Bobcats Tender, Add Bemidji Center Pollock
BISMARCK, ND – The Bismarck Bobcats are pleased to announce that the team has signed forward Alex Pollock to a tender agreement for the upcoming 2017-18 season.
Hailing from Bemidji, Minn., Pollock is currently in his senior season with the Bemidji (Minn.) High School Lumberjacks, with whom he has 32 points (13g, 19a) in 21 regular season appearances.
“Alex is a good 200-foot center who plays the game with high energy and a high compete level,” lauded Bobcats assistant coach and director of player personnel Garrett Roth. “On top of his raw talents—a proven scorer, a high hockey IQ, really good on face-offs—he comes from a very good high school program in Bemidji.”
With Bemidji High, Pollock has been a part of two Lumberjack teams that have won Minnesota’s Section 8AA and advanced to the world-famous Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament.
In making his decision on where to sign, the 1999 birthyear center leaned on the advice of his current coaching staff.
“I talked with Coach [Wade] Chiodo a lot, because I wanted to find the right team,” noted Pollock who, despite an injury-shortened regular season, leads the Lumberjacks in points. “Bismarck had a lot of interest in me and in talking with Coach Roth I knew the Bobcats were the right fit for me.”
Thanks to a new NAHL rule for 2016-17—allowing teams to add two tendered players to their roster in February—Pollock will join the Bobcats at the conclusion of the Jacks’ season.
Though the Section 8AA doesn’t start until Tuesday for Bemidji—when the defending champion Lumberjacks will travel to face fourth-seeded Brainerd—Pollock is already aware of what it will take to make the jump from high school to juniors.
“There will definitely be a faster pace and the NAHL is a more physical league,” assessed Pollock. “I want to come into the league and give my new team the best chance to win.”
For the Bobcats, the playoff push continues Friday as the Cats open a two-game home weekend against the rival Aberdeen Wings at the VFW Sports Center.
Tickets are now on sale for Friday and Saturday’s contests: fans can buy and print tickets 24 hours a day at BismarckBobcats.com or charge by phone at 222-3300.
Friday’s home throwdown 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 6:50pm.
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.