Bismarck Bobcats

The Bismarck Bobcats are a Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Central Division, and play out of Bismarck, North Dakota, in the V.F.W. Sports Center. Originally a part of the America West Hockey League, the Bobcats joined the NAHL in a merger of the two leagues in 2003. In 2005, the Bobcats hosted the Robertson Cup tournament.

The Bobcats are the 2010 Robertson Cup Champions, winning the national championship with a 3-0 victory over the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on May 9, 2010. They are also the three-time defending NAHL Central Division champions.

In addition to the Robertson Cup, the Bobcats also won back-to-back Borne Cup titles as champions of the AWHL in 2002 and 2003. Their 2003 title was the last Borne Cup to be awarded prior to the NAHL-AWHL merger.

The Bismarck Bobcats came to Bismarck in 1997 and played their first season at the Bismarck Civic Center. They moved to the V.F.W. Sports Center the following year and have called it home ever since. The V.F.W. Sports Center was remodeled in the summer of 2008. The seating capacity 1,289 and with standing room is 1,450.

The Bobcats have had five head coaches in their tenure in Bismarck. Layne Sedevie is the current head coach, having been promoted from assistant coach following Byron Pool's decision to accept an associate head coach position with the Fargo Force of the USHL. Sedevie, a Bismarck native, was a goaltender at Bemidji State University and played professionally in the CHL before serving as assistant coach under Pool for the 2009-10 season. In his first season behind the bench he led the Bobcats to their third straight Central Division Playoff championship.

Pool, who served as head coach 2007-2010 was named the NAHL "Coach of the Year" in 2009. In addition to leading the team to its first-ever Robertson Cup title in 2010, he led the Bobcats to the most successful regular season in history in the 2008-2009 season. The Bobcats won 43 games and earned 88 points in the standings, which both set franchise records. The Bobcats won consecutive Central Division Playoff titles under Pool in 2009 and 2010.

Other former Bobcat coaches include; John Becanic (currently head coach of the Wenatchee Wild of the NAHL), Chad Johnson (currently head coach of the Lincoln Stars of the USHL) and Dane Litke (currently the Head Coach with the Janesville Jets of the NAHL).

The 2011-2012 season is the franchise's 14th season in Bismarck. They are the second-oldest franchise in the NAHL behind the Springfield Jr. Blues.

20th Anniversary Season
The Bobcats will mark their 20th anniversary season in 2016-17. On July 5, 2016 the team released a special logo to mark the occasion and honor the team's past. The logo is topped off with nine stars (3 black and 6 gold) noting the teams 3 (black) league titles (2003, 2004, 2010) and 6 (gold) playoff division titles (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016). This logo design is similar to what international soccer teams do to mark championships on their team crest.

Rivalries
The Bobcats have three primary rivals: the Aberdeen Wings, the Alexandria Blizzard and the Minot Minotauros.

The longest-standing of the three rivalries is that which the Bobcats share with the Blizzard. The rivalry with Alexandria has built up since the Blizzard's entry in the league, and really hit its stride when the Bobcats eliminated the Blizzard from the playoffs in 2009 (when Alexandria was the reigning division playoff champion), 2010 and 2011 (when the Blizzard won the regular season division title). The rivalry hit a crescendo during the 2011 playoffs when a line brawl touched off amid a Bobcats' 5-1 upset victory at the Runestone Community Center on April 2.

The Bobcats-Wings rivalry is in its second year, and is centered around the Titan Machinery Dakota Cup. The Bobcats, despite being the defending national champions in 2010-11, suffered multiple setbacks against the expansion Wings in front of capacity crowds at both teams' rinks before finally wrestling the new traveling trophy away from their South Dakota neighbors by a point total of 15-11.

The Bobcats and Tauros are in the first year of their intrastate rivalry, but the proximity (roughly 100 miles along US-83) of the two teams that share North Dakota has already produced multiple fights and plenty of bad blood.

Playoffs

 * 2006
 * First Round, Fargo-Moorhead Jets defeated Bismarck Bobcats 3-games-to-1


 * 2009
 * First Round, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Alexandria Blizzard 3-games-to-1
 * Second Round, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Owatonna Express 3-games-to-2
 * Robertson Cup Round Robin, Bismarck Bobcats (1-3) - Eliminated (L, 2-4 vs. Phantoms; L, 2-5 vs. Bandits; W, 3-2 vs. Outlaws; L, 2-3 vs. Wild)


 * 2010
 * First Round, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Albert Lea Thunder 3-games-to-0
 * Second Round, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Alexandria Blizzard 3-games-to-0
 * Robertson Cup Round Robin,  Bismarck Bobcats (2-2) - Qualified for Finals (W, 5-2 vs. Bandits; W, 6-1 vs. North Stars; L, 1-2 vs. Wild; L, 3-4 vs. Ice Dogs)
 * Robertson Cup Championship game, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Fairbanks Ice Dogs 3-0
 * Robertson Cup Champions


 * 2011
 * Divisional Semifinals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Alexandria Blizzard 3-games-to-2
 * Divisional Finals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Coulee Region Chill 3-games-to-2
 * Playoff Qualifier, Michigan Warriors defeated Bismarck Bobcats 2-games-to-0


 * 2012
 * Divisional Semifinals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Aberdeen Wings 3-games-to-1
 * Divisional Finals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Austin Bruins 3-games-to-1
 * Robertson Cup Round Robin, Bismarck Bobcats (1-2) - Eliminated (L, 1-5 vs. Fighting Falcons; W, 3-2 vs. Bandits; L, 2-6 vs. Bulls)


 * 2013
 * Divisional Semifinals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Brookings Blizzard 3-games-to-0
 * Divisional Finals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Austin Bruins 3-games-to-1
 * Robertson Cup Round Robin, Bismarck Bobcats (2-1) - Eliminated (W, 3-2 vs. Wild; L, 1-2 vs. Bulls; W, 4-3 vs. Ironmen)


 * 2014
 * Divisional Semifinals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Aberdeen Wings 3-games-to-0
 * Divisional Finals, Austin Bruins defeated Bismarck Bobcats 3-games-to-2


 * 2015
 * Divisional Semifinals, Minot Minotauros defeated Bismarck Bobcats 3-games-to-0


 * 2016
 * Divisional Semifinals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Brookings Blizzard 3-games-to-1
 * Division Finals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Austin Bruins 3-games-to-2
 * Robertson Cup Semifinals, Wichita Falls Wildcats defeated Bismarck Bobcats 2-games-to-0


 * 2017 Do not qualify
 * 2018 Do not qualify
 * 2019
 * Division Semifinals, Minot Minotauros defeated Bismarck Bobcats 3-games-to-none


 * 2020 Playoffs cancelled
 * 2021
 * Division Semifinals, Bismarck Bobcats defeated Minnesota Wilderness 3-games-to-0
 * Division Finals, Aberdeen Wings defeated Bismarck Bobcats 3-games-to-0