Storyline
The Tauros and Bobcats play a home-and-home series with the Tauros tied with the Austin Bruins for second place and the Bobcats just two points behind them in fourth. The Tauros have taken three of the first five meetings with the Cats this season. Saturday is the Tauros Teddy Bear Toss game, the Tauros are 5-0-1 against the Bobcats on Teddy Bear Toss nights. Tauro Alum and current University of Nebraska-Omaha captain Mason Morelli scored the fastest Teddy Bear Goal in Tauro history just 15 seconds into the 2012 Teddy Bear Toss game. Former Tauro captain and current Bemidji State Beaver Alex Adams is the only Tauro with multiple points on Teddy Bear Goals scoring the Teddy Bear goal in 2016 and assisting Miroslav Mucha’s Teddy Bear Goal last season.
Tauros
The Tauros enter the weekend coming off of their worst weekend of the season losing both games on the weekend for the first time all season long. The good news is that the Tauros still salvaged a point with Friday’s loss going to overtime.
The Tauros have struggled of late at both ends of the ice scoring just 2.6 goals per game and allowing 3.2 goals against per game. Wilmer Skoog has been the hottest Tauro offensively with four goals over the last ten games. David Raisanen and Justin Kelley each have six points over the last ten games. Tauros goaltenders Nicholas Grabko and Ben Garrity have combined for just an .896 save percentage over that time. Despite the Tauros struggles they have fought to a 5-4-1 record over that time and remain tied with the Austin Bruins for the division’s top spot.
Lincoln Erne leads the Tauros against the Bobcats with five points, all assists. Didrik Henbrant and Keenan Lund each have two goals and two assists. Grabko has played some of his best hockey against the Bobcats posting a .920 SV% and 2.23 GAA.
Bismarck
The Bobcats have gone 7-3-0 over their last 10 games. They come into the weekend on a four game winning streak after back-to-back weekend sweeps of Brookings. Austin Jouppi has 13 of his 14 points on the season in the last 10 games. Atticus Kelly has posted a sparkling .950 SV% and 1.71 GAA since joining the Bobcats and taking some of the weight off of John Roberts’s shoulders. Until Kelly’s first appearance on November 11th Roberts had played all but 20 minutes of the Bobcats’ first 15 games.
Adam Stacho leads the Cats with 26 points on seven goals and 19 assists. Sam Malinski and Alex Pollock each also have seven goals and 21 and 19 points respectively. Malinski leads the Cats against the Tauros with two goals and three assists. Bartek Bison has two goals and an assist in one game against the Tauros.
Tickets and Promotions
As mentioned above, Saturday is the Tauros Teddy Bear Toss Game. Fans are encouraged to bring a new or gently used stuffed animal to throw on the ice after the Tauros first goal. The teddy bears will be donated to the Minot Police Department and the Minot Domestic Violence Crisis Center, both of whom use them to comfort children during times of crisis. Tickets for Saturday’s game are available through the tickets tab atop this page or by clicking here.