This past week, voice of the Bobcats, Brandon Luisi, caught up with former Bobcat Forward and newly crowned National Champion Owen Michaels.
Michaels was just crowned a national champion with Western Michigan and named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. He summed up his emotions as he heard the final buzzer sounded. “It’s been a crazy past couple of days and weeks. I’m so proud of this group and I think one thing is we never lost belief and what our goal was. Even back on day one, coming in the summer and meeting all the new guys, we meshed really well, were really close and tight right away. I think that shows the character of these guys that are Broncos, and really helped us going into the end of the year push and into the Frozen Four in St. Louis,” Michaels mentioned.
Michaels appeared in 91 games for Bismarck where he tallied 14 goals and 39 assists for a total of 53 points over two seasons with the Bobcats. He talked about how the city and the team helped shape him both as a human being and as a hockey player. “I think it’s just a blue-collar town. The people like to roll their sleeves up, and get their hands dirty and I think it was just a perfect spot for me to grow as a player and as a person. The guys were awesome, made it so easy to come to the rink and put your working hat on and get to work. It’s been so great to see and feel the support from the Bismarck community the past couple of days. So many people have reached out and so many of those guys that I’ve been fortunate enough to play with in Bismarck, I still stay in touch with to this day,” Michaels said.
Michaels finished out his interview with a message back to the fans of Bismarck. “Bismarck definitely has a special place in my heart. It’s the place where I grew the most as a hockey player and as a person more importantly. It was such a blessing to be there for two years and take each day for it’s brand new opportunity to grow and take a step forward as a person…There’s nothing like Bismarck, North Dakota and the VFW. That place gets packed and rowdy. It’s a special place to play,” Michaels added.
For the full interview between Brandon Luisi and Owen Michaels, hit the play button below!