MINOT, ND – The Bismarck Bobcats hope to come flying out of the NAHL All-Star break as they open a home-and-home series with their intrastate rivals, the Minot Minotauros, starting Friday with a 7:35 PM contest at Maysa Arena.
Seven Bobcats represented Team Central at the 2012 Top Prospects Tournament this past week in Troy, Mich., which the Central won with a record of 3-0-0 with wins over Team South, the NAHL 18U Select team and Team North to capture the division’s second title in the last three all-star summits.
All four Bobcat forwards—Dan Zawacki, Bryce Schmitt, Frank DeAugustine and Buster Hebda—registered two points at Top Prospects while Tommy Burke went a flawless 3-0-0 in three games with a 2.00 GAA and a .923 SV% and defensemen Danny Ray and Donald Olivieri both laid highlight reel hits to help deliver Team Central the championship.
Minot’s Jadin Martin also added two goals for Team Central as the lone representative for the Central’s newest team after the Tauros traded Hebda to the Bobcats.
Friday will be the first meeting of 2012 between North Dakota’s two NAHL franchises, with the Bobcats going 8-1-0 in the nine meetings between the sides in 2011.
It will also be the first time that Hebda will play against his twin brother Jake, who is expected to start in net for the Minotauros.
“Jake and I have been competing with and against each other all our lives but Friday will be by far our biggest stage against each other,” explained Buster, who scored two goals for Team Central in Wednesday’s de-facto Top Prospects championship game against Team North to ice it for the Central. “I think it will make us each take it to the next level because there will be team and family bragging rights on the line.”
The Bobcats are led up front by Castan Sommer’s 27 goals and 24 assists while Martin’s 11 goals and 10 assists are tops for the Tauros.
Friday’s contest will be the Bobcats’ last game of 2011-12 at Maysa Arena, as the Tauros have been eliminated from playoff contention, while the series shifts to the VFW Sports Center Saturday for a 7:15 PM puck drop.
Both games will will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide on the official internet television partner of the NAHL, FASTHockey, at http://nahl.fasthockey.com. Pregame coverage gets under way a half hour before each game. Fans can watch Friday’s game—and all away contests—live at Reza’s Pitch at Third and Front in Bismarck, the official away game home of Bobcat Hockey.
Season tickets are still available for the second half of the 2011-12 season—and going fast! Call the Bobcat Hockey office at (701) 222-3300 or email gobobcathockey@aol.com for more information on reserving a pro-rated package for the rest of the season!