Written By: Brian Gornick, Bobcat Content Writer
On New Year’s Eve midway through the 2024-25 North American Hockey League season, the Bismarck Bobcats currently sit at the top of the league standings.
The Bobcats currently sit at a record of 24-4-0-1, at the top of both the Central Division and the league itself. What has driven the Bobcats success for the first half of the season have been their suffocating defense. The Bobcats have allowed only 52 goals against on the year, good for best in the league. Their point differential of +50 is also best in the league, highlighting how smart the team is playing with the puck.
The race for the Central Division lead is a close race between the Bobcats and the Austin Bruins, the Bruins only two points behind. The Bobcats do have one game in hand however, emphasizing how impactful their defensive play has been with 24 wins in 29 games.
Unlike other teams in the league that are top-heavy with talent, the Bobcats have spread the scoring around well. 14 players currently have double-digit points, led by defenseman Matthew Rafalski with 21 points. Rafalski has been pegged for a breakout season in our season preview article, and he has put himself on center stage as a top defenseman in the league.
What makes this Bobcats team special is they can get scoring all throughout their lines, eight of their top ten scorers are forwards. The Bobcats top scoring forward, Julian Beaumont has not played since early December, scoring 21 points in only 14 games played. Josh Lehto is another forward who has really stepped into his own lately, almost a a point-per-game pace with nine points in his past ten games.
Stout defense and high-flying scoring is nothing without strong play between the pipes. Goaltender Tomas Anderson has become one of the best in the league, and shows no signs of slowing down. The Niagara University commit boasts a .943 save percentage and 1.48 goals against on average, all with a 16-2-0-1 record. Backup goaltender Kai Weigel has a .908 save percentage and 1.91 goals against on average. Both stats for goals against for Anderson and Weigel are good for top five in the league.
With arguably the best goaltender tandem in the league, the best defense statistically, and scoring all through the forward lines, the Bobcats have catapulted into the top team in the league. If the Bobcats continue to win, they can clinch their first Central Division title since 2015, and their second Robertson Cup Championship in franchise history since 2010.
While the Bobcats are humming on all phases of hockey, they came up short in their final game of the season on New Year’s Eve against the Minos Minotauros. Despite outshooting the Minotauros 28 to 27, the Bobcats fell 6-1, mostly off penalties putting the team on the penalty kill for a majority of the game: 51 minutes. The lone Bobcats goal came from Keanu Krenn for his eighth of the season, Gabe Kenne and Calle Arvedson assisting on the goal.
The first Bobcats game of the new year comes tonight at 7:00 P.M. CT against the St. Cloud Norsemen.