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Austin Bruins

Fairbanks Wins 2nd Title

May 11, 2014 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Austin Bruins News Release


The clock struck midnight on the most successful season in Austin Bruins franchise history Saturday night at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Bruins (48-23-3) were defeated 6-2 by the Fairbanks Ice Dogs (55-16-3), who swept the best-of-three series to win their second Robertson Cup in team history.

For the second night in a row, the Bruins opened up the scoring in the first period on the power-play. Bemidji State University commit Jay Dickman (Shoreview, MN) pulled the string on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle and beat Ice Dogs goalie Kevin Aldridge (Beverly Hills, MI) at 7:52 of the period. Fairbanks went on the man-advantage for the first time in the series late in the frame and Viktor Liljegren (Stockholm, Sweden) scooped up a rebound and beat Austin goaltender Nick Lehr (Roseville, MN) to tie the game 1-1 with 4:22 left in the period.

The wheels fell off the wagon for Austin in the second period, as Fairbanks generated the first eight shots on goal, including a tap-in goal by Colton Wolter (Fairbanks, AK) at 4:40 of the frame after the Bruins struggled to clear their zone. The Ice Dogs would make it 3-1 on Liljegren's second goal of the night. After his first shot was blocked in the left circle, Liljegren got his own rebound and picked the top corner of the Bruins net. Fairbanks scored its second power-play goal at 13:17 when Colorado College commit Duggie Lagrone stepped up from the blue line and ripped a shot into the top shelf to give the Ice Dogs a 4-1 lead going into the third. Shots in the second period were 14-4 in favor of the home team.

Wolter scored again early in the third to open the lead to 5-1 as the Ice Dogs cruised to the win. Niko Hildenbrand (Vacaville, CA) tallied his sixth goal of the playoffs with just under five minutes left in the game for the Bruins, and the Ice Dogs added an empty-netter in the final minutes on their way to their first title since 2011.

The 2013-14 Bruins reached unprecedented heights on their way to the runner-up finish on the final weekend of the playoffs. It was the furtherest the organization has gone in its four years in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). Austin won the Central Division Title in both the regular season and the playoffs, and the Bruins 48 wins is most in team history. The Bruins graduate 11 players from the junior hockey level, and had six current players commit to Division 1 hockey programs throughout the year. The Bruins total attendance in 35 regular season and playoff games this year was 43,265, averaging 1,236 per night. The team would like to thank its entire fan base (the best fans in the NAHL) for the tremendous support all season long.

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