Monast, Neal among four assigned by AHL's Texas Stars

(Boise, ID) ? Four players were sent to the Idaho Steelheads by the AHL?s Texas Stars on Wednesday, including two members of last season?s National Conference championship team. Forwards Michael Neal and Matt Tassone along with defensemen Guillaume Monast and Tyler Ludwig have been assigned to Idaho by Texas. Neal appeared in 57 games with the Steelheads last season, scoring five goals and handing out ten assists. He added an assist in five playoff games. Neal also appeared in six games with Texas at the AHL level, handing out one assist in those games. Monast only scored six points (all assists) in 68 regular-season contests with Idaho, but he finished the campaign a whopping plus-30 in plus/minus rating. That carried over to the postseason as well, where he finished plus-15 in thirteen playoff games and also scored his first professional goal during the team?s run to the Kelly Cup finals. Ludwig is the twin brother of former Steelhead defenseman Trevor Ludwig. He appeared in seven games for Texas in the AHL after wrapping up his college career at Western Michigan. During his four seasons with WMU, he scored 16 goals from the Bronco blue line. Tassone signed an AHL contract with Texas in September after playing the past five seasons with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League. During his major junior career, the 20-year-old center scored 73 goals, including 36 in 2008-2009. Tassone was a sixth-round pick by the Dallas Stars in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Idaho (ECHL) and Texas (AHL) are the primary development affiliates of the NHL?s Dallas Stars. The Steelheads have a pair of exhibition games this weekend, Friday night at Qwest Arena in Boise in the first-ever, Higgins and Rutledge ?Season-Ticket Holders Only? game and Saturday night in Logan, UT. Both games are against the Utah Grizzlies. The Steelheads open the regular season on October 15 when they host the Victoria Salmon Kings at Qwest Arena. Ticket plans for the 2010-2011 season are available right now, starting at just $275 per seat for all 36 home games during the regular season. Partial-season plans are also available. Contact the Steelheads front office at 208.383.0080 for more information.