Isokangas Lands Star of the Week Honors with 75-Save Weekend
FRISCO, TX – Facing 79 shots on the road in a narrow playoff chase, Bismarck Bobcats goalie Severi Isokangas made 75 saves over the course of two nights for a split against the Minnesota Wilderness—earning the first-year netminder the Central Division Star of the Week award.
Isokangas, a midseason acquisition for the Bobcats, stopped 37 shots in a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss Friday at Northwoods Credit Union Arena before turning away 38 of 39 attempts en route to a 4-1 Bobcat victory on Saturday.
“I thought Sev played great for us all weekend and on Saturday in a must-win situation he was outstanding and made some huge timely saves to propel us to a win,” lauded Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie, who acquired Isokangas in an interleague trade on January 13.
Since joining the Bobcats, the Kauhava, Finland, native has compiled a 12-7-1 record to go with a 2.75 GAA—third-best in the Central Division—and a .908 SV%.
Monday’s award marks the seventh time a Bobcat has earned the division’s top weekly honor, with Isokangas joining fellow backstops Camden Haugenoe and Will Ulrich, along with skaters Jordan Fralich, Tobias Fladeby, Mitch Walinski and Nick Alexander.
A two-goal weekend, including Saturday’s game-winner, yielded Bobcat winger Tristan Ashbrook an honorable mention for the division’s weekly hardware.
With two weeks left in the regular season, the Bobcats find themselves three points behind the Brookings Blizzard for the final playoff spot in the Central Division; the Cats travel to Brookings to open a critical two-game road series against the Blizzard starting Friday at 7:05pm at Larson Ice Center.
Friday’s pivotal clash 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 6:40pm.
Season tickets for the 2017-18 campaign are now available for pre-order: fans can get more information or reserve their seats for all of next year now by calling 222-3300.