AT&T Metroplex HS Hockey All Star Game Wrap UP

JV Boxscore: South Division 17  North Division 8  (8-3, 9-5)

The All Star Games for the AT&T Metroplex HS Hockey League had two very different style of games on Tuesday Night at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.

First up was the JV Game where the South Division were able to jump on the North real early with a 4-0 lead just 8 minutes into the game that featured 2 30 minute run-time halfs. Some of the early action was dominated by Coppell's Matt Lasky as he had his first 2 of a game leading 6 points on the night as he assisted Coppell Teammate Scott Browning and Birdville's Tanner Moss.

Others in the JV Game that had big nights including Coppell's Scott Browning who better Lasky with his 8 points (including 5 goals which helped get Browning earn the Game's MVP Award for the night as the South Division went on to a 17-8 victory over the North. Team South was able to score 6 unanswered goals near the end of the 1st half and the beginning of the 2nd half that eventually put the game away. Despite some strong efforts Heath Ford of Dallas Jesuit & Nick Verges of Allen in the 2nd half, it was no where near enough to help the North Division get back into the game.

Varsity Boxscore: South Division 6  North Division 7  (3-1, 2-5, 1-1)

The Varsity Game turned out to be a much more exciting and a lot more tense matchup as both teams had surges in the game as the South were able to get out to a 3-1 lead after Southlake Carroll's Taylor Bedford & Mansfield's Spencer Erickson each scored in just over a minute that turned a 1-1 tie to a 3-1 South Division Lead as 8 different players were able to score a point each during the 1st period for the South Division for them to take the lead.

One of the big surprises of the All Star Game on Tuesday Night was that Midlothian's Brent Jones was held out from scoring a goal that only McKinney ISD back on January 12th has been able to do all season, even though he did get two assists last night.

However, the night was stolen by Garland's who had 4 points on the game including a fantastic goal with just 1:07 left that gave the North a 7-5 lead with a great wrist shot from the slot that was given on a cross ice pass from Frisco's Preston Ware that turned out to be the insurance goal and for good reason when Nick Alexander of Jesuit scored with 49 seconds left in the game to make it 7-6. But the South couldn't get the equalizer to force a game deciding shootout.

Dean has been one of the few highlights on what has been a Garland Team that hasn't been that good this year. He's the only player with double digit goals for the season for Garland ISD on a team that is just 3-14-1 this season which is the worst record in the entire league (Gold or Silver Tier) and have already been eliminated from playoff contention with just 4 games left in the regular season.

Other players for the North that had strong nights included Grayson Masters (Allen) & Matt Levene who also had huge parts in the North Division Surge where they scored 4 times in just 2:30 late in the 2nd period that helped turn the tide for the North Division after the South had a 5-2 lead early in the 2nd period.

The Game MVP's on Tuesday Night were Garland's Tyler Dean in the Varsity Game & Scott Browning of Coppell in the JV Game. For their efforts, both players won a pair of Dallas Stars Tickets for upcoming Stars Home Games.

North Division All Stars

South Division All Stars

 South Division Head Coach Mark Johnson

North Division Head Coach Steve Lamere



NAHL South Division Report; Amarillo taking early success in stride

Here's a look at this weeks South Division Report about the Amarillo Gorillas off to a great start as they take in a new home after being in the Southern Minnesota town of Albert Lea where they were having problem after problem with the team before they moved to the Texas Panhandle.

So far, the Bulls are tied for first in the South Division with a 9-3-1 record through 13 games and will be hosting the Wichita Falls Wildcats on Friday Night for the only game of the weekend. They hoping that they can get the win and get some help from the Corpus Christi Icerays as they will host the Texas Tornado for a pair of games this weekend on Saturday Night and Sunday Afternoon.

The top players for the Bulls so far has to be one of the top goalies in the NAHL with a solid .929 SV% and a 2.17 GAA in 12 games played this season.

As for offensive production, keep a look out for Zach Smoot who's leading the team in scoring with 14 points (6G 8A) as well as Cody Freeman who leads the team in goals right now with 7. In addition just announced yesterday that defensemen Kyle Sucher has been named on the NHL Central Scouting Watch list for 2011. Sucher is a commit to Bowling Green State University and has 2 goals in 8 games so far this season.

Here's the NAHL South Division Report by Zach Duncan

Derek Williams is a firm believer in keeping everything in an even keel. So though his Amarillo Bulls are fresh of an impressive two game sweep of the Topeka Roadrunners and are tied for the NAHL South Lead, don't expect them to be overconfident.

"It's a long season, and we'll have some highs and lows," said Williams, who came to the Amarillo Bulls after coaching at Bowling Green State Univeristy. "Whetever gets thrown at us, we just have to keep going."

Saturday Night was a perfect example of maintain composure through adversity.

After the Bulls 4-2 victory on Friday in which Dan Sherer scored twice - including the game winner with 7:15 to go - Topeka surged ahead 4-1 the next night.

But the Bulls didn't panic. When Michael Erickson scored with one second remaining in the second period, Amarillo was re-energized despite trailing by two goals.

"It gave us some life," Williams said. "In the locker room, we talked about how we've scored two goals in a lot of periods this year. We aren't going to change our game plan."

Terrance Johnson and Chris Cass responded by finding the back of the net in the final 20 minutes, and Johnson notched the difference maker in the seventh round of the shootout.

The Bulls are third in the NAHL in scoring, averaging 4.15 Goals per game. But there isn't anyone from Amarillo that's in the top 15 of the league's leading scoring leaders.

Impressive depth is the reason for that. Ten players have recorded at least 8 points, led by Zach Smoot (6G 8A) and Cody Freeman (7G 5A).

In fact, theirs not a single player on the Amarillo's current roster with plus-minus rating in the red.

"All four lines are contributing," said Williams. "I can't tell you who our #1 line is right now. We're strived for 5-on-5."

The Defense lead by captain Derek Hills, Luke Jenkins and Karl Backman, has also hunkered down, allowing just 26.42 shots per game.

Williams said that Amarillo has a good mix of veterans and junior hockey newcomers. Eight Bulls played last season with the Albert Lea Thunder, the team that relocated to Texas during the off-season.

One of those was Smoot, who Williams said he is a fast skater and good puck-handler who's elevated his game up a notch since the preseason.

Another is goaltender Nikifor Szczerba, who played in 13 games for the Thunder in 2009-2010.

"I thought at camp, he looked a little out of shape and his conditioning was suspect," Williams said. "Now's he's getting in workouts after games, going hard on a bike."

"And more and more guys are doing that. We had 12 guys doing a squat workout after Saturday's game, and that was a tough battle. "That's really nice to see."

The hard work has paid off for Szczerba, who is sporting a 9-1-1 record with a 2.17 GAA and a .929 SV% so far this season.

And it's paid off for the Bulls, who look to keep the momentum rolling Friday against the Wichita Falls Wildcats.

Here's the current NAHL South Division Standings.

1. Amarillo           13 GP   9-3-1    19 PTS     54-38

2. Texas               13 GP   8-2-3    19 PTS     52-40

3. Wichita Falls    12 GP   8-2-2    18 PTS     43-34

4. Topeka             12 GP   7-3-2    16 PTS     39-31

5. Corpus Christi   12 GP   6-4-2   14 PTS     43-45

6. New Mexico     13 GP    4-7-2    10 PTS    32-58


South Division Notebook

Corpus Christi Icerays: The Icerays couldn't extend Friday's 2-1 overtime loss to Wichita Falls into a shootout, but if they had, Corpus Christi would have had the owned the edge. The Icerays success rate of 55.6 % (10 of 18) trails only Austin as the league's top shootout team.

New Mexico Mustangs: Eli Riddle scored his fifth goal of the season on Saturday in Saturday's loss to Texas. Only two NAHL Defensemen have scored more goals, and no blueliners have a better shooting percentage then his 31.3%.

Texas Tornado: After sweeping New Mexico, the Tornado is riding an NAHL Best 6 game winning streak and is tied for the Division lead. Sean Heidrick scored four goals in Friday's 8-2 win victory, and goalie Jimmy Kruger made 26 saves in Saturday's 3-1 outcome, boosting his record between the pipes to 5-0.

Topeka Roadrunners: Daniel Dupell scored a pair of goals in Saturday's 5-4 shootout loss to Amarillo, including his league leading second shorthanded tally of the year. Topeka killed off all 17 of the Bulls power plays over the weekend, bumping it's success rate to 91.1%, which ranks third in the league.

Wichita Falls Wildcats: Tyler Green (2.46 GAA, .921 SV%) has emerged as the team's #1 netminder, starting in five of the Wildcats six last outings. His record has improved to 5-1-2 after he stopped 17 of 18 shots in Wichita Falls' 2-1 OT Victory against the Icerays.


Here's the Links to the rest of the Division Reports.

North Division, North Stars help fight Breast Cancer

Central Division, Austin Bruins continue to fight on after a slow start.

West Division

NAHL South Division Report: Tornado Trades paying off Quickly

Here's a look at the NAHL on the weekly South Division Report on the Texas Tornado recent trades that are paying off very quickly. After a bit of shaky start where the Tornado went 2-1-1 in the NAHL Blaine Showcase and then a weekend where they lost all 3 games the week after (2 In OT). The Tornado have made some moves like bringing in Jimmy Kruger.

Since then the Tornado have won 5 in a row and have gotten into a log jam with the Amarillo Bulls and the Topeka Roadrunners in a three way tie for 2nd Place with 15 points and is just one point back of Division leading Wichita Falls who have stumbled by losing 4 of their last 5.

As for the rest of the South Division, the Corpus Christi Icerays have been working overtime as 3 of the 4 games on their recent home-stand went to the SO, winning them all. In addition, they starting to bring in some of the biggest crowds in the NAHL so far this season. Averaging nearly 3,000 fans per game so far and brought in an impressive 5,762 fans for their game yesterday afternoon against the New Mexico Mustangs.

Speaking of New Mexico, after a bad start to the season, the Mustangs are in the bottom of the Division with 10 points (4-5-2). Part of that has to do with the lack of a foundation in net where the Mustangs have already played 4 different guys in net so far this season. If it weren't for 3 straight OT Games (1-2 in those games), it would be a huge mountain to climb for the Mustangs this season.

In addition to the Mustangs lack of goaltending, the scoring has been a bit anemic as well, just 5 players have scored more then 3 goals this season, with Jimmy Peplinski leading the team with just 8 points. While Joe Smereck has the team lead in goals with 5.


Here's the current standings in the NAHL South Division.

1. Wichita Falls       7-2-2    16 PTS      41-33

2. Amarillo              7-3-1     15 PTS      45-32

3. Topeka                7-2-1     15 PTS      33-22

4. Texas                   6-2-3     15 PTS      41-37

5. Corpus                 6-4-1     13 PTS       42-43
Christi    

6. New Mexico        4-5-2     10 PTS       29-47


In addition to the South Division Report, here's a look at what's going around the rest of the league.

North Division: Bandits Have High Expectations Again

Central Division: Wings celebrate first Ever Victory

West Division: Kenai River Showing Promise


By Zach Duncan of the NAHL Website

Tony Curtale said he hasn't made many moves in past seasons. But after the 2-2-3 start, the Texas Tornado Head Coach felt that changes were needed to be made, especially in the goaltending department.

So Curtale was quite busy last week, acquiring three impact players in separate trades in an effort to give his roster a boost.

"I felt we had outplayed every team we had played," Curtale said. "We had an issue with goaltending, but I had felt good with how we had playing. We just weren't getting results."

The initial aftereffects can't be argued with. The Tornado spoiled Topeka's home opening weekend with a sweep, edging the Roadrunners 3-2 in Overtime on Friday and claiming a 2-0 victory the next night.

Curtale's biggest acquisition was goaltender Jimmy Kruger, who was attained from Alexandria in a trade that happened on Friday.

Kruger's debut in a Tornado sweater couldn't have gone better, as he stopped all 20 shots he faced for his first NAHL Shutout that day.

"He had an excellent Minnesota High School Career, and he's pretty big and athletic, Curtale said of Kruger. "We hope he can continue on the line of great goaltenders we've had."

Kruger wasn't the only player picked up by the Tornado last weekend. Forwards Nathan Sliwinski (From Wenatchee) and Josh Royston (Kenai River) and a couple of 1990 born veterans who have combined to rack up 31 goals in the NAHL last season.

Royston scored scored Saturday's first goal almost eight minutes after Jack Prince cemented the outcome with a tally late in the third period.

Ralfs Freibergs and Tyler Rostenkowski are two defensemen Curtale has been pleased with, but the Tornado's biggest breakout player has been forward Rock Einersen.

No one in the NAHL has registered more points then Einersen's 17, and his 10 goals trail Fairbank's J.T. Osbourne by one for the league lead. Einersen scored all three goals in Friday's win, including the game winner with 42 seconds into Overtime.

"He did well for us last year, too. But there's a difference between rookie good and veteran good," Curtale said. "We knew he had a lot of talent. He came in here stronger and he has fantastic skill - Division 1 Skill for sure."

There was one downside to the weekend in Kansas. Captain David Rigatti broke his foot when he blocked a shot and J.D. Howard went down with a shoulder injury.

Both are expected to miss 4-6 weeks, but Curtale doesn't expect his team to miss a week.

"We have good leadership in the locker room," Curtale said. "When one guy goes down, the rest of the team knows it has to step up."

South Division Notebook

Amarillo Bulls: Through their first nine games, the Bulls have not trailed after the first or second periods, the only NAHL Team that can make that claim. Amarillo, which is tied for the division lead with 15 points, has killed off 26 of their last 27 penalties.

Corpus Christi Icerays: More then 3,000 fans came to the American Bank Center to witness the NAHL debut in Corpus Christi. The Icerays responded with a 4-3 victory over the Wichita Falls Wildcats capped off by Beau Walker's clinching goal in the sixth round of the shootout.

New Mexico Mustangs: Kevin O'Connor and Jimmy Peplinski scored first period goals for the Mustangs. New Mexico didn't find the back of the net after that against Amarillo, but it wasn't for a lack of opportunities. The Mustangs final 49 shots in the series were stopped.

Topeka Roadrunners: Michael Hill's Game tying goal forced overtime Friday in Topeka home debut against Texas, but the Roadrunners lost in the extra session 3-2. Topeka also had three first period shots bang off pipes in a 2-0 loss Saturday, which was Texas' first regulation win in Kansas since the team moved to Topeka in 2007, a span of 15 games.

Wichita Falls Wildcats: After scoring three goals in 31 games for the Wildcats last season, Sean Keane matched that total in a 20 minute time span with a hat trick in Saturday's 8-4 victory over Corpus Christi, the South Player of the week, now has a team high seven goals this season.

Tornado can't take down Bandits in 3OT, 5th and deciding Game on Saturday

After the first muptlie OT game of the North American Hockey League Playoffs. The Texas Tornado were unable to finish off the Bandits in Frisco. Because of the two losses on Wednesday and Thursday Night, the 5th and deciding game will be taking place on Saturday Night to determine who will play the Topeka/Springfield Winner in the South Division Final.

Joe Kalisz was the hero of the night for St. Louis scoring the opening goal of the game and finishing off the Triple OT Marathon where the game went 113 minutes which was one of the longest games in the history of the Texas Tornado. Axel Boyer and Justin Jones were the goal scorers in the game for the Tornado.

As for Jack Prince who was the team's leading scorer has pretty much been M.I.A for the most part with just a single assist in this series and has been probably the biggest disappointments for the Tornado in the playoffs.


From the Texas Tornado Booster Club Website: www.texastornadobc.com

The Texas Tornado and St. Louis Bandits played 113:47 to decide tonight's game. That's how evenly matched the two were again tonight as well as the proceeding three games. Quite a contrast to the five Tornado VS. Bandits tilts leading up to the first round of the playoffs. Since then, neither team has had a much of an upper hand.

Tonight was another low scoring game. St. Louis picked up a goal early in the first by Kalisz that quieted the sparse crowd of a few hundred. Five Penalties were called but resulted in no scoring.

The Bandits Ryan Belonger scored in the 2nd followed 30 seconds later by Alex Boyer goal (Einersen) to make it 2-1 Bandits. Another Skirmish resulted in the only penalties of the period all coming at 16:53 and mostly off-setting.

Justin Jones goal tied the game (from Rostenkowski and Howard) which really brought the fans into the game. Texas picked up one two minute minor penalty and the Bandits took the two neither resulted in scoring but, the period ended only after repeated heart stopping rushes and miraculous saves. Hockey just doesn't get any more exciting then playoff action with so much on the line. With the horn sounded the end of regulaton play still tied, many in the stands were just learning in the playoffs, there is no 5 minute 4 on 4 and then a shootout to decide the match. No, full twenty minute periods of sudden death. Clean the ice and start all over for as long as it takes to get a puck in the net.

The tension of knowing just one slip up could end the Bandits season or force a game 5 in St. Louis where no Tornado fan or player wants round one to be decided. Every pass, every shot, every rebound could be it. Watching is maddening. Playing must be much worse.

And so it went for twenty minutes and nothing. Clean the ice and do it again, nothing. Clean the ice and do it again for the 3rd overtime. Someone is going to get the goal, but who will it be? Will it be the Tornado or the Bandits? Thirteen minutes in bing, bang, boom, the pucks trickles past Dan Sullivan and it's all over. The Bandits live to play game 5 and they mob Joe Kalisz for his second goal of the night while Texas is stunned and they slowly make their way to the locker room.

101 shots in one game. Dan faced 54 shots and stopped all but 3. At the other end, Tyler Bruggeman had faced 47 shots and stopped 45. Both had played just incredible games. All the players had played incredible game! Someone had to win - eventually - the Tornado hoped it would have been.

The Series is now tied at 2-2. The final game to decide which team moves on round two will be played in St. Louis this Saturday.


The Series is tied at 2-2

St. Louis Bandits 3 Texas Tornado 2 (3OT) (1-0, 1-1, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

1-0 STL: Joe Kalisz (Quakenbush, Raley) 3:04 1st

2-0 STL: Ryan Belonger (Edwards, Sheehan) 5:03 2nd

2-1 TEX: Alex Boyer (Einersen) 5:38 2nd

2-2 TEX: Justin Jones (Rostenkowski, Howard) 3:58 3rd

3-2 STL: Joe Kalisz (Sheehan, Kitto) 13:47 3OT


Game Stats

SOG: STL 54 TEX 47

PP: STL 0/5 TEX 0/5

PIM: STL 20 Minutes on 10 Penalties TEX 20 Minutes on 10 Penalties

Goalies: STL Tyler Bruggeman 45 SVS on 47 Shots TEX

ATT: 896

3rd Star: Tyler Bruggeman (STL)

2nd Star: Justin Jones (TEX)

1st Star: Dan Sullivan (TEX)

Bruggeman beats Sullivan in Goaltenders duo, Cut Series lead to 2-1

Tyler Bruggeman and Dan Sullivan put on a show Wednesday Night as the two goalies stopped a combined 48 of 49 shots combined in the game, and gave both teams a chance to win the game in Frisco last night. However, an unassisted goal by Cody Ganchar early in the 2nd period that scored the only goal of the game to help the Bandits stay alive in the playoffs and force a game 4 coming tonight as the Bandits will look to force a game 5 while the Tornado will be looking to knockout the 3 time Defending Robertson Cup Champions from the playoffs.

Game 4 will be played tonight over in Frisco, while a possible 5th and deciding game in the series would be back in Missouri coming up on Saturday Night.

From the Texas Tornado Booster Club Website: www.texastornadobc.com

The St. Louis Bandits dashed hopes of a Texas sweep in their best-of-5 round one battle. Judging by the first two games in Chesterfield where the Tornado won by close margins, a third win on Frisco Ice was conceivable. Thoughts that the three time NAHL defending champions would crumble to Texas without a big fight was not realistic as proven on Wednesday with their 1-0 win.

Both teams came out determined and got to work from the drop of the puck. perhaps the Bandits looked a little stronger early on since their backs were against the wall - if they lose the season is over. The Tornado were gunning for a win and an advancement to the NAHL Southern Division Finals.

This game was all-business. No Bravado. Don't make mistakes, play defense and stay out of the box. And they did. The hits were hard but measured. Positional play was excellent. Both goalies were sharp.

The first saw Texas out-shooting the Bandits 6-3 but no goals despite a brief 5-on-3 while the Bandits served the only 2 penalties of the period.

Cody Ganchar beat Dan Sullivan at 2:29 into the 2nd period with an unassisted goal which turned out to be the only goal of the game and of course the game winner. Texas was called for two penalties in the 2nd and they were only Tornado Penalties of the game. Both teams picked up 11 shots on goal as well.

The third was more back and fourth careful play with the Tornado forcing the pressure more and more. Great action but tense to watch. As time was closing in the Bandits Ryan Stoffer was called at 17:40 for tripping (the lone penalty of the period) and giving Tornado fans hope that the team could tie it up. Tony pulled Sullivan with 1:08 left for the man advantage but Bruggeman stoned the Tornado efforts and earned the win.

For the Bandits this game was win or die. For the Tornado, there was tomorrow. Anytime you play the Bandits for sixty minutes and you are in every second, you have played a really good game. The Team did and it was a great contest.

Thursday night is a must win for the Tornado to end the series, or they will have to go to St. Louis for a 5th and deciding game in St. Louis and that would be such a hard task.

Texas out-shot the Bandits 27 to 22. Picked up just 2 penalties but no goals and were 0-4 on the powerplay. Dan Sullivan played 58:52 of the 60 minute game stopping 21 of 22 shots. Finally Jack Prince was credited with 7 shots which was the most of any player in the game.


Texas Leads Series 2-1


Game Boxscore

St. Louis Bandits 1 Texas Tornado 0 (0-0, 1-0, 0-0)

1-0 STL: Cody Ganchar (Unassisted) 2:29 2nd

Game Stats

SOG: STL 22 TEX 27

PP: STL 0/2 TEX 0/4

PIM: STL 8 Minutes on 4 Penalties TEX 4 Minutes on 2 Penalties

Goalies: STL Tyler Bruggeman 27 SVS on 27 Shots TEX Dan Sullivan 21 SVS on 22 Shots

ATT: 1308

3rd Star: Joe Adams (TEX)

2nd Star: Shane Sooth (TEX)

1st Star: Dan Sullivan (TEX)

Texas pulls off sweep in St. Louis, Tornado Lead Series 2-0

Just one night after coming back from a 2-0 deficit to win Game 1. The Tornado pull off another big upset in St. Louis as the Tornado are on the verge of knocking out the 3 time Robertson Cup Champions out of the playoffs and advancing to the South Division Final. For the 2nd straight game, James Howard and Shane Sooth have another huge game as the Tornado had a huge 2nd period to help make the difference to stun the St. Louis Bandits over the weekend.

The Team leading scorer from the Regular Season Jack Prince put the game with an empty netter for his 1st goal of the playoffs to put the game away to make it a 3-1 final. The Bandits defense hasn't been lighted up that much, but the goals they have given up have been critical as St. Louis is now one loss away from elimination.

From the Texas Tornado Booster Club Website: www.texastornadobc.com

The game's first stanza saw the Tornado kill off three Bandits power plays but neither team was able to find the back of the net. Officially the SOG for the first period were 11-2 in favor of St. Louis. The Tornado defense kept the Bandits on the perimeter so despite the lopsided SOG count Dan Sullivan had clear looks at most shots from the outside and easily turned them aside.

The best scoring chance of the period came when the Tornado on the penalty kill, as the Bandits were passing the puck across the ice at the point where Justin Jones got his stick in the passing lane and picked it off. He flew down the middle of the ice on the short handed breakaway and made a move to the back hand but a sprawling Groh was able to make the stop against the far post.

The Bandits were 0 for 3 on the power play while the Tornado didn't have a power play opportunity.

The Tornado were finally able to break through in the 2nd period on the power play courtesy of a Kitto two handed slash below the Tornado goal line in retaliation for a check along the end boards.

Rock Einersen stopped a clearing attempt at the far point and fed the puck down the boards to Ralfs Freibergs at the half wall. James Howard had crept down from the near point to the left circle and Freibergs saucered a pass through the crease to a wide open Howard for the tally at 8:16 mark of the 1st period.

The Tornado would score again just 3 minutes when Tyler Rostenkowski pass the puck from the blue line to Jones in the left circle for a one timer. Groh made the stick save but the rebound found its way right into Shane Sooth's wheelhouse and cranked a shot high glove side to make it 2-0 Texas.

SOG were even at 11. The Tornado converted 1 of 2 power play opportunities while the Bandits were 0 for 1.

The third period was fairly even played. St. Louis was finally able to notch a goal while on a 5 on 3 power play at 12:41 of the period. Sheehan fired a slapper from the point and Sullivan made the initial save, but Olszewski was all alone just to the left of the crease and jammed home the puck to pull the Bandits within one.

With time winding down St. Louis pulled Groh and with the extra attacker a shot came through traffic, Sullivan made the save and converted the puck. A Bandits player punched the puck loose from under Sullivan's glove and across the goal line but the referee had blown the whistle waving off the goal. On the ensuing faceoff the puck was redirected into the far corner where Jack Prince grabbed it and sent it the length of the ice into the empty net to restore the two goal lead.

SOG were 9-7 in favor of the Bandits and the Bandits were 1 for 2 on the power play while the Tornado were denied on their only opportunity.

Dan Sullivan made 36 saves of 37 shots on the evening to pick up the win and the first star of the game. For the series Sullivan has turned aside 76 of 79 shots on goal. Shane Sooth netted the game winner and picked up the 2nd star of the game. James Howard notched a goal and an assist to go along his two goal performance in game one to to give him four points in the series.

The win puts the Texas up 2 games to none in the best of five series and sends the action back to Frisco for games at 7:00 PM on Wednesday April 7th and Thursday April 8th if necessary.


Texas Tornado Leads Series 2-0


Game Boxscore

Texas Tornado 3 St. Louis Bandits 1 (0-0, 2-0, 1-1)

1-0 TEX: James Howard (PP) (Freibergs, Einersen) 8:16 2nd

2-0 TEX: Shane Sooth (Jones, Howard) 11:13 2nd

2-1 STL: Daniel Olszewski (PP) (Sheehan, Ciotti) 12:41 3rd

3-1 TEX: Jack Prince (EN) (Unassisted) 19:16 3rd


Game Stats

SOG: TEX 20 STL 37

PP: TEX 1/3 STL 1/5

PIM: TEX 22 Minutes on 7 Penalties STL 8 Minutes on 4 Penalties

Goalies: TEX Dan Sullivan 36 SVS on 37 Shots STL CJ Groh 17 SVS on 19 Shots

ATT: 639

3rd Star: Daniel Olszewski (STL)

2nd Star: Shane Sooth (TEX)

1st Star: Dan Sullivan (TEX)

Texas Tornado Stun Bandits to take Series Opener

The Texas Tornado looked like huge underdogs as the series began as the team returned to the playoffs against the St. Louis Bandits as the 3 time champions were looking to pull off a historic 4 peat in the North American Hockey League.

However, despite just getting off 13 shots in the game and a great showing by Tornado goalie by Dan Sullivan as he made 40 saves to stifle the St. Louis Bandits.

The Tornado will be looking to make this an interesting series and possibly pull off a huge upset in the North American Hockey League South Division Semifinal Series and advance to play either the Springfield Jr. Blues or the Topeka Roadrunners to advance to the South Division Championship and a shot at making the NAHL Robertson Cup Tournament for the first time since 2006.

From the Texas Tornado Booster Club Website: www.texastornadobc.com

From Chesterfield, Missouri: In the opening game of the first round series, the Tornado saw the Bandits jump out to a 2 goal lead.

On the first, the Tornado turned the puck over deep in their own zone, Smith threw the puck at the net but it was blocked out front of the Tornado Defensemen. Unfortunately the puck went straight to Belonger just below the left faceoff circle dot and he buried a one timer.

The 2nd goal was almost a mirror image of the first. Sheehan fired a shot from the high slot that Dan Sullivan turned aside and the rebound found the tape of Smith again just below the left faceoff circle for another one timer.

Despite getting down early, Texas did not roll over and played well in the period. They pulled back within one goal at the 15:19 mark of the 1st period with a power play goal. The Tornado moved the puck well on the power play. Ralfs Freibergs moved the puck from the far point to Shane Sooth on the blue line. Sooth found James Howard in the nearside circle when he launched an absolute rocket past Bruggeman.

Shots on Goal for the first period were 11-6 in favor of the St. Louis Bandits. The Tornado were 1 for 2 on the power play while St. Louis was 0 for 1.

The Tornado were able to knot the score at two early in the 2nd after killing off 44 seconds of Bandits power play carried over from the first. The Bandits broke into the zone on a long outlet pass from Bruggeman to Quackenbush on the near boards at the Tornado blue line, but the Tornado defense managed to strip the puck and Joe Adams picked it up and carried it back down the far boards into the offensive zone. From the half-wall he bumped the puck to Nick Taurence cutting across the ice in the high slot. Taurence settled the puck, delayed for Bruggeman to bite then slid the puck under the blocker at 3:27 mark.

The Tornado then put themselves in a deep hole when Freibergs was called for holding at the same time as the team was changing and was hit a too many men penalty to put the Bandits on a 5 on 3 power play. Dan Sullivan made a couple of huge saves from point blank range to keep the Bandits off the board. Just as it looked like they were about to kill off the 5 on 3, Adams was whistled for a cross check meaning the penalty kill had another two minutes of work to do, and work they did as they killed off the two man advantage again.

The Tornado took the lead for the first time on the evening with three seconds left in the 2nd period on Howard's 2nd goal with the assists going to Sooth and Adams.

Neither team was able to score in the third period allowing Howard's game winning goal to stand up as the game winner. Official SOG for the third period was 10-3 in favor of the Bandits.

Rather then rolling over after falling behind by two early, the Tornado continued to play and responded with three unanswered goals to take game 1 of the series. Howard had two goals on the night and with both Sooth and Adams picking up two assists apiece. Sullivan stopped 31 of the 33 shots he faced to pick up the game 1 win.


Texas Tornado Leads Series 1-0


Game Boxscore

Texas Tornado 3 St. Louis Bandits 2 (1-2, 2-0, 0-0)

0-1 STL: Ryan Belonger (Smith, Houston) 4:22 1st

0-2 STL: Brad Smith (Sheehan, Olszweski) 9:53 1st

1-2 TEX: James Howard (PP) (Sooth, Freibergs) 15:19 1st

2-2 TEX: Nick Taurence (Adams) 3:27 2nd

3-2 TEX: James Howard (Sooth, Adams) 19:57 2nd


Game Stats

SOG: TEX 13 STL 42

PP: TEX 1/3 STL 0/4

PIM: TEX 12 Minutes on 6 Penalties STL 10 Minutes on 5 Penalties

Goalies: TEX Dan Sullivan 40 SVS on 42 Shots STL Tyler Bruggerman 10 SVS on 13 Shots

ATT: 722

3rd Star: Ryan Belonger (STL)

2nd Star: Brad Smith (TEX)

1st Star: James Howard (TEX)

Q&A with Topeka Roadrunners Forward Erik Higby

After a long wait, the answers from a recent Q&A I did with Topeka Roadrunners Forward Erik Higby who's on the South Division Leading to advance to the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship and to knock out the St. Louis Bandits who's won both the Division & League Championship the last 3 years.

This season, Topeka's leading score is looking to be the NAHL Scoring Champion as he is just 2 points back of Michael Juola of the Fairbanks Ice Dogs for the league scoring title. I also asked him about moving from Michigan to San Antonio and his current status on playing NCAA Hockey.

Also the teams chances of making the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship Tournament that will be taking place in Wenatchee, Washington coming up in May.

Topeka Roadrunners Player Profile: http://nahl.stats.pointstreak.com/playerpage.html?playerid=3175958&seasonid=4527

Here's the Q&A with Erik Higby.

1. With your success this season, you still haven't committed on where you may play your NCAA Hockey Career. Can you give us an update on what your status is on this, and have you felt like you have been under the radar in your hockey career?

I have been speaking with quite a few schools and I should be reaching a decision shortly. I look forward to be playing at the next level. I do feel I'm under the radar screen, but a lot of my success is because I'm playing with a lot of talented players and we have worked well as a team.

2. Your currently just 2 points back of Micheal Juola of the Fairbanks Ice Dogs for the League Scoring Lead. How much attention are you putting into winning the league's scoring title with just 5 games left this season.

At the time of responding to this I'am going into our second series against the St. Louis Bandits and I'm currently just 2 points back. However, i'm taking this one game at a time and hoping my team's success continues.

3. Let's assume your team will play the St. Louis Bandits for the South Division Title and a Robertson Cup Spot. With your experience with the Mahoning Valley Phantoms last year, how big will your experience to help put the Roadrunners playoff disappointment behind them when they lost to the Bandits in the South Division Final last season?

I hope my experience will be big for us this year and help us lead to the Robertson Cup Championship, but saying that we need a big team effort for the rest of the season.

4. When you found out you were moving to San Antonio in 2008. You mentioned in a recent story on the NAHL Website that "Down in San Antonio, I live close to an ice rink and there are a lot more hockey players then I was expecting," How were you feeling that your hockey career could continue at a high level living in Texas.

I was worried, but I was able to stay in shape during the summer months and skating with players that came from Division 1 Schools and Semi Pro Teams that now live in the San Antonio Area. That helped me prepare for the current season.

5. As a follow up, how has the fact that you have several Texas Based Teammates like Jacob Poe, Micheal Hill and Cooper Frederick helped you out in the transition in terms that players from Texas can play at a high level?

Hockey in Texas (Especially in the Dallas Area) has become such a popular sport, so I wasn't surprised that Texas would have so many talented players, and these guys have been great to play with this season.

6. With the Topeka Roadrunners having the league's best record right now. Do you think it's to the point that the expectations is making the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship or Bust?

This was our goal at the beginning of the season and hopefully we will be successful once playoff time comes next month.

7. If the Roadrunners do make the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship, who do you think could be your biggest competition to win the Championship this season?

Everyone will be competitive and will take every team seriously. I think our biggest test would be playing the Wenatchee Wild since their one of the top teams as well.

Playoffs Still a possiblity for Wichita Falls

With just under a month left in the regular season. The Wichita Falls Wildcats have used a strong month of Feb. to keep them in the South Division playoff hunt, the Wildcats sit just 3 points back of Springfield for 4th, and just 5 points back of the Texas Tornado for 3rd place right now with just under a month left in the regular season.


With the lack of games in March, can the Wildcats keep up the pace or will the lack of games left compared to 10 and 11 left for Texas and Springfield in the final month of the regular Season? For the Wildcats, they will finish the regular season with just 2 home games left on the final weekend of the regular season against the Topeka Roadrunners.

For the Wildcats to have a strong shot at the post season, the Wildcats will need to contuine to play well and hope that the Tornado and Jr. Blues don't win the games in hand.

For the final month of the regular season, the Wildcats have 4 Road Games left West Division Foes Wenatchee Wild and Kenai River Brown Bears. Then the Regular Season will end with a pair of home games against the South Division Leading Topeka Roadrunners.


From the North American Hockey League Website: http://www.nahl.com/

Not long ago an afterthought when sizing up the South Division Playoff Picture in the North American Hockey League, the Wichita Falls Wildcats are making a case that they are a legitimate contender for a playoff berth.

With a pair of important divisional wins last weekend against the Texas Tornado and six games remaining, the Wildcats trail the 4th place Springfield Jr. Blues by just 3 points in the standings and the 3rd seeded Texas Tornado by just 5 points right now.

"Our spirits are high," said Wildcats head coach Mike Flanagan, whose team improved to 17-29-6 on the season. "We're just going to continue to push ourselves and continue to believe in our abilities."

The Wildcats opened the weekend with a 3-2 victory on Friday. Chris Leone notched the game-winning goal for Wichita Falls, and Ryan Frost added two assists. Between the pipes, goaltender J.P. Musico made 31 saves.

J.T. Osborn rang up a hat trick the next night and Frost (2G 2A), Brian Sheehan (G 3A), Dan Gentzler (4A) and Tyler Lundey (G 3A) all fashioned 4 point games as the Wildcats downed the Tornado, 9-4. Musico made 36 saves in the big win as well.

"Everyone is putting forth strong individual efforts and paying attention to the defensive concept as a team," said Flanagan, whose club has rattled 4 wins in their last 5 games. "We're taking fewer penalties, staying disciplined and playing with a good work ethic. Everyone is having fun and being accountable."

Lundey, for one, stepped up to the forefront last weekend. With 13 goals and 39 points on the season, the 18 year old college hopeful from Middleton, Wisconsin, has been a valuable commodity at both ends of the ice.

"He's our best two way forward," said Flanagan. "He has good speed, he skates well and is accurate shot. He definitely has the potential to play Division 1 Hockey."

So does Sheehan, who's lead the Wildcats offensive charge all season. The 19 year old from St. Louis is tied for 3rd in league scoring with 56 points and 27 goals.

"Brian is one of our best players and a major offensive weapon," praised Flanagan. "He has the ability to score goals on any given night and has shown improvement in other areas," especially defensively. He's a very fierce competitor".

The Wildcats recent surge can also be attributed to the play of Musico. The 19 year old from Orange County, California joined the team in January and has won 5 of his last 7 starts.

"He's played well since his arrival," said Flanagan, who heard good things about Musico's Promist playing Midget Hockey with the L.A. Selects. "He's an athletic goaltender, not always confining to one particular style. "He's always battling and able to compete in all situations."

Flanagan also likes what he has in netminder Kelly Andrew, a 20 year old from Calgary.

"The Competition between him and P.J. in practice is healthy," said the coach of his goalie tandem. "They're supportive of each other and are both important to the success to the team."

Forwards Brandon Stroud and Bryan Kozlowski have shown tremendous versatility throughout the season, and the leadership of Broderic Browne hasn't gone unnoticed, either. With that, the Wildcats are also showing plenty of resilience since the loss of blueliners Zach Ledford, a Bentley University recruit, and Adam Kuhn-both team captain's and impact players-to injury.

"Right now, we have only 5 defensemen on our active roster," but they're all playing well and are truly earning their ice time," said Flanagan. "The guys have stepped up with the opportunities they've been given."

And the opportunity to play in Wichita Falls, which, since joining the league in 2003-04, has been one of the league's premier org., both in terms of player development and local support, is an experience not to be taken for granted, according to Flanagan.

"It's a great Junior Hockey Town," he said. "The fans are very loyal and passionate, it's a fantastic community to live in, and its a great place for junior players to continue their development."

"Likewise, the fans respond well to the work the players do in the community with their visits to schools, local businesses and other events."

And the Wildcats want nothing more than to thank those staunch supporters with a strong finish to the regular season and a still-very-possible invite to the Robertson Cup Playoffs.

"Our focus is to the finish the regular season on a positive note and play our best hockey," said Flanagan. "We were 10, 11 points back of a postseason birth a month ago, and suddenly now we're three points back, so we've made up a lot of ground."

"It's a great junior hockey town