Tornado Weekly: One Game to Go for Tornado Before Playoffs
March 24, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
The Texas Tornado will face the Amarillo Bulls in the South Division Semi-Finals. The best of five series will begin in Amarillo on Thursday, March 31st with Game #1 at 7:00pm at the Cal Farley Coliseum. Games 3 & 4 will be played at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco on Friday, April 8th and Saturday, April 9th. If there is a Game 5, it would be back in Amarillo. Amarillo locked up the #2 seed with a 3-2 win over Topeka on Wednesday. In an ironic twist, the Tornado will travel to Amarillo for the final regular season game of the year this Saturday, March 26th to face the Bulls at 7:00pm. The game can be seen at www.fasthockey.com or heard online at www.tornadohockey.com.
South Division Semi-Finals Schedule (tentative)
Game #1: Thursday, March 31st, Texas @ Amarillo, 7:00pm
Game #2: Friday, April 1st, Texas @ Amarillo, 7:00pm
Game #3: Friday, April 8th, Amarillo @ Texas, 7:30pm
Game #4: Saturday, April 9th, Amarillo @ Texas, 7:30pm*
Game #5: Sunday, April 10th, Texas @ Amarillo, TBA*
*if necessary
Robertson Cup Playoff Tickets now on sale
Texas Tornado ticket packages for the 2011 Robertson Cup playoffs are now on sale. Playoff ticket packages are good for four home playoff games and packages are $32 for End Zone seats and $60 for Premium level seats. Single-game tickets for Games 3 & 4 of the South Division Semi-Finals will go on sale March 29th. To order your playoff tickets call the Texas Tornado office at 972-335-9800.
Taylor Herndon named NAHL South Division Player of the Week
Texas Tornado forward Taylor Herndon was named the South Division Player of the Week, as he put home three goals and two assists as the Tornado fashioned a 2-0 record this past week. On Tuesday, the Oklahoma City native recorded a goal and an assist in a 6-1 victory over the Wichita Falls Wildcats. Three nights later, the 19-year-old potted two more goals, including the game-winner, and an assist as the Tornado blanked the Corpus Christi IceRays, 5-0. He was also a plus-5 for the week. Herndon has seven points in his last four games and ten points in his last eight games. This marks the seventh time this season a Tornado player has won the weekly NAHL award.
Tornado top Pros in annual game for charity
Former Dallas Stars great Jere Lehtinen scored two goals and earned first star honors, but the young guns of the Texas Tornado ended up on the winning side of the fifth annual Pros vs. Prospects Charity Classic with an 8-6 win this past Sunday afternoon at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco. It was the first time in five tries that the Tornado has defeated the Pros team. Tornado forward Mike Fleming had two goals and an assist in the win for Texas. Former Dallas Stars Greg Adams and Bill Huard each had three points on the night.
Tornado alums DaCosta and Sullivan earn Hockey East awards
Former Texas Tornado players Stephane Da Costa (2006-07) and Dan Sullivan (2009-10) were honored this past weekend by Hockey East, one of the top NCAA Division I Hockey Conferences. DaCosta, 21, who played for the Tornado during the 2006-07 season when he was just 17 years old, was named to the All-Hockey East 2nd team. For the second straight season Da Costa led his Merrimack team in scoring and also led them to the Hockey East Championship game. Merrimack earned a bid to the upcoming NCAA Hockey Tournament where they will face Notre Dame in the opening round. Da Costa, who was the Hockey East Rookie of the Year last season with 45 points, followed up with an equally impressive sophomore season, scoring 44 points this year in two less games. Sullivan, 22, was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. He played for the Texas Tornado last season and led the NAHL in games played (51) and minutes played (2,957), and was in the top 10 in save percentage and wins. As a freshman at the University of Maine this season, Sullivan appeared in 21 games posting a 10-7-2 record with a 2.73 goals against average and a 89.0% save percentage.
THE WEEK THAT WAS ¬Â¦
Sunday, March 20 ¬" Pros 6 @ Texas Tornado 8
Former Dallas Stars great Jere Lehtinen scored two goals and earned first star honors, but the young guns of the Texas Tornado ended up on the winning side of the fifth annual Pros vs. Prospects Charity Classic with a 8-6 win Sunday afternoon at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco. Tornado forward Mike Fleming had two goals and an assist in the win for Texas. It didn ¬â¢t take the Pros team long to get on the scoreboard as former Dallas Star Greg Adams lit the lamp as he fired a drive through Tornado goaltender Jake Stafford ¬â¢s blocker side. Assisting on the goal was former Dallas Stars goaltender Ed Belfour, who was playing defense during the game. The Tornado would strike right back as defenseman Tyler Rostenkowski picked off a Pros clearing pass and walked in alone on a breakaway on Pros goaltender Dan Blackburn and put a shot between his legs to tie the game at 1-1. The Tornado scored again to make it 2-1 as JD Howard was hauled down on a breakaway from the left wing, but his shot trickled through Blackburn with assists to Joseph Mottiqua and Pavel Hurtik. The Pros stayed right in the 1st period with another goal, this time from former Dallas Star Landon Wilson, who wristed a shot from inside the blueline that found its way through traffic and beat Stafford blocker side. Assists on the goal went to Adams and Bob Bassen. The Pros outshot the Tornado 17-11 in the period. The 2nd period was another offensive showcase. The Tornado jumped out to a 3-2 lead as Mike Fleming fired a shot through the defense from the high slot that beat Blackburn over the shoulder with assists to Walker Hyland and Tyler Rostenkowski. Minutes later the Tornado made it 4-2 as on a 2 on 1 Mico Solorzano found Walker Hyland on the backdoor for the goal with another assist to Jimmy Murray. Former Dallas Stars great Jere Lehtinen scored for the Pros to make it 4-3, as he picked up a rebound in front with assists to former Dallas Stars Mike Keane and Bill Huard. Texas made it 5-3 as Ralfs Freibergs was hauled down the ice by former Tornado player Jason Bloomingburg and awarded a penalty shot. Freibergs came in down the right side and sniped a shot over Blackburn for the goal. Texas would increase the lead again as Jackson Leef scored to make it 6-3 with assists to Jack Prince and Joseph Mottiqua. The Pros would not give up however, as they made it 6-4 as the old Tornado combination of Tom Train to Jason Bloomingburg on a 2 on 1 saw Bloomingburg fire a shot past Tornado goaltender Jimmy Kruger. Kruger made a career save on a penalty shot by Jere Lehtinen, but Lehtinen would get his revenge to make the score 6-5 on his second goal of the night as Kruger stopped a shot from the point, but Bill Huard fished the puck out to Lehtinen for the goal. The 3rd period was more excitement from both teams. Brett Hebel made it 7-5 as he got a pass from Justin Jones and wristed a shot past Blackburn. The Pros struck back with a give-and-go play from Bob Brandon to Bill Huard, who put a shot past an outstretched Kruger. Kruger would keep the Tornado in the game with several key saves in the 3rd period to keep the Tornado in the lead. The Pros would pull their goalie and former Dallas Stars great Ed Belfour had a chance to tie the game with just :25 seconds remaining on a penalty shot, but his chance went wide. With just :12 seconds remaining, Mike Fleming scored his 2nd goal of the night as he sent a shot from in front of his own net all the way down the ice, into the empty goal for a 8-6 Tornado win. The Pros would end up outshooting the Tornado 52-32 in the game.
Friday, March 18 ¬" Corpus Christi IceRays 0 @ Texas Tornado 5
22 saves from goaltender Jimmy Kruger and three points from Taylor gave the Texas Tornado a convincing 5-0 shutout win during their regular season home finale in front of 2,032 fans at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco on Friday. The win moved the Tornado back into 2nd place in the South Division with 76 points, two points ahead of Amarillo. The opening period went scoreless for both teams, but both team ¬â¢s power plays had their chances. The best Tornado chance of the 1st period came off the stick of Taylor Herndon, who was denied in the low slot by ¬ËRays goaltender Pheonix Copley. At the other end, Tornado goaltender Jimmy Kruger was equally as good, stopping two ¬ËRays power plays as the Tornado outshot Corpus Christi 9-6 in the period. The Tornado dominated the majority of the 2nd period, narrowing missing a chance to take an early lead, as on a power play Jimmy Murray rang a shot off the crossbar. However, the Tornado would not be denied as a great behind the back pass from Joseph Mottiqua to Taylor Herndon in the low slot saw Herndon snap a shot past Copley ¬â¢s low glove hand for a 1-0 Tornado lead. It took less than a minute later for the Tornado increase the lead to 2-0 as Seth Johnson threaded the needle on a great pass to Jimmy Murray at the top of the crease and Murray roofed one over Copley for his 3rd goal of the season. Two fights ensued the remainder of the period as John Kirtland scrapped to a draw with Cody Milligan and Seth Blair got the best of Tornado defenseman Tom Rizzardo. The Tornado domination in the 3rd period continued with a goal less than four minutes in as Taylor Herndon scored his second of the night, as he got a pass from Solorzano and deked out Copley to make it 3-0. The middle of the period was controlled by the Tornado defense, led by Kruger. Kruger shut the door time after time as his recent hot play continued. Texas made it 4-0, as Ralfs Freibergs found John Kirtland as the point as Kirtland blasted a slapshot past Copley for his first goal in a Tornado uniform. Jack Prince made it 5-0, as he got a nice pass from Marc Biggs and wristed a shot past Copley ¬â¢s glove to increase his point streak to 10 games. Kruger stopped all 22 shots for his 3rd shutout of the year.
Tuesday, March 15 ¬" Wichita Falls Wildcats 1 @ Texas Tornado 6
The Texas Tornado got goals from six different goal scorers on Tuesday night in Frisco en route to a convincing 6-1 win over the visiting Wichita Falls Wildcats. JD Howard had a goal and two assists, Nate Sliwinski had the game-winning goal and an assist and goaltender Jimmy Kruger stopped 23 of 24 shots in the win, which moved the Tornado back into 2nd place, a point ahead of the Amarillo Bulls. The Tornado dominated the opening period, but had to wait until the final seconds to get the first goal which came off the stick of David Rigatti after he received a nice pass from the corner by JD Howard for a 1-0 Tornado lead. Wichita Falls would tie the score at 1-1 early in the 2nd period as leading scorer Dakota Klecha got his own rebound and put home a power play goal to tie the game. However, just a minute later the momentum swung back to the Tornado for good as Nate Sliwinski pounced on a rebound in front after a redirection by Jack Prince to put the Tornado ahead for good at 2-1. The 3rd period was all Texas as they scored four goals. Texas made it 3-1 as Marc Biggs tapped home a goal on an open net after a great pass out of the corner again by Howard. Jackson Leef scored his 23rd goal of the season on the power play as he sent a pass out front from behind the net, which redircted off a Wildcats defenseman and in behind goaltender Tyler Green. The onslaught continued as Taylor Herndon got a great pass from Mico Solorzano to break in along on Green and fire a snap shot through Green's right arm for a 5-1 lead. The Tornado concluded the scoring as Howard scored his first of the night after a nifty pass from behind the net by linemate Marc Biggs. The Tornado outshot Wichita Falls 44-24 for the game.
North American Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2011
- Corpus Christi Drops Penultimate Game of Season in Overtime, 3-2 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- 'Runners Fall to Bulls, 3-2 - Topeka Pilots
- Bulls Look To Close Out Road Schedule On Positive Note Tonight - Amarillo Bulls
- Tornado Weekly: One Game to Go for Tornado Before Playoffs - Texas Tornado
- Bulls Clinch 2nd Place With 3-2 Win Over Topeka - Amarillo Bulls
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