Bobcats Battle Minotauros to Close 2012
BISMARCK, ND – Fresh off a weekend sweep at home, the Bismarck Bobcats will welcome their in-state rivals, the Minot Minotauros, for a critical New Year’s Eve clash Monday at the VFW Sports Center starting at 7:15 PM.
Though the Bobcats were able to outscore their weekend opponent, the Coulee Region Chill, by a combined margin of 11-3 Friday and Saturday, they know they are in for a different kind of challenge with the Tauros.
“Minot plays a tougher, more grinding style,” assessed Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie, “and they get great goaltending from Tyler Parks. They’re never out of a game and can create a lot of matchup problems.
“If we want to be able wrap up 2012 on the right foot, we’re going to need a full-game effort like we got for two nights against Coulee Region this weekend.”
Through five meetings in their 12-game season series, the Bobcats have compiled an even 2-2-1 record against their northern foes.
On December 15, the most recent installment of the Battle of US-83 produced a rout that the Bobcats might rather forget as the Minotauros cruised to a 5-1 win at Maysa Arena; the Cats’ coaches, however, hope that their players learned a valuable lesson from the defeat.
“We need to know that when you’re playing a team as dangerous as Minot, you have to show up to play right away; we didn’t show up in the first period last time and it’s really tough to come back from that,” noted Sedevie, whose team gave up four goals in the first period on December 15. “It will be important for our guys to come out and try to set the tone early [Monday].”
The Bobcats’ recent offensive surge, having scored 16 goals in the last three games, has not been due to any one player or any one line combination: Kevin Becker, Joe Giordano and Adam Knochenmus each have five points in that stretch with newcomer Stanislav Dzakhov adding four points—all from different lines. Additionally, Bobcat defensemen chipped in four goals in Saturday’s 6-1 win.
For the special holiday game, the Bobcats will be wearing special-edition tuxedo jerseys as part of their “Dress to the Nines Night” promotion.
“Our tuxedo jerseys are very cool and I definitely think our fans will like them a lot,” added Bobcats assistant captain Jeremy O’Keefe, a second-year defender out of Grand Forks. “They’re definitely not like anything we’ve worn before.”
Fans will have a chance to buy the game-worn tuxedo jerseys, as the team will be auctioning them off following the game.
Any fan that arrives to Dress to the Nines Night in a tuxedo, suit or dress will be entered to win a great Bobcat gift, as well.
Monday’s intrastate throwdown 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.