Bobcats Return Home to Meet Surging Bruins
Matchup: Bismarck Bobcats (7-8-0, T-4th Central) vs Austin Bruins (10-8-1, 2nd Central)
Games: Friday, November 13, 7:15pm; Saturday, November 14, 7:15pm
Place: VFW Sports Center, Bismarck, N.D.
Season Series: Bobcats lead Bruins 2-0-0
All-Time: Bobcats lead Bruins 28-18-2
Radio: SuperTalk 1270 AM, SuperTalk1270.com and the radioPup smartphone app, 6:45pm
Internet TV: http://NAHL.FASTHockey.com, 6:45pm
BISMARCK, ND – After 20 days away from home, the Bismarck Bobcats return to the VFW Sports Center to welcome the defending Central Division champion Austin Bruins on Friday and Saturday nights.
The last time the two divisional rivals met, the Bobcats took both ends of a two-game opening weekend set in the capital region by scores of 6-3 and 3-0.
Since then, the two teams have headed in different directions: the Cats have gone 5-8-0 and sunk to a fourth-place tie in the Central; Austin has surged into second place by posting a 10-5-1 mark in that time.
In all eight of their defeats, the Bobcats have kept things remarkably close: six losses have been by two goals or less, with two three-goal margins that both included empty-net scores for the opposition.
“We’ve been in every game this year, and in almost every one you could look at the game and say ‘we really could have won that one,’” offered Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie, whose squad is 3-2-0 at home so far this season. “But you can also look at the effort in each of those games and see why we didn’t. That’s why the big message the last couple days in practice has been to have a full 60-minute effort out of our guys.
“The way we played in the last 10 minutes of the [2-1 loss at Minot] Tuesday, dominating the play and creating good forechecks and scoring opportunities, was the kind of effort we need all game long.”
Harrison Aide and Alex Strand have done the most damage up front since the Bruins left the VFW Sports Center on September 19, each scoring nine points to pace the Bobcat attack.
Austin’s division-best offense has been the major cause of their resurgence at 3.42 goals per game, with major contributions coming from veterans Jade Miller (10g, 6a), Gilbert Gabor (6g, 10a) and Dawson DiPietro (6g, 8a) along with first-year forward Justin Misiak (6g, 9a)—who have combined for 61 points through 19 games.
Backstopping the Bruins has been Kristofer Carlson, who came on board in the days following opening weekend: the Centerville, Va., native has appeared in 14 of the B’s last 17 contests and racked up an 8-4-1 record in that time while winning three of the last six Central Division Star of the Week awards.
Tickets are now on sale for the Bruins’ final visit of 2015-16 to the VFW Sports Center: fans can buy and print tickets online 24 hours a day at BismarckBobcats.com or charge by phone 9:00am to 5:00pm by calling 222-3300.
Friday’s rivalry clash will be broadcast live locally on SuperTalk 1270 AM, the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, and worldwide online at NAHL.FASTHockey.com—the official web television partner of the North American Hockey League—with pregame coverage starting at 6:45pm.
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2015-16 campaign; if you want to beat the rush of 40,000 fans for this season, now is the time! Call 222-3300 today to reserve your seats.