Rumblings in Texas

Ever since I heard over two weeks ago that Tony Curtale had been fired as head coach of the Texas Tornado, rumors have persisted as to what the next steps would be for the Tornado franchise. What has been consistent is that 1) Dallas Stars Midget AAA coach Dwight Mullins would be the new head coach and 2) Doug Miller (father of former Tornado defenseman Austin Miller) would assume at least a partial ownership in the franchise. Other pieces of this puzzle include 3) Craig Ludwig named assistant coach and 4) Steve Duchesne replacing Mullins as the Stars' coach. Now the Stars are fueling these rumors with a pair of statements on their website. The first is a tease that Duchesne has been adding to the coaching staff. The second is the following: STARS AND TEXAS TORNADO JOIN FORCES!! The Dallas Stars AAA Hockey Club and the Jr. A Texas Tornado have joined forces to form an unequalled hockey development program for elite players age 15-20. Both news bits are teases in that they more-or-less say "stay tuned" for more information. So why not get it all out in the open? My guess is that the "more information" required a modest degree of coordination with the Tornado, so if we're lucky we'll know something this week. In any case, it looks as if things are starting to come together. The only remaining question then becomes "what's next for Tony Curtale?" My guess is the answer is probably... yes.