Bobcats, Shepard Earn NDAPSSA Annual Awards
BISMARCK, ND – For the second time in franchise history, the Bismarck Bobcats won the North Dakota Non-School Team of the Year from the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, while 2015-16 goaltender Hunter Shepard earned the association’s Non-School Player of the Year honor.
“I think it is a great honor to receive the Team of the Year award,” stated Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie, a North Dakota native—born in Williston and raised in Bismarck, “and it goes to show you how hard this group of young men worked and what they were able to achieve.”
This award comes on the heels of a season that saw the Bobcats recover from a 2-5-0 start to the regular season and claim both the Central Division regular season and playoff championships—the latter for the sixth time in eight years.
The Bobcats also earned the Non-School Team of the Year award in 2010, the year the team won the Robertson Cup and USA Hockey Tier II Junior A National Championship.
Shepard, meanwhile, nabbed the Player of the Year award after a season that thrust the University of Minnesota-Duluth-bound netminder into the Bobcat record books, including top-five marks in: single-season wins (1st, 34); single-season shutouts (1st, 8); single-season GAA (4th, 1.90); single-season SV% (4th, .926); single-season minutes (2932:11); career wins (3rd, 48); career shutouts (T-1st, 9); career GAA (4th, 2.41); career minutes (3rd, 4671:17); and career saves (4th, 1856).
It adds to an impressive haul of awards for Shepard in his final junior season, joining his All-NAHL Team selection, NAHL Goalie of the Year, 2016 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament selection, First-Team All-Central Division, Central Division MVP and Central Division Goalie of the Year.
For the Bobcats, a busy offseason continues on Friday, July 22, when the Cats open 2016 Main Camp at the VFW Sports Center and running through July 24. Main Camp will be open to the public all weekend long.
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.
