The Bismarck Bobcats are proud to announce that Defenseman and Co-Captain, Ian Engel, has committed to continue his collegiate hockey and academic career at the University of North Dakota.
Engel was a mainstay on the blue line for the Bobcats over the last 3 seasons. Throughout his junior career, Engel appeared in 161 regular season games all with the Bobcats. He also added 22 playoff games, for a total of 183 games over parts of 4 seasons. Across his 183 games he tallied 11 goals and added on 57 assists for a total of 68 points. He commented on his excitement to continue his hockey journey at UND next season.
“I’m super honored to have an opportunity to play Division 1 college hockey at a place like UND. They have world class facilities and a great coaching staff along with a gameday atmosphere like no other. I am super excited to get back to the state of North Dakota and get onto campus” Engel said.
Coach Garrett Roth praised Engel for his work ethic and buy-in to the Bobcats throughout his tenure in Bismarck. “Ian was instrumental in leading our group from the start of training camp through winning the Robertson Cup. His character and commitment to the team was a huge part of our group’s buy-in. Every day he brought a high level of compete and intensity to the rink which was exactly what we wanted our team’s identity to be. These are the traits that coaches fall in love with and is a big reason for Ian earning this opportunity. He has been a selfless Bobcat that has worked his way up the lineup during his tenure here in Bismarck. That maturity to find a way to be impactful and develop on a daily basis gave him the confidence to be a major impact defenseman for us this year. Ian played in every situation for us, having his offensive contributions match his ability to shut down the opponent’s top guys. This opportunity to play for UND is certainly deserved and as an organization we couldn’t be more proud of how he has represented us as an organization throughout the years,” Roth said.
The University of North Dakota is an NCAA DI school that plays in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).