Robertson Cup National Championship on Horizon
April 23, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
Just 10 days remain before the beginning of the Robertson Cup, as six teams will vie for the honor of being crowned 2011-2012 NAHL champions. With the tournament being hosted at Dr Pepper Arena, The Texas Tornado have an automatic bid into the tournament. They are currently waiting to see who will join them in Frisco, but in the meantime, that doesn't mean the preparation has stopped.
"We're looking at the break as a positive," Tornado head coach and general manager Tony Curtale said. "This gives us a chance to really fine-tune our game and add some wrinkles, as well. We already feel that we're the best conditioned team in the league, and now we get a chance to continue to get rested and healthy."
Texas is in search of its fifth Robertson Cup championship, including the first since a string of three straight from 2004-2006. The Tornado were eliminated from a South Division championship on April 12th, however, after dropping the first three games of a best-of-five series against the Topeka Roadrunners. Though the Tornado were swept, the three games were decided by a combined four goals with two of those games going to overtime. The two teams were fairly evenly-matched all season long, as well, as Texas managed a 3-2-1 record over Topeka in the regular season.
With their playoff victory, the Roadrunners advanced to the second round of the South Division playoffs to face the Amarillo Bulls, who led the NAHL in points this season with 99. The Tornado last faced the Bulls in February, when they went on the road and swept a weekend series in Amarillo. The winner of the Topeka-Amarillo series will move on to the Robertson Cup, along with the champions of the four other NAHL divisions.
Regardless of which teams advance out of the divisional playoffs and into the Robertson Cup, the Tornado already have their game times on the schedule. The pool play portion of the tournament begins on Thursday, May 3rd and will continue through Saturday, May 5th. Each team will have one game each day of pool play, but the Tornado will be playing at 7:30 p.m. on all three nights. Before, in between, or after games, all fans are encouraged to stop by the Robertson Cup Beer Garden, which will be located to the left of the box office outside Dr Pepper Arena. Beginning at 11:00 a.m. each morning of pool play, there will be games, music, live entertainment and beer available for purchase all the way through the second period of the final game of night. For ticket information, visit robertsoncup.com or call 972-335-9800.
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