Bobcats Close out January with Aberdeen Home-and-Home
Matchup: Bismarck Bobcats (18-19-1) vs Aberdeen Wings (16-18-3)
Games: Friday, January 27, 7:15pm; Saturday, January 28, 7:15pm
Venues: Odde Ice Center, Aberdeen, S.D.; VFW Sports Center, Bismarck, N.D.
Season Series: Wings lead Bobcats 4-1-1
All-Time: Bobcats lead Wings 48-17-11
Radio: SuperTalk 1270 AM, SuperTalk1270.com and the radioPup smartphone app, 6:45pm both nights
Internet TV: http://www.HockeyTV.com, 6:45pm both nights
ABERDEEN, SD – Riding a wave of momentum from five wins in their last six games, the Bismarck Bobcats will look to stay hot with a home-and-home series with the Aberdeen Wings—against whom they’ve gone cold of late—starting Friday at Odde Ice Center before returning to the VFW Sports Center Saturday.
After taking their first two meetings by a combined score of 9-3, the Bobcats have dropped the last four contests against the Wings, most recently enduring a 3-2 November 23 gut-punch on an end-of-regulation buzzer-beater and then a 7-2 drubbing in Aberdeen on January 6.
“When you look at it, the bookends of our low point of the season came against the Wings,” pointed out Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie, whose team was 2-10-0 between November 23 and January 6, “and we hope our guys have those games in their minds when they step out on the ice Friday.
“Not only do we want them to think about the final score [on January 6], but to be mindful of the mistakes that hurt us against Aberdeen and continue to improve and eliminate those mistakes.”
With a combined seven points last weekend, Tobias Fladeby (17g, 22a) and Matt Barry (11g, 19a) lead the Bobcat scoring charge and are two of just 13 players in the Central Division with 30 or more points.
Goalie Severi Isokangas has started five straight games since coming to the Bobcats in a trade from Waterloo of the USHL, posting a 4-1-0 record with a 1.58 GAA and a .942 SV%.
At 31 points, Wings center Kevin Fitzgerald (14g, 17a) is Aberdeen’s entry to the Central’s 30-point club. On January 6, Fitzgerald had a goal and three assists en route to Central Division Star of the Week honors.
In net for Aberdeen, former Odessa Jackalope Forbes Ploszaj has steadied the Wings’ goaltending corps with an 8-7-1 record, a 2.64 GAA and a .905 SV% since his late-November arrival to Scott Langer’s squad. Ploszaj is 2-0-0 against the Bobcats.
Tickets are now on sale for Saturday’s home leg of the weekend: fans can buy and print tickets online 24 hours a day at BismarckBobcats.com or charge by phone at 222-3300.
Friday’s rivalry road clash will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270 AM, and worldwide on HockeyTV.com–the web television partner of the North American Hockey League–with pregame coverage starting at 6:45pm.
Pro-rated season tickets are now on sale for the Bobcats’ landmark platinum anniversary campaign fans can get more information or reserve their seats for all of Season Twenty now by calling 222-3300.