DAWSON CREEK, BC – The Bismarck Bobcats will strike out on their longest road trip of the 2011-12 regular season as they head 1,200 miles northwest for a two game series against the Dawson Creek Rage, starting Friday at 9:00 PM.
It is the Cats’ first trip to Canada since 2004, when the Fernie (B.C.) Ghostriders were fellow members of the America West Hockey League.
“We’re looking forward to a couple of really fun games up in BC,” noted Bobcats forward Frank DeAugustine, named Monday as one of the NAHL Three Stars of the Week, “the Rage have a beautiful arena—which will be rocking—and they’ll be very physical and trying to take us off our game. This weekend will be a really good test of where we are as a team.”
The Bobcats enter the weekend riding a big wave of momentum, posted to a four-game winning streak that has pushed them six points in front of the Aberdeen Wings for first place in the Central Division. In that four-game stretch, the Cats have outscored their opposition by a count of 23-9.
To maintain their offensive success during their visit to British Columbia, the Bobcats will have to stick to their game plan in the face of a physical Dawson Creek attack.
“The Rage are a big, physical team who likes to try and intimidate you and pull you into stuff after the whistle,” added Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie, reiterating DeAugustine’s comments, “so we need to stay disciplined and execute well. If we can take their crowd out of the game early, we’ll be in good shape.”
Second-year forward Josh Hartley leads the Rage attack with a point-per-game average, sitting on a goal and seven assists in eight games. Goalies Jack Sugenor and Edward Dyson have split time early, fashioning a combined 3-5-0 record with a 3.50 GAA and a .901 SV%.
As for the Bobcats, rookie phenom Shane Omdahl has set the early scoring pace with 15 points (5 G, 10 A) in the Cats’ first eight games while second-year netminder Tommy Burke has bounced back from a rocky outing against the Amarillo Bulls to post four straight wins and bring his GAA down to 2.89 and his SV% to .906.
The puck drops on both Friday and Saturday’s contests from the Encana Centre at 9:00 PM CST.
Friday’s series opener will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide on the official internet television partner of the NAHL, FASTHockey, at http://nahl.fasthockey.com. Pregame coverage gets under way at 8:30.
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2011-12 season—and going fast! Call the Bobcat Hockey office at (701) 222-3300 or email gobobcathockey@aol.com for more information on reserving a pro-rated package for this season!
BOBCAT HOCKEY
2011 CENTRAL DIVISION CHAMPIONS