Robertson Cup field set as Barons, Icedogs round out tournament teams

April 28, 2006 - North American Hockey League (NAHL) News Release

Frisco, Texas -- With one-goal victories Friday night, the Cleveland Barons and the Bozeman Icedogs have become the third and fourth teams to win their North American Hockey League Division Finals Series and advance and advance to the Robertson Cup Championship Tournament, to begin May 10 at the Ice Zone in Boardman, Ohio.

The winners of the four Division Finals Series -- Bozeman, Cleveland, the Southern Minnesota Express and the Texas Tornado -- will join the host team Mahoning Valley Phantoms for the five-team Robertson Cup Tournament to determine the 2006 NAHL champion in the league's 30th season.

The Robertson Cup Tournament schedule will be officially announced shortly.

The Barons did it the hard way, defeating the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-17 Team 3-2 on Friday night to win three straight games and bounce back from a 3-1 deficit in the North Division Finals Series, capturing the final two games on the road in Ann Arbor.

In the finale, the Barons got an goal and assist each from Ryan Ward and Eric Rex. Goaltender Bobby Jarosz stopped 39 of 40 USNTDP shots to record the victory. Cleveland's series win was the only 2006 NAHL playoff series in which a lower seeded team defeated a higher seeded team, although the Barons had won the season series against the Under-17 Team.

The Icedogs won their West Division Finals Series in five games against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, capped off by a 2-1 victory on Friday night. Cody Omilusik recorded a goal and assist and goaltender Matt Dalton stopped 18 of 19 shots in the deciding game for Bozeman, who continue their dream season after finishing first overall in the regular season and breaking records in the process.

The Cleveland and Bozeman victories set up an exciting Robertson Cup field, which includes the two-time defending champion Texas team and a Southern Minnesota team bidding to become the first expansion team since the 1983-84 St. Clair Shores Falcons to win the Robertson Cup in their inaugural season.

The shutout goaltending of Troy Redmann and goals by Justin King and Brett Blatchford, the latter into an empty net, propelled the Tornado past the Texarkana Bandits last Monday night, as Texas swept the Southern Division Finals Series in four games.

Redmann is tied with Dalton among all NAHL goalies with seven playoff victories. He leads all goalies with three playoff shutouts.

For Texas, this will be their third consecutive trip to the Robertson Cup Championship and they will attempt to become the first team to win three consecutive titles since the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors won the Robertson Cup five times between 1986 and 1990.

The Express swept their series against the Fargo-Moorhead Jets last weekend. Southern Minnesota was paced by the stellar goaltending of Eric Largen, who came on in relief in the series' opening game and has been in the net ever since, and the scoring of Sean Murphy, who had three goals and four assists in the series.

The Phantoms, who fell to Cleveland three games to two in a best-of-five Division Semi-Finals Series earlier in April, finished the regular season only two points behind the Barons in the North Division.

The Division Finals round proved highly competitive, despite the fact that two series were decided in sweeps. one went five games and only one went the full seven contests. Sixteen of the 20 games played in this round were decided by two goals or less. Seven were decided in overtime, another five were one goal regulation decisions, two were two-goal decisions by virtue of an empty net goal and another two were two-goal games.

The Division Final results are as follows:

SERIES I: USNTDP (UNDER-17) VS. CLEVELAND BARONS

Apr. 14: Cleveland 2 at USNTDP 3 OT
Apr. 15: Cleveland 2 at USNTDP 1
Apr. 21: USNTDP 3 at Cleveland 2
Apr. 22: USNTDP 4 at Cleveland 3
Apr. 23: USNTDP 3 at Cleveland 4 OT
Apr. 27: Cleveland 2 at USNTDP 1 OT
Apr. 28: Cleveland 3 at USNTDP 2

Cleveland wins series 4-3

2005-06 Regular Season results:

Sep 24: USNTDP 2 at Cleveland 1 SO
Sep 25: USNTDP 2 at Cleveland 4
Sep 27: USNTDP 6 at Cleveland 2
Oct 1: USNTDP 10 at Cleveland 2
Oct 2: USNTDP 5 at Cleveland 1
Nov 23: Cleveland 2 at USNTDP 0
Dec 6: Cleveland 2 at USNTDP 1 OT
Dec 11: Cleveland 2 at USNTDP 3
Feb 2: Cleveland 7 at USNTDP 0
Feb 18: USNTDP 4 at Cleveland 3
Mar 5: Cleveland 1 at USNTDP 0
Mar 18: USNTDP 1 at Cleveland 2
Mar 19: USNTDP 1 at Cleveland 2
Mar 20: Cleveland 1 at USNTDP 2

Cleveland wins regular season series, 7-6-1; Cleveland wins regular season from the U-17 squad, 7-2-1.

SERIES J: TEXAS TORNADO VS. TEXARKANA BANDITS

Apr. 14: Texarkana 5 at Texas 6 OT
Apr. 15: Texarkana 0 at Texas 8
Apr. 17: Texas 3 at Texarkana 2 OT
Apr. 24: Texas 2 at Texarkana 0

Texas wins series 4-0

2005-06 Regular Season results:

Oct 7: Texarkana 2 at Texas 3
Oct 8: Texarkana 5 at Texas 6
Oct 13: Texas 2 at Texarkana 6
Oct 15: Texas 1 at Texarkana 2
Oct 29: Texarkana 4 at Texas 3
Nov 11: Texas 1 at Texarkana 5
Nov 12: Texas 4 at Texarkana 1
Nov 25: Texarkana 1 at Texas 4
Nov 26: Texarkana 1 at Texas 0 OT
Jan 6: Texas 5 at Texarkana 4 OT
Jan 7: Texas 2 at Texarkana 1
Feb 22: Texarkana 2 at Texas 1

Teams tie regular season series, 6-5-1.

SERIES K: SOUTHERN MINNESOTA EXPRESS VS. FARGO-MOORHEAD JETS

Apr. 14:
Fargo-Moorhead 2 at S. Minnesota 4
Apr. 15:
Fargo-Moorhead 0 at S. Minnesota 6
Apr. 21:
S. Minnesota 2 at Fargo-Moorhead 1 OT
Apr. 22:
S. Minnesota 4 at Fargo-Moorhead 3 OT

Southern Minnesota wins series 4-0

2005-06 Regular Season results:

Oct 7: S. Minnesota 3 at Fargo-Moorhead 4
Oct 8: Fargo-Moorhead 5 at S. Minnesota 3
Nov 13: Fargo-Moorhead 3 at S. Minnesota 4 SO
Dec 28: S. Minnesota 3 at Fargo-Moorhead 4
Dec 29: S. Minnesota 3 at Fargo-Moorhead 4
Jan 13: Fargo-Moorhead 2 at S. Minnesota 3
Mar 17: S.Minnesota 1 at Fargo-Moorhead 0

Fargo-Moorhead wins regular season series 4-2-1.

SERIES L: BOZEMAN ICEDOGS VS. FAIRBANKS ICE DOGS

Apr. 14: Bozeman 2 at Fairbanks 2
Apr. 15: Bozeman 4 at Fairbanks 2
Apr. 21: Fairbanks 2 at Bozeman 7
Apr. 22: Fairbanks 1 at Bozeman 5
Apr. 28: Fairbanks 1 at Bozeman 2

Bozeman wins series 4-1

2005-06 Regular Season results:

Oct 14: Bozeman 4 at Fairbanks 3 SO
Oct 15: Bozeman 5 at Fairbanks 3
Dec 8: Fairbanks 4 at Bozeman 3 SO
Dec 9: Fairbanks 1 at Bozeman 2 SO

Bozeman wins regular season series 3-0-1

North American Hockey League Stories from April 28, 2006

• Robertson Cup field set as Barons, Icedogs round out tournament teams - NAHL
• 3-2 Cleveland Win Ends U.S. National Under-17 Team's Season - U.S. National Team
• Icedogs Wrap Up Home Games This Weekend - Bozeman Icedogs

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