Tornado Advance to Robertson Cup Tournament
April 25, 2006 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
Frisco, Texas - Another step on the way to the Tornado Threepeat is complete. With a 2-0 Game 4 win in Texarkana Monday night, the Texas Tornado won the NAHL South Division Playoff Championship for the third straight season and punched their ticket to Boardman, Ohio, May 10-13 for the 2006 North American Hockey League Robertson Cup National Tournament. #9 Justin King and #5 Brett Blatchford had the goals for the Tornado. However, the star of the show was goaltender #33 Troy Redmann, who out dueled an equally gritty performance by Bandits goaltender Riley Gill, to earn his 3rd playoff shutout of the 2006 season. "Texarkana has a very good team. I certainly didn't expect us to sweep this series," Tornado Head Coach Tony Curtale told the Texarkana Gazette. "I wasn't very happy with the first period in Game 4, but we played well in the second and third periods. Troy Redmann was great, but I've felt all season that he was the best goalie in the league."
After a scoreless first period, the Tornado got on the board in the 2nd period as King with help from linemates #24 Billy Skwarczewski and #16 Adam Flink picked up a loose puck and put one past Gill on the glove side. The 3rd period was an offensive assault by both teams. The Bandits best chance came off the stick of Pat Maroon, who had a backdoor chance, but Redmann just got enough to deny the goal. A late clearing shot by Blatchford from behind his goal kicked off the side glass and trickled in for the empty-net goal and the series win. Redmann leads all NAHL goalies with seven victories and three playoff shutouts.
For Texas, this will be their third consecutive trip to the Robertson Cup Championship and they will attempt to be the first team to win three consecutive titles since the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors won the Robertson Cup five times between 1986 and 1990. The Tornado joins the Southern Minnesota Express in winning Division Finals Series to qualify for the Tournament. The Express swept their series against the Fargo-Moorhead Jets over the weekend. The remaining two best-of-seven series continue this week, with the West Division Finals having reached the do or die phase for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. After capturing the opening game against the Bozeman Icedogs, Fairbanks has dropped three straight and must win their Game 5 contest in Bozeman on Friday to stay in the hunt. Fairbanks can take heart from the Cleveland Barons, who staved off elimination Sunday in their North Division Final against the U.S. Under-17 National Team with a 4-2 triumph. The series continues on Thursday in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The winners of the four Division Finals Series 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.
Texas Tornado 2006-07 season tickets are on sale now, and include 30-game full season packages with great season ticket benefits such as complimentary parking. For more information go to www.tornadohockey.com or call 972-335-9800.
North American Hockey League Stories from April 25, 2006
- Tornado Advance to Robertson Cup Tournament - Texas Tornado
- U.S. National Under-17 Team To Host Cleveland Barons For Conclusion of NAHL's North Division Final - U.S. National Team
- IceDiggers sign Ryan King for 2006-2007 season - Alpena IceDiggers
- Dog Pound Weekly - Bozeman Icedogs
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