Bobcats Head North for Subway ND Cup Showdown
Matchup: Bismarck Bobcats (11-13-1) vs Minot Minotauros (16-7-2)
Game: Friday, December 9, 8:05pm
Venue: Maysa Arena, Minot, N.D.
Season Series: Bobcats lead Minotauros 3-0-0
All-Time: Bobcats lead Minotauros 39-19-4
Radio: SuperTalk 1270 AM, SuperTalk1270.com and the radioPup smartphone app, 7:35pm
Internet TV: http://www.HockeyTV.com, 7:35pm
MINOT, ND – Hoping to halt their season-high five-game skid, the Bismarck Bobcats will play their only game of the weekend when they make the 110-mile trip north to Maysa Arena to face the division-leading Minot Minotauros in the fourth installment of the newly christened Subway North Dakota Cup.
Looking to reverse some late November and early December misfortunes, the Bobcats hope a back-to-basics approach will help right the ship.
“We need to get back to things that helped us win early in the year: working hard and being hard to play against,” explained first-year Bobcat defender Noah Bormann. “Taking the body will be huge; when we are hitting it sets the tone: our feet are moving, our energy is up and we carry the play.”
Special teams have had a major impact on the intrastate season series, with seven combined power play goals scored in the first three meetings—but only two courtesy of the Bobcats.
“Our power play started out very hot but has cooled off a bit lately,” noted Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie, “but the offense it provides is important. We’ve played in 12 one-goal games out of 25, so one successful power play can make the difference between winning and losing right now.”
Though the results haven’t come out in the Bobcats’ favor, one major bright spot has been the play of veteran winger Tobias Fladeby, who parlayed a 12-point (5g, 7a) month of November into a Division I commitment to American International College earlier this week.
With the Central Division standings tightening, the Minotauros continue to lean on leading scorer Alex Adams—the division’s third-leading scorer with 13 goals and 13 assists—who had a goal and an assist against the Bobcats in their last visit to Pepsi Rink at the Maysa.
Both teams announced on Thursday that the annual season series winner would claim the Subway North Dakota Cup, adding traveling hardware to an already intense divisional rivalry.
Friday’s Subway North Dakota Cup clash will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270 AM, and worldwide on HockeyTV.com–the web television partner of the North American Hockey League–with pregame coverage starting at 7:35pm.
Pro-rated season tickets are now on sale for the Bobcats’ landmark platinum anniversary campaign fans can get more information or reserve their seats for all of Season Twenty now by calling 222-3300.