Updated May 25, 2023

The North American Hockey League’s Robertson Cup Championship has come and gone, and it was pretty clear that the league’s top-four teams navigated the playoffs and advanced to Blaine, Minn., to compete for the NAHL tittle and the coveted trophy. Three of the four top seeds from each Division Playoff round earned that shot, while the fourth team was seeded second in its division and entered the championship weekend playing its best hockey of the season.

The NAHL Playoffs started on April 21, with 16 teams chasing a championship, and the Oklahoma Warriors and Austin Bruins wound up being the last two standing. Oklahoma swept its best-of-three semifinal series against the Minnesota Wilderness, while Austin needed all three games to eliminate the Maryland Black Bears and advance to the championship game.

Robertson Cup Championship play got underway on Friday, May 19, at Fogerty Arena in Blaine and runs through May 23. The teams were re-seeded heading into the semifinals and now the top-seeded Oklahoma faces off with third-seeded Austin on Tuesdaay, May 23 for the Cup.

The puck dropped on Game 1 of the Oklahoma-Minnesota series at 5:30 p.m. EDT Friday, followed by the opener between Maryland and Austin at 8:30. On Tuesday, May 23, the Oklahoma Warriors defeated the Austin Bruins, 4-3, to capture the 2022-23 Robertson Cup championship to conclude their first year playing in Oklahoma.

Here is the complete schedule:

DATE	TIME	HOME	AWAY
Friday, May 19, 2023	4:30pm	#1 Oklahoma Warriors	#4 Minnesota Wilderness
	7:30pm	#2 Maryland Black Bears	#3 Austin Bruins
Saturday, May 20, 2023	4:30pm	#4 Minnesota Wilderness	#1 Oklahoma Warriors
	7:30pm	#3 Austin Bruins	#2 Maryland Black Bears
Sunday, May 21, 2023	3:00pm	#1 Oklahoma Warriors	#4 Minnesota Wilderness (if necessary)
	6:00pm	#2 Maryland Black Bears	#3 Austin Bruins
Tuesday, May 23, 2023	7:00pm	Robertson Cup National Championship Game #1 Oklahoma Warriors vs. #3 Austin Bruins

 

CLICK HERE for the NAHL Robertson Cup information page

CLICK HERE for the NAHL Robertson Cup Playoff Hub

CLICK HERE for our MHR Robertson Cup Tournament Tracker to see how the teams got here

 

The Oklahoma Warriors were looking to write the final chapter of their fairytale first season playing in Oklahoma. The Warriors brought the best overall record into the final round, having won 50 of their 66 games to that point. Oklahoma finished first in the South Division, which many believe to be the league’s toughest, and rolled to the Robertson Cup Championship as the only team to have swept both of its playoff series.The Warriors completed their undefeated run through the playoffs by winning all three of their games in Blaine. 

Maryland had posted a 46-21 record heading to Blaine and won the East Division regular-season and playoff championships. In their fifth year of existence, the Black Bears were making their first appearance in the Robertson Cup Championship and brought the second-best record to the dance. While our power rankings and hockey observers tend to view the East Division as perhaps the league’s weakest, last year’s champions, the New Jersey Titans, came out of the East to win the Robertson Cup.

Austin won the Central Division and was 40-26 heading into the championship, while the lone No. 2 seed to advance to the final round was the Midwest Division’s Minnesota Wilderness, who were 41-25.

According to our algorithm, the South Division was indeed the toughest division this year, placing five of the top-10 teams in our United States Tier 2 junior rankings. The Central and Midwest divisions have two teams team ranked among the top 10, while none of the East teams can be found there. Keep in mind, however, that our rankings become much more accurate the more often teams from different divisions play against each other. Most NAHL teams only play four games against teams outside of their divisions, so our algorithm doesn’t have as much data as it needs for the rankings to be truly representative.

Oklahoma beat the Maine Nordiques (4-1) and the Northeast Generals (3-1), the two teams Maryland cruised past in the playoffs to win the East Division, early in the season. Austin also beat the Generals, 3-1, as did Minnesota (7-3). The Wilderness lost to Shreveport, the team that the Warriors swept to get to the championship round, by a 3-1 margin.

No matter what the power rankings said, though, it was impossible to overlook a strong and deep offensive club like Maryland that won 46 games, a team such as Austin that had won seven of its last games or Minnesota, which just knocked off a Wisconsin team that was ranked second according to our algorithm. It's no surprise that the battle of the bears between Austin and Maryland needed three games to deterine a winner. 

Here is a look at the updated NAHL Playoff power rankings based on where each team is ranked according to our MYHockeyRankings algorithm (records, ratings and other information taken from MYHockeyRankings.com):

1. Oklahoma Warriors – 50-16-0 (South #1 seed, 92.27)
2. Austin Bruins – 40-26-0 (Central #1 seed, 93.17)
3. Minnesota Wilderness – 41-25-0 (Midwest #2 seed, 92.92)
4. Maryland Black Bears – 46-21-0 (East #1, 90.70)

 

Robertson Cup Championship Matchups

Championship Game - May 23

Okahoma Warriors 4, Austin Bruins 3

Garrett Horsager scored his first postseason goal with 3:37 left in the third period to lift the Warriors to the Robertson Cup championhip in their first year calling Oklahoma home. William Lawson-Body picked up his 11th playoff assist on the game-winner, and goalie Daniel Duris shut the door the rest of the way in posting a 34-save victory. It was Lawson-Body's second assist of the game; he also recorded a helper on Brendan Williams's eighth playoff marker at 4:52 of the second period. Blaise Miller also notched his first playoff goal in the second frame to give the Warriors a 3-1 lead, but Josh Giuliani and Walter Zacher tailled in the period's final 6:20 to tie the contest heading into the final 20 minutes. Isaak Brassard staked the Bruins to a 1-0 lead, also scoring his first playoff goal, at 7:31 of the opening period before Rylan Brady's first playoff marker tied the game 4:06 later. Trent WIemken stopped 19 shots for Austin. 

 

# 4 Minnesota Wilderness vs. #1 Oklahoma Warriors

The second-seeded Wilderness swept Kenai River in the division semifinals and needed four games to eliminate top-seeded Wisconsin and capture the Midwest Division championship. Kevin Marx Nortin is tied for fourth in NAHL postseason scoring with 5-3-8 along with Michael Quinn, who has 3-5-8. Sawyer Scholl is right behind them at 4-3-7, and Isak Posch has been outstanding between the pipes with a 6-0-1 record, 1.42 GAA and .952 save percentage. 

 

Minnesota Regular Season Leaders

Kevin Marx Noren - 58 GP, 34-26-60

Gunnar Thoreson - 54 GP, 12-26-38

Michael Quinn - 43 GP, 8-21-29

Isak Posch - 44 GP, 25-19-0, 2.12 GAA, .926 SV%

 

Oklahoma Warriors

The only team to sweep its way to the Robertson Cup Championship, the Warriors have continued their fairytale first year in the NAHL by eliminating Amarillo and Shreveport to capture the South Division championship. Daniel Duris has been a wall in net, going 4-0 with a 0.73 GAA and .969 save percentage. Not to be outdone, Dylan Johnson is 2-0 with a 2.95 GAA and .877 save percentage. Despite playing fewer games than every other team, Oklahoma's Drew Sutton ranks second in playoff scoring with 5-6-11 and Joey Delgreco is tied for fourth with 4-4-8. Brendan Williams has added 4-3-7, and William Lawson-Body has 2-5-7 for the Warriors

 

Oklahoma Regular Season Leaders

Joey Delgreco - 60 GP, 22-47-69

Drew Sutton - 60 GP, 24-40-64

Hunter Jones - 60 GP, 19-34-53

Brendan Williams - 55 GP, 21-31-52

Daniel Duris - 38 GP, 25-11-0, 2.25 GAA, .911 SV%

 

Common Opponents

Oklahoma did not play any Midwest Division teams during the regular season. Minnesota lost to the Shreveport Mudbugs of the South Division Sept. 14. The Warriors sept Shreveport in the Division Finals, outscoring them by a 11-3 margin with one game requiring overtime. During the season Oklahoma was 5-3 vs. the Mudbugs, with three of the games going to overtime.

 

Series Results - Oklahoma wins, 2-0

Game 1, May 19 - Oklahoma 4, Minnesota 2 

Minnesota surprised the Warriors early, jumping to a 2-0 lead through the first 40 minutes on goals by Michael Quinn and Sawyer Scholl, but Oklahoma exploded for four third-peiord golas in the final 6:51 to secure the Game 1 win. Kaden Nelson, Cole Teleki and Joe Delgreco scored in a span  of 3:16, and Delgreco iced it with an empty-net goal. Daniel Duris made 22 saves to earn the win in goal. 

 

Game 2, May 20 - Oklahoma 3, Minnesota 1 

Brendan Williams gave the the Warriors all the offense they would need, scoring once in the first period and twice in the third to send Oklahoma to the Robertson Cup Finals in the team's first year. William Lawson-Body assisted on two of those goals, and Daniel Duris made 27 saves to get the win over Isak Posch (26 saves). Cole Gordon scored the lone Wilderness goal, with Max Wattvil and Michael Quinn picking up the assists. 

 

 

#2 Maryland Black Bears vs. #3 Austin Bruins

The Black Bears swept the Northeast Generals in three games before knocking out the Maine Nordiques in four to claim the East crown and advance to the Robertson Cup Championship. Maryland's Brandon Piku leads all playoff scorers with 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in seven games, while Gabriel Westling has added 4-4-8 and defenseman Sean Kilcullen has contributed 2-6-8. Goalie William Hakansson is 6-1 with a 2.34 GAA and .907 save percentage. 

 

Maryland Regular Season Leaders

Christian Catalano - 59 GP, 30-27-57

Brad McNeil - 59 GP, 17-38-55

Sean Kilcullen - 55 GP, 8-35-43

Dmitry Kebreau - 50 GP, 25-16-41

Luke Van Why - 51 GP, 13-28-41

William Hakansson - 40 GP, 26-12-0, 2.18 GAA, .912 SV%

 

Austin Bruins

The Bruins swept Minot in the first round then won the Central Finals, 3-1, against St. Cloud. Goaltender Trent Wiemken has been outstanding for Austin, going 6-1 with a 1.65 GAA an .932 save percentage. Walter Zacher ranks third overall in playoff scoring with 6-3-9. Austin Salani has contributed 5-3-8, and Gavin Morrissey has 1-7-8.

 

Austin Regular Season Leaders

Gavin Morrissey - 59 GP, 17-44-61

Walter Zacher - 58 GP, 32-23-55

Austin Salani - 52 GP, 15-32-47

Dylan Cook - 59 GP, 18-22-40

Jack Malinski - 51 GP, 4-36-40

Trent Wiemken - 30 GP, 18-11-0, 2.07 GAA, .917 SV%

 

Common Opponents:

Maryland only played one team from the Central Division this season, beating the Aberdeen Wings, 4-1, Sept. 16. Austin went 5-5 vs. the Wings this year, with three of the meetings requiring overtime or a shootout. The Bruins beat both the Danbury Hat Tricks (5-3) and Northeast Generals (3-1) of the East Division. The Black Bears swept the Generals in the East Division Semifinals, outscoring them by a 14-5 margin after going 3-5 against them during the regular season. Maryland was 7-1 against Danbury, outscoring the Hat Tricks, 25-8.

 

Series Results - Austin wins, 2-1

Game 1, May 19 - Austin 4, Maryland 0

Austin scored in each period, with two goals coming in the second frame, and Trent Wiemken stopped all 27 shots he faced to record the Game 1 shutout. Matys Brassard opened the scoring in the first period and tallied another goal just 8 seconds into the middle stanza to knock the Black Bears to the ropes, and they never could recover. Ocean Wallace and Jack Malinski closed the scoring for Austin. Brassard was the only player to record multiple points. 

 

Game 2, May 20 - Maryland 2, Austin 1

Riley Rugh and Brayden Stannard scored second-period goals to break a scorelss tie, and the Black Bears held on after Walter Zacher scored 5:15 into the third period for Austin to cut the margin to one, William Hakansson was the hero in goal for Maryland, stopping 34 shtos as the Bruins piled up a 35-21 shots advantage. Branden Piku assisted on both Black Bears goals. 

 

Game 3, May 21 - Austin 4, Maryland 2

It was do or die in this battle of the bears as the Bruins and Black Bears faced off to determine who would take on Oklahoma for the Robertson Cup. Austin continued to get strong play in goal from Trent Wiemken, who made 28 saves, and third-period goals by Austin Salani and Matthew Desiderio lifted the Bruins into the title game. Desiderio tallied with 4:56 remaiing, just over five minutes after Riley Ruh had scored a flukey goal on a wraparound that kicked off the boards randomly and squeezed its way past Wiemken to cut the margin to 3-2 and turn the tension in the arena up a notch. Austin responded, with Desiderio's insurance goal and Wiemken shut the door the rest of the way. Walter Zacher and Josh Giuliani also scored for the Bruins, while Trey Scott had the other Black Bear goal. Dylan Walter dished out a pair of assists to join Zacher (1-1-2) as the only Bruins to record multiple points.