North Stars off to Robertson Cup

The Traverse City North Stars packed their gear, posed for a few photos, ate some cake, loaded up the team bus, and headed south – bound for what they hope will ultimately be an NAHL Robertson Cup championship journey.

The Stars, who took a motorcoach to Chicago on Sunday in advance of their Monday flight to Seattle, got in a light morning skate ahead of a coffee-and-cake send-off party at Centre ICE arena before departing. They’ll face-off with each of the four other qualifying teams from around the league in the six-day tournament at the Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee, Wash., from May 4-9.

“It’s a fantastic experience for these guys,” said Stars head coach-GM Anthony Palumbo. “One they’ll probably remember for the rest of their lives. It’s a great accomplishment, but we also can’t go out there just happy to be a part of it. We have to go out there to try to win the thing. This is what these guys have been working so hard for all year long. We have to have our best effort every night this week.”

The North Stars will start off against the West Division champion Wenatchee Wild on Tuesday. The hosts posted a league-best 45-10-3 record during the regular season, and are 6-0 through the first two rounds of the NAHL playoffs.

From there, Traverse City plays three-time defending Robertson Cup champion St. Louis on Wednesday, followed by games against Bismarck on Thursday and Fairbanks on Friday before Saturday’s off-day. The two teams that have accrued the most points through round-robin play will advance to the Robertson Cup title game on Sunday.

2010 ROBERTSON CUP SCHEDULE

Catch all the games LIVE on the b2 Network webcast

Tuesday, May 4
Bismarck vs. St. Louis, 2:05 p.m. PT/5:05 p.m. ET
TRAVERSE CITY vs. Wenatchee, 6:35 p.m. PT/9:35 p.m. ET

Wednesday, May 5
TRAVERSE CITY vs. St. Louis, 2:05 p.m. PT/5:05 p.m. ET
Fairbanks vs. Wenatchee, 6:35 p.m. PT/9:35 p.m. ET

Thursday, May 6
Fairbanks vs. St. Louis, 2:05 p.m. PT/5:05 p.m. ET
TRAVERSE CITY vs. Bismarck, 7:05 p.m. PT/10:05 p.m. ET

Friday, May 7
Fairbanks vs. TRAVERSE CITY, 2:35 p.m. PT/5:35 p.m. ET
Bismarck vs. Wenatchee, 7:05 p.m. PT/10:05 ET

Saturday, May 8
Fairbanks vs. Bismarck, 2:35 p.m./5:35 p.m. ET
St. Louis vs. Wenatchee, 7:05 p.m. PT/10:05 p.m. ET

Sunday, May 9
Championship Game, 5:05 p.m. PT/8:05 p.m. ET