Now, on Game 7 Eve, I’m reminded of just how special this team is. We may not win the Stanley Cup, but this team’s never-say-die attitude should make any Stars fan proud.

GO STARS!!!

It’s simple. Win and become the first back-to-back-to-back champions since the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors from ’86-’90. While the Tornado has a 4-0-0 record this season against the Icedogs, the Icedogs were the best team in the regular season.

And this is the playoffs where everything changes.

Updates at each intermission and after the game.

*An Evening Chock Full O’ Other Things Update*
Well, as much as I would love to sit here at the computer (and I do, I really do), I’ve got other things to do, so y’all will be on your own…again.

Yes, it’s shameful that I haven’t been able to sit through a full game of the Robertson Cup Tourney, but things happen.

So, the link above gets you audio and the “Pointstreak scoreboard”:http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/scoreboard.html?leagueid=164 always comes in handy.

*3rd Time’s the Charm Update*
LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN!

Behind 2 goals from Karl Sellan, the Texas Tornado cruise to a 4-2 victory over the Bozeman Icedogs and do become the first threepeat champions in over 15 years.

More thoughts to come as I let this one sink in, but the team will be flying home tomorrow and should arrive back at the StarsCenter at approx. 1:30 pm. If you’ve got the time, go welcome the champs home!

Bozeman dispatched the Mahoning Valley Phantoms easily, shutting them out 3-0. They’ll also play in the Championship Game. The Express and Phantoms are playing for third place.

When I first started this post, it was originally going to be a gripe about how confusing the new playoff system is, but after seeing today’s results and thinking about it a little, it does make sense.

On the first day, the Division Winners are seeded. Seeds 1 & 4 square off while seeds 2 & 3 are matched up. Bozeman beats Cleveland and Southern Minnesota beats Texas. Now, the two losers have to play an extra game. But who plays Mahoning Valley when they enter the tournament?

Well, it would be the *lower seed* from the two winners, which was the Express. They got the extra game.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. Bozeman, as the higher seed of the winners from opening night, got to play Mahoning Valley, because they lost their first game, the one against the Express. That leaves the two winners of yesterday’s games to play each other. The winners from those games play in the Championship and the losers play in the 3rd Place game.

So let’s play What If? in order to make this crystal clear. Here are the seeds as they were when the Robertson Cup Tournament started:

# Bozeman
# Texas
# Southern Minnesota
# Cleveland

Suppose that Texas beats the Express and Cleveland beats Bozeman on the first night.

This is how things would be scheduled for the next day:

* Game 3: Southern Minnesota vs. Bozeman (losers from Games 1 & 2; the home team would be the team with the best regular season record).
* Game 4: Cleveland vs. Mahoning Valley (lowest seed of winners from Games 1 & 2; Cleveland is lower seed than Texas. Home team determined same way as above).

Now, let’s say Bozeman loses to the Express…and Mahoning Valley sticks it to Cleveland for knocking them out back in the Divisional Semi-Finals. You then have Day 3 shape up like this:

* Game 5: Southern Minnesota vs. Mahoning Valley (winners of Games 3 & 4. Again, best regular season record determines home team)
* Game 6: Texas vs. Cleveland (higher seed of winner from Games 1 & 2 vs. Loser of Game 4. Home team, best record, you get the idea)

From there, the winners go to the Championship and the losers go to the 3rd Place game.

So, obviously, win-loss records don’t mean a thing like they did in years past. Also, the new playoff format places a premium on how a team finishes the regular season. Now, it’s not just enough to win your division; you also need to finish out the regular season strong in order to get that extra little bump that might give you a day’s rest.

It also pays to be the host team apparently. Back in the real world, Cleveland beat Mahoning Valley in the Semis. Now, look. Cleveland goes home empty-handed, Mahoning Valley could finish third.

Very interesting.

Here are the necessary links to follow along at home/work:

“Tornado Game Audio”:mms://broadcast2.elinksystems.net/tornadoaudio/

“Pointstreak NAHL scoreboard”:http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/scoreboard.html?leagueid=164
Just click on “Boxscore” and you’ll be taken to a detailed scoring sheet with penalties, rosters, and goal scorers. At the top right, just above the logos, you can click 120 sec. refresh for automagic scoring updates.

So, we did stay alive yesterday with a 5-3 win. Southern Minnesota got to play Mahoning Valley in the night cap and Bozeman, as the #1 seed took the day off.

With all said and done, we draw the Express again. Hopefully, we’ll do better.

Here are the necessary links to follow along at home/work:

“Tornado Game Audio”:mms://broadcast2.elinksystems.net/tornadoaudio/

“Pointstreak NAHL scoreboard”:http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/scoreboard.html?leagueid=164
Just click on “Boxscore” and you’ll be taken to a detailed scoring sheet with penalties, rosters, and goal scorers. At the top right, just above the logos, you can click 120 sec. refresh for automagic scoring updates.

I’ll be by in the evening, hopefully to give my thoughts on a Tornado win and to cover the game against Mahoning Valley.

Updates at each intermission and after the game.

*1st and 2nd Period Updates: Texas 2, Southern Minnesota 4*
Whoops. Sorry about that. Duty at the bread-winning job called so I’m in late.

Guess that game was a 6:30 faceoff.

Well, now I’m here so the Tornado has my permission to start kicking ass. ;)

*Final Score: Texas 3, Southern Minnesota 7*
Here we go. The team that had to force Game 5 against Wichita Falls needs 3 to tie or face an elimination game tomorrow afternoon.

So…one more soft goal later (guess Redmann was having a bad night) in comes Nick DiGirolamo.

And he lets one in. Now, Cheeks (the play-by-play guy) thinks this game is done and as the score goes, yeah. But I think they could use the remaining time to prep for Cleveland tomorrow at 1pm central. In other words, try playing defense.

Or better yet, stop taking stupid misconduct penalties. Last count, there are 2 Tornado players serving 10 minutes apiece. Roadhouse took 2 misconducts.

Jason Wiley (Express) has a hat trick. DiGirolamo has 0 saves on 2 shots. To his credit, he’s played most of the period with 4 skaters. But he’s gotten better.

And so has Karl Sellan, adding his 2nd goal, narrowing the lead to 4 goals. The comeback is on!

One minute left.

Well, it’s over. If I had to find a silver lining to this one, at least no one got their jugular slashed open from an errant skate. But we did look….err, competent? Coherent? Somewhat interested…late in the 3rd.

Get this, final shots: Texas 29, Southern Minnesota 30. Yep, 7 goals on 30 shots.

I should mention, though, that this is the exact same way things played out last year. Last year was Fargo-Moorehead. You’ll recall that we ended up spanking them in the Gold Medal Game.

So we’ll see…we’ll see.

What does that mean?

The San Jose Sharks are the top seed and have home-ice throughout the rest of the Western Conference Playoffs.

No game will start before 8pm Central and likely will start at 9 or 10.

Each team faces a lower seed this round than in the quarterfinal round.

The guys in the NHL Marketing Department are crapping themselves.

For the first time in playoff history, the four lowest seeds all advance.

The dominant colors of the Eastern Conference teams are red, white and black. The dominant colors of the Western Conference are teal, blue, and purple.

Wow.

That was one of the craziest 3rd periods I’ve ever seen.

I’ll let the parallels between the #1 and #2 seeds commence (here’s a topic: the goaltender was the weakest link. Discuss.)

So now I’m faced with a conundrum. Do I continue to hope for a 5-8 semifinal round? Or do I pull for Calgary and savor a matchup that is likely to be dubbed “The Battle of Alberta?”

*This* is the most wonderful time of the year…