The Bismarck Bobcats face the Austin Bruins at the VFW Sports Center and then, one night later, they’ll go on the road to the Thunderdome in Aberdeen, S.D., where they’ve been victorious before. Bobcats assistant coach Garrett Roth shared his thoughts with JeremiahBoyce.com heading into his team’s weekend against the Bruins and the Wings.
The Bobcats are currently in fourth place, which would get them into the playoffs if the season ended today — but it doesn’t. According to Roth, it doesn’t matter what happened in their last meeting.
“I don’t believe the last time we played Aberdeen has any bearing on the game, other than we know we can go in their barn and get a win,” Roth says. “It’s two teams that are young and have had a handful of games to develop since our last meeting.”
The Bobbcats have been struggling on their power plays lately, scoring a paltry four goals, but Roth believes that is due to injuries.
“We have been working on it during the week,” Roth said, “so we have had to mix and match our units because of injuries, so the more reps we get the more comfortable we will become making plays and knowing where one another is on the ice.”
A myriad of penalties cost the Bobcats when they faced the Bruins on opening night as they let Brian Bachnak run roughshod over them, doing his best Michael Jordan imitation. Roth believes that if the Bobcats stay out of the rough stuff and cut down on their penalties, they will emerge victorious.
“We just need to play with discipline and make sure we play hard between the whistles,” Roth said. “Staying out of the altercations when the play is over will be key to staying disciplined.”
