Monster March Merits Repensky Defenseman of the Month
FRISCO, TX – A sixteen-point close to the 2012-13 regular season was more than enough to earn Bismarck Bobcats blueliner Nate Repensky the North American Hockey League’s Defenseman of the Month award for March.
“Coach [Layne] Sedevie always tells us that individual recognition comes from team success and that’s how I see this award,” explained Repensky, who is in his rookie season out of Duluth East (Minn.) High School. “It’s a great honor to be named the top ‘D’ man in a league full of great players, but so much of it comes from everyone coming together and playing well as a team.”
The first-year defender netted four goals and added 12 assists during the season’s final month, with all four goals and nine of his helpers coming on the suddenly hot Bobcat power play.
Repensky’s unit, in which he is joined by Matt Pohlkamp, Filip Starzynski, Matt Anders and Evan Giesler, helped the Bobcat power play to a 29.3% efficiency in March and was responsible for 12 of the 17 tallies the black and gold registered with the man advantage during the month.
“You look at something like our power play, which made huge improvements once Nate was helping to run it,” credited Sedevie. “Our power play recently has been up around 30%, which a lot of the credit goes to Nate for that. He is very skilled and solid at both ends of the rink. It is so important to have a guy that can break the puck out of the defensive zone on a consistent basis and with Nate, you don’t have to worry about that.
“You always know he is going to make that first pass or play to get things going.”
Hampered by injuries early in the season—missing 10 games in September and October while on the Injured Reserve—Repensky came on late, more than doubling his point total on the season last month to 27 points on six goals and 21 assists. His March included two four-point games (March 2 at Brookings, March 14 vs. Minot) and a five-assist weekend at Austin.
“I think it took a couple of months to really get back to where I felt comfortable and back up to 100% with the speed and strength,” noted the former Greyhound. “Once I did, I had a lot more confidence in distributing the puck and jumping into plays.”
Repensky’s award is the first time since December 2010 that a Bobcat has earned monthly hardware, dating back to Ryan Faragher’s securing Goalie of the Month to close that calendar year.
Other Bobcats receiving monthly recognition for March include forward Filip Starzynski, who notched a goal and ten assists en route to an honorable mention for Player of the Month, and Aaron Nelson, an honorable mention for Goalie of the Month following a 4-1-2 March with a 2.22 GAA and a .912 SV%.
With the regular season now wrapped up, the Bobcats will turn their attention to the 2013 Robertson Cup Playoffs, which will open with Game One of the Central Division Semifinals at the VFW Sports Center as the Cats host the Brookings Blizzard. Game Two will follow Saturday at the VFW Sports Center.
Tickets for next weekend’s postseason-opening tilts are now on sale: fans can buy and print online at BismarckBobcats.com or call the box office at 222-3300.
Friday’s playoff opener 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.