the top in the East, so I thought we played very well without having even had a practice together," said Curtale following the opening game on Thursday. "Our defense had a very good night. The veteran defensmen all played well including Bryan Horrigan, Tyler Ludwig, Austin Miller, and Brett Blatchford."
Tornado veteran defenseman Matt Krug played in his first competitive game since January and also played well according to Curtale. "He looked 100 percent healed and now it is just a matter of getting his timing back."
Next up for the Tornado is training camp in Frisco, Texas, where the 25-man roster will have their first practice on August 18th.
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