Bulls clinch second heading into playoffs
March 24, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Billings Bulls News Release
It's the eventual conclusion we all saw coming months ago but wasn't made concrete until Sunday afternoon -- the Billings Bulls will meet the Helena Bighorns in the opening round of the 2005 North American Hockey League Robertson Cup Playoffs.
The Bulls put together a valiant late-season charge toward the top of the West Division standings, but in the end, the Fargo-Moorhead Jets held onto that top spot and claimed the regular season West Division Championship. That means that the Bulls, with an impressive 33-17-6 regular season record and 72 points, sealed up the second seed heading into the NAHL Playoffs.
Even though the Helena Bighorns still have two games left this upcoming weekend, there simply aren't enough games left for them to either move up high enough into the two spot or slip low enough to drop all the way down to the fourth seed.
So in the opening round, the Bulls will face off against Helena. The Bighorns are one of only two teams the Bulls had a sub - .500 record against during the regular season. The Bulls were 5-7-2 against Helena during the 14 regular season meetings between the two clubs. Eleven of the 14 meetings were decided by two goals or fewer and four different games had to be decided in either overtime or a shootout.
This series will also feature the three most prolific scorers in the West Division in Brian Kaufman for the Bulls and Brandon Marino and Nate Rein for the Bighorns. Kaufman (pictured above) capped off another stellar season with the Bulls as he led the team in scoring for the second straight season with 32 goals and 34 assists, good for 66 points. Marino and Rein have led Helena's high-flying offense all season long with 62 and 59 points respectively.
But in addition to offensive threats for both clubs, this series will also showcase two of the best goaltenders the West Division has to offer as well. Chad Beiswenger for the Bighorns made more appearances between the pipes than any other goaltender in the league (49) en route to 27 wins coupled with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Jon Anderson made the second most appearances of any goalie in the league (45) while compiling a 25-16-3 record to go along with his 2.88 GAA and a .908 save percentage.
"Ando" and Beiswenger were also tied for the division lead in shutouts with 3 apiece.
The playoff schedule for the Bulls-Bighorns series will be announced on NAHL.com and the Bulls' official website.
North American Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2005
- Kaufmann backstops Ice Dogs to playoffs - Fairbanks Ice Dogs
- Tornado await playoff opponent - Texas Tornado
- Bulls clinch second heading into playoffs - Billings Bulls
- IceDiggers move final home game to Alpena - Alpena IceDiggers
- Santa Fe Families Open Hearts and Homes to Roadrunners - Topeka Pilots
- Pros vs. Prospects: One Magical Night - Texas Tornado
- U.S. National Team weekly report - U.S. National Team
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
