Amarillo Bulls vie for nat’l title

Published 7:41 pm Monday, May 2, 2011

Eight former Albert Lea Thunder hockey players are a few wins away from a national championship.

The Amarillo Bulls begin the North American Hockey League Robertson Cup Tournament today in Topeka, Kan., after the winning the league’s South Division championship. The Bulls will play in a round-robin style tournament with the Topeka RoadRunners, Fairbanks Ice Dogs and Michigan Warriors. After the tournament, the teams are seeded and the No. 1 team receives an automatic berth into Saturday’s national championship game. The No. 2 and 3 seeds play in a semifinal Friday and the fourth team is eliminated.

After the NAHL announced it would terminate the Thunder’s league membership following a pay-to-play scandal, the team’s roster was sold to an expansion franchise in Amarillo, Texas, and the Bulls were born.

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Each player from the Thunder’s roster received an opportunity to tryout for the Bulls and coach Dennis Williams and eight made the team including goalie Nikifor Sczcerba and forward Zach Smoot. Sczcerba finished the season as the Bulls’ leading goalie with a 30-8 record and 92 percent save percentage. Smoot led the team with 61 points, including 37 assists, and has 12 postseason points through nine games.

The Bulls finished the 2010-11 regular season with a 36-16-6 record and play at 4:05 p.m. today against the Warriors at Kansas ExpoCentre in Topeka.