Three game road swing greets Tornado before next home stand
Published on March 8, 2006 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
Fresh off a home sweep of the Bozeman IceDogs, the Texas Tornado now prepare for a three-game road swing through Springfield, Illinois this weekend and Wichita Falls next Thursday. It will be the last three road games of the 2005-06 regular season for the Texas Tornado. On Friday, March 10th at 7:30pm and Saturday, March 11th at 7:05pm, the Tornado (37-11-3, 77 pts.) will play the Springfield Jr. Blues (25-23-4, 54 pts.). Both games will be broadcast LIVE from Springfield on the Tornado Hockey Network on tornadohockey.com, beginning with the eLinkSystems Pre-Game Show 10 minutes prior to face-off. The Tornado has faced the Jr. Blues only twice this season. Those games came back on September 23rd and 24th in Frisco, and the Tornado won both by scores of 5-1 and 4-2. The Jr. Blues are currently sitting in 3rd place in the NAHL South Division, but are being pressured heavily by the Wichita Falls Wildcats for the 3rd spot. The Santa Fe Roadrunners are also still in the playoff mix just four points out of a playoff spot.
Its a St. Patrick's Day and 100.3 JACK FM weekend March 17th and 18th
The Texas Tornado has teamed up with 100.3 JACK FM for their home games on St. Patrick's Day Weekend! The Texas Tornado will play host to the Wichita Falls Wildcats on Friday, March 17th and Saturday, March 18th at 7:30pm at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Frisco. For both games, the Texas Tornado and 100.3 JACK FM are offering fans a special weekend special. For only $10.03 fans can get a premium level ticket, a Dr Pepper, and a hot dog! That's only $10.03! During the Friday night game on St. Patrick's Day, the Texas Tornado players will be wearing special St. Patrick's Day Tornado Jerseys that will be auctioned off following the game for charity. To order tickets to these exciting home games, you can stop by or call the Tornado office at 972-335-9800.
Tornado Secure Home Ice for 1st Round of 2006 NAHL Playoffs
The Texas Tornado has clinched home ice for the 1st round of the 2006 NAHL Playoffs! The Tornado will host either the Springfield Jr. Blues, Wichita Falls Wildcats, or Santa Fe Roadrunners in a Best of Five 1st round NAHL South Division Semi-Final series. Home Playoff Game #1 of the South Division Semi-finals will be on Saturday, April 1st at 7:30pm, and Home Playoff Game #2 will be on Sunday, April 2nd at 6:00pm, both at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Frisco. Tickets are on sale now for the first two home 2006 NAHL playoff games, and can be purchased by stopping by or calling the Texas Tornado office at 972-335-9800.
Tornado Silence Top 'Dogs
Bozeman's 42-6-1 record supplied the IceDogs with a lot of bark heading into their two road games this past weekend against the Texas Tornado, however it was the Tornado that did all the biting as they not only swept the two games in Frisco on Saturday (2-1) and Sunday (3-1), but also swept the season series from the IceDogs with a perfect 4-0-0 record. As advertised, the Saturday night contest in Frisco between the Texas Tornado and Bozeman IceDogs was a battle of two of the league's top goaltenders. The crowd of 3,918 was treated to an unbelievable back and forth game that saw the Tornado fire an amazing 51 shots towards Bozeman goaltender Matt Dalton. The IceDogs struck first blood, as the league's best power play wasted no time converting on a Tornado bench minor penalty as Mark Columbus tipped in a shot from the point from Brian Moore to give the IceDogs a 1-0 lead after the first period despite the 18-7 Tornado shot advantage. The second period opened with more Tornado pressure. A scrum in front of the IceDogs net sent the puck back out to point and #6 Devrin Stonehouse slapped one past Dalton on the power play for a 1-1 tie. Bozeman would start the third period with a flurry, but some spectacular saves by Tornado goaltender #33 Troy Redmann kept the Tornado in the game. Both teams had multiple 3rd period power plays to try and gain the advantage, but defense and goaltending were tight. A Bozeman penalty with 2:41 remaining gave the Tornado the power play that they would ultimately win the game on. With a little more than a minute remaining, #2 Mike Olmstead controlled the face-off and sent a slap shot in on Dalton that was originally stopped, but Tornado forward #11 Ryan Fuller kept chipping at it. Eventually the puck squirted free to Tornado rookie forward #14 Tom Brooks who popped the puck over a sprawled Dalton for a 2-1 lead with :57 seconds remaining. Despite having Dalton pulled for the final :42 seconds the IceDogs couldn't mount a final attack and the Tornado moved their record to 3-0-0 this year against the IceDogs.
Sunday's game between Bozeman and Texas again live up to the hype of strong defense. To begin the game, Bozeman took two consecutive penalties that gave the Tornado a 5 on 3. The Tornado responded with a power play goal from #26 Derek Danowski who tapped home a rebound from a shot from #28 Karl Sellan. It would be the only goal of the 1st period that saw the shots even at 7-7. The 2nd period saw more penalties and more power plays. The Tornado took advantage as #11 Ryan Fuller tapped home a rebound try from #8 Dylan Cooper and #15 Sean Roadhouse. The IceDogs got a 5 on 3 of their own and converted as Graham McManamin fired home a bomb from the point past and screened #33 Troy Redmann. It would be all that Bozeman would get however, as the Tornado shut the door the rest of the way, allowing only 16 shots the entire night. The 3rd period saw more power plays and more chances. The Tornado thought they had gone up by two, but a goal by #7 Nielsson Arcibal was waived off due to a covered puck. With Bozeman goaltender Matt Dalton pulled, the IceDogs playing their 4th game in four days, could not muster an attack and #28 Karl Sellan iced the game with an unassisted empty-net goal. The win pulled to the Tornado to within three points of idle Texarkana.
Upcoming Texas Tornado Games:
Friday, March 10th @ Springfield Jr. Blues, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 11th @ Springfield Jr. Blues, 7:05pm
Thursday, March 16th @ Wichita Falls Wildcats, 7:05pm
Friday, March 17th vs. Wichita Falls Wildcats, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 18th vs. Wichita Falls Wildcats, 7:30pm
Friday, March 24th vs. Santa Fe Roadrunners, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 25th vs. Santa Fe Roadrunners, 7:30pm
North American Hockey League Stories from March 8, 2006
- Geoffrion continues great hockey dynasty - NAHL
- NAHL Names Players of the Week - NAHL
- U.S. National Under-18 Team Outshines EJHL All-Stars 5-2 - U.S. National Team
- Dog Pound Weekly - Bozeman Icedogs
- Kraemer Commits to Northern Michigan for 06-07 - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Ace Celebrates Third Birthday This Weekend - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
- Phantoms Meyer commits to West Point - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Three game road swing greets Tornado before next home stand - Texas Tornado
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