Bobcats Wrap Homestand with Crucial Weekend
BISMARCK, ND – The Bismarck Bobcats will finish up their three-game homestand with a consequential pair of games against the Brookings Blizzard Friday and Saturday nights at the VFW Sports Center.
Coming into the weekend, the second-place Bobcats (21-13-2, 44 pts) sit four points ahead of the fourth-place Blizzard (19-14-2, 40 pts), though Brookings holds the division’s third-best winning percentage at .571, thanks to having one game in hand on the Cats and three games in hand over third-place Minot.
Through four games in 2012-13, the Bobcats and Blizzard are an even 2-2-0 against one another.
In their last meeting, on January 5, the Blizzard frustrated the Cats in a 1-0 shutout victory for the Central Division’s newest member—leaving Bobcat players dissatisfied with their effort in defeat.
“When we played Brookings a couple weeks ago, we didn’t have a very good work ethic,” admitted Bobcat captain Adam Knochenmus, who leads the team with 37 points on 16 goals and 21 assists. “We came out flat and didn’t get on track until the third period and by then it was too late.”
Earlier this week, the Bobcats beefed up their front line as head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie locked in a trade with the Amarillo Bulls to acquire 6’2” forward Travis Underwood.
Underwood has notched seven goals and 11 assists in 27 games between the Bulls and the Coulee Region Chill this season.
A big part of the Cats’ game plan for the weekend revolves around putting more heat on Blizzard goaltender Drew Weigman, who is 2-0-0 in two appearances against the Bobcats so far.
“We need to get more shots on net than we did last time,” stated Sedevie. “In that game we only got 24 shots on Weigman, and our goal for every game is 40 shots. It’s tough to win against a goalie as talented as he is when you only put up 24 shots.”
The curtain will rise on the two-game set Friday at 7:15 PM with Saturday’s series finale to follow at the same time.
Tickets for the pivotal home weekend are on sale by calling the Bobcat Box Office at 222-3300; fans can buy and print tickets online right now at BismarckBobcats.com. For Saturday’s game, the first 200 children through the door will get $4.00 tickets, courtesy of Hollevoet Orthodontics.
Friday’s inter-Dakota matchup 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 6:45 PM.
Pro-rated season tickets for the 2012-13 season are now on sale—and going fast! Call the Bobcat Hockey office today at (701) 222-3300 to reserve your seats for another great season of Championship Entertainment.