New Allen, Texas CHL franchise to be NHL affiliate

ALLEN, Texas — The Central Hockey League announced today the addition of an Allen, Texas franchise for the 2009-10 season. Ownership of the new franchise has been awarded to Top Shelf, LLC, whose principal owners are Douglas H. Miller and former NHL star Steve Duchesne . Miller is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EXCO Resources, Inc., a local independent oil and natural gas company. He has been a major contributor to youth hockey in the Dallas area for the past 17 years, providing financial support to countless families so that their sons could remain in the sport. For the past nine years, Miller has subsidized the Dallas Stars AAA Midget Hockey Club.
 
Duchesne is a former three-time NHL all-star defenseman who played in 1,113 career games over 17 seasons. The high-scoring defenseman ranks 17th on the NHL’s all-time defensemen scoring list and has won a Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002. He retired after that accomplishment. Since moving to the Dallas area in 2003, he has been very active in the youth hockey community and was a coach for the Dallas Stars Midget AAA Hockey club in 2007.
 
The league also announced a developmental affiliation between the new franchise and the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars .
 
“We believe that given the hockey experience the Top Shelf organization brings to the CHL, an affiliation with them will be strategic as one of the spokes of that player development strategy,” said Jeff Cogen, President of the Dallas Stars .  “We wish them great success in the undertaking, and look forward to working with them in developing future NHL Dallas Stars.”
 
The as-of-yet unnamed team will become the eighth active CHL franchise in the state of Texas and will call the new state-of-the-art Allen Event Center home. The new venue will seat 6,235 fans for hockey and is currently under construction with an opening planned for this November . The announcement follows the approval from the Allen City Council on the team’s lease with the new Allen Event Center. 
 
Nearby, the Texas Brahmas CHL franchise welcomed a new rival to the area.
 
“This is so exciting to have a cross-town franchise,” Brahmas General Manager Mike Barack said. “Fans remember the old Dallas-Fort Worth rivalry, which has now been re-established in the suburbs of North Richland Hills and Allen.  We believe this will enhance the overall interest in professional hockey and the CHL throughout the Metroplex.”
 
Contact the author at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com