Series Preview
April 20, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Topeka Pilots News Release
The rivalry that exists today between the Topeka RoadRunners and Amarillo Bulls sprung up quickly. In their inaugural season last year, the Bulls faced Topeka a dozen times in the regular season, with the "ËRunners fashioning a 7-4-1 record. It was in the postseason when Amarillo rose to the occasion.
It was one year ago today that began the unraveling of the RoadRunners season. Having already won the South Division title, and the Presidents Cup for best record in the NAHL, Topeka had battled through a surprisingly tough first round with Wichita Falls, and had beaten Amarillo in Game 1 of the South Division Finals. On April 16, 2011, in Game 2, the RoadRunners suffered a three minute meltdown that changed everything. Leading 3-0 midway through the third period, the RoadRunners collapsed to allow four Amarillo goals in the span of 2:52 and could not find the equalizer. Instead of a commanding 2-0 series lead, the series was now even and headed to Texas. Topeka won Game 3 and had a chance to close out the series in Game 4, but a late second period 2-1 lead evaporated into a 4-2 loss, and even though Game 5 was in Topeka, two Bulls goals scored :35 seconds apart in the second period lifted Amarillo to a series win and a berth in the Robertson Cup Tournament. For good measure, a Jordan Davis hat trick was wasted in 4-3 Bulls win during the tournament itself.
The Bulls reloaded and hit the ground running in 2011-12, leading the South Division wire-to-wire while posting an impressive 46-7-7 record en route to a South Division title and Presidents Cup award. For the "ËRunners, a much different path has brought them to the Finals. Riddled with a staggering amount of injuries and unprecedented loss of mangames, Topeka used a record number of affiliate players and emergency goaltenders just to field a team. Somehow, the RoadRunners still managed to finish the year 38-18-4, good for second place in the South. In the SemiFinal round, Topeka dispatched Texas in three straight, while Amarillo defeated Odessa in 4 games leading to the South Division Final rematch.
Topeka won the last two head to head meetings, both in Amarillo and both by way of a shootout. The "ËRunners were 3-5-0 against the Bulls, and enter the series 12-13-1 all-time, but an unintimidating 7-4-1 in games played at the Amarillo Civic Center. Topeka was led in scoring by Ryan White, who also along with Ben Bahe had the most points (7) against the Bulls. Amarillo was led by Brooks Behling with 13 points in head to head action. Topeka's Peter Traber had all three Topeka wins in net while Gregg Gruehl went 4-0-1 for the Bulls. Amarillo has split goaltending duties between Gruehl and Mike Taffe. Amarillo has a decided advantage in special teams numbers over the 60-game season, though head to head the numbers are comparable. The Bulls average about 5 minutes per game more than Topeka in penalty time. Amarillo also gets a lot of shots on goal, averaging 40 a game, about 9 more per game than the RoadRunners. And in the playoffs, with a lot of emphasis is placed on scoring first, it's interesting to note the Bulls went 32-0-3 when scoring first in 2011-12.
Games 1 and 2 are Friday and Saturday in Amarillo. Game 3 and, if necessary, Game 4 will be in Topeka next Thursday and Friday. If a Game 5 is required in would be in Amarillo on Monday April 30. The winner will advance to the Robertson Cup Tournament in Frisco, TX beginning May 3.
North American Hockey League Stories from April 20, 2012
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