BISMARCK, ND – The Bismarck Bobcats return from the Christmas break just in time to ring in the New Year with a 7:15 PM Thursday contest against the surging Alexandria Blizzard, followed by a Friday-Saturday series against the North Iowa Outlaws at the VFW Sports Center.
The Blizzard have won four straight, bouncing back from a six-game losing streak to improve to 10-13-3 and pull within five points of third-place North Iowa.
“[Head coach] Doc [DelCastillo] has Alexandria playing some great hockey right now,” said Bobcats head coach Byron Pool. “They had a rough start but now Doc has the kind of roster he wants and the players are starting to buy into the system—and it’s showing up in the win column for them.”
Alexandria’s current win streak began after their most recent matchup with the Bobcats, which Bismarck took 5-2 at the VFW. Overall, the Bobcats are 7-0-0 against the Blizzard with four of those wins coming by a 2-1 margin.
The VFW Sports Center will in a party mood for New Year’s Eve, as well, with Hot 97.5 providing live music before the game and giving roses to the first 97 roses courtesy of Broadway Floral of Hearts. There will also be party hats, noisemakers and other New Years party favors given away throughout the game.
Additionally, the Bobcats are offering “Buck-off Beers” throughout the night to keep the party rolling all game long.
After the Bobcats-Blizzard contest, adults can redeem their ticket stubs for either cover-free admission to Borrowed Bucks’ Fully Loaded New Years Eve Party on 3rd Street in Bismarck or 2-for-1 drinks at Captain Freddy’s on the river in Mandan.
Once the calendars roll over to 2010, the Bobcats welcome the archrival Outlaws to the VFW for a two-game set on Friday and Saturday.
On the year, the Bobcats are 3-0-1 against North Iowa, including a two-game home sweep of the third-place Outlaws in mid-December. The two home contests were highly physical affairs that featured big hits and a number of fights between the long-time rival clubs as the ‘Cats took home victories of 3-2 and 5-2 on the weekend.
The three game weekend set for the Bobcats marks the middle portion of a seven-game homestand.
All kids are invited to bring their skates for Saturday’s game, as they will be able to Skate with the Bobcats following the weekend finale.
The puck drops for each of the weekend contests at 7:15 PM.
The games will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide at BismarckBobcats.com via B2 Networks. The pre-game show starts each night at 6:45 PM.
You won\’t want to miss any of the games this season, so order your Season Tickets, Family Packs and Group Nights today by calling the Bobcat Hockey Office at 701-222-3300 or by e-mailing the office for more information at gobobcathockey@aol.com.
BOBCAT HOCKEY
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