OWATONNA, MN – The Bismarck Bobcats will make their second trip to the Four Seasons Center to take on the Owatonna Express in a two-game series with the top spot in the Central Division on the line.
The Bobcats (8-6-1, 17 pts)—who fell 4-1 in their first trip to Owatonna on October 10—enter the weekend one point ahead of the Express (8-7-0, 16 pts) for first place in the tightly packed Central.
Owatonna has won four of their last six games to surge from fifth to second place thanks largely to the red-hot play of forward Andy Singerhouse, whose goal and nine assists in his last six games have pushed him to third on the Express in scoring with thirteen points (G, 12 A).
“Singerhouse has been great lately, but Owatonna’s biggest weapon is their balance,” said Bobcats defenseman John Furgele. “They have some good depth and any one of their lines can hurt you. A lot of times in [the Central] you get a team’s big line or two to focus on, but this weekend we’ll have to focus on four lines.”
A two game win streak has propelled the Bobcats into sole possession of first place for the first time all season. Ryan Faragher’s goaltending has paced the push to the lead in the standings; the Fort Frances native has stopped 56 of 58 shots over his last two games and made 107 saves in his last four contests.
Bobcats head coach Layne Sedevie said that Faragher’s play will be critical in a battle of two hot goalies.
“Owatonna has a great goalie in Charles Williams (5-3-0, 3.62 GAA) who basically single-handedly beat us a few weeks ago,” observed Sedevie, “so we’ll need Ryan to continue to play big and give us a chance to win because we’ve already seen that Williams can do that for them—and to us.”
Offensive balance is another factor in the Cats’ run to first place. Over the last three games, the Bobcats have eight different goal scorers (on nine goals) while in last Friday’s 5-1 victory at Alexandria, ten different Bobcats registered a point.
The two-game series will feature 7:00 PM starts on both Friday and Saturday at the Four Seasons Center.
Both games will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide at http://nahl.fasthockey.com/. As with all away games during the 2010-11 season, fans are encouraged to view the games each night at Reza’s Pitch—the official away game Home of the Bobcats—at the corner of Third and Front in Bismarck. Pre-game coverage will begin both Friday and Saturday at 6:30 PM CT.
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2010-11 season! Call the Bobcat Hockey office at (701) 222-3300 or email gobobcathockey@aol.com for more information on reserving your seats for the entire season as the Bobcats look to defend the Robertson Cup!
BOBCAT HOCKEY
2010 ROBERTSON CUP CHAMPIONS