BISMARCK, ND. – After a 144-day offseason, the Bismarck Bobcats officially kick off the 2026-2027 NAHL regular season Friday night with a road test against the St. Cloud Norsemen.
Bismarck is coming off a preseason weekend in Watford City that left the team with more questions than answers after being outscored 15-5 across the two contests. The Bobcats never held a lead throughout the weekend.
Garrett Roth’s squad is no stranger to adversity, however, following an injury-riddled 2025-2026 campaign that ultimately saw its Robertson Cup hopes come to an end in the first round of the Central Division playoffs against Aberdeen.
With the regular-season roster now set, the beige and black will look to turn the page and open the 2026-2027 campaign on a strong note against the Norsemen.
St. Cloud struggled against Bismarck last season, dropping all but one of the teams’ regular-season meetings, including a 9-1 Bobcats victory in the first matchup.
The Norsemen had a much stronger preseason showing, winning their first two exhibition contests before falling 4-0 to the Austin Bruins.
Led by third-year head coach Joe Exter, St. Cloud is looking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2023.
The black and purple will enter the regular season with a much younger roster after losing their top five point producers from a season ago, who accounted for 44.1% of the team’s total scoring.
An influx of youth leads the new-look Norsemen squad, which was without a 20-goal scorer in 2025-2026 and brings 11 players born in 2008 or later into the fold.
While last season did not produce the results St. Cloud was looking for, the Norsemen finished the campaign on a strong note, winning six of their final 10 contests. They will look to carry that momentum onto home ice this weekend.
It will be the first true test of the 2026-2027 regular season for both squads, and in what is expected to be a tightly contested Central Division race, neither team can afford to come out of the gates sluggish.
Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. CT on Friday and 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday night. Fans can catch all the action live on NAHLtv.com, SuperTalk 1270 or the SuperTalk 1270 mobile app.