Bulls Look to Tame ‘Cats As Bismarck Returns to River City

Feb 17, 2022

February 18, 2021 – 7:30 p.m.
February 19, 2021 – 7:30 p.m.
Mason City Arena – Mason City, IA

BISMARCK BOBCATS (16-23-1-2)
@ NORTH IOWA BULLS (19-17-2-4)

ROSTER: NORTH IOWA  |  BISMARCK
STATISTICS:
NORTH IOWA  |  BISMARCK

 

ATTENDING THE GAME: MAP TO ARENA  |  FRIDAY TICKETS  |  SATURDAY TICKETS  |  SEATING CHART

COVERAGE: HockeyTV (video/$), Mixlr (audio/free)

LIVE STATS: FRIDAY  |  SATURDAY

BULLS vs. BISMARCK ALL-TIME: 3-3-0

NORTH IOWA MEDIA NOTES: FRIDAY | SATURDAY

 

IN A NUTSHELL:

North Iowa makes a welcome return to home ice with the last extended road stretch on the horizon.

 

THIS WEEKEND’S PROMOTIONS:­

The Bulls celebrate National “Drink Wine” Day and National Girl Scout Cookie Week Friday night, with discounted wine at the Bulls’ beer stand and Girl Scout cookies available for purchase on the concourse. Season ticket holders also get any beer for just $3 until puck drop as part of the team’s Happy Hour promotion, and selected North Iowa players will be available for postgame “Friday Night Lights” autographs. Saturday’s game celebrates National Tug-of-War Day with an on-ice tug-of-war contest at the first intermission.

 

GETTING ‘EM IN LINE:

North Iowa’s top line from last weekend has built a torrid scoring pace heading into the final 30 percent of the schedule – Jack Campion notched multi-point games in both outings against the Wings, while Michael Mesic has extended his team scoring lead to eight points over Logan Dombrowsky and Byron Hartley has picked up points in eight of his last 10 appearances. Four of those games have been multi-point outings.

 

DRIVE HOME SAFELY:

The Bulls are hoping to extend a trend that has remained fairly consistent in the first half-dozen meetings with Bismarck – in all but one of the meetings so far, the home team has come out on top.The lone exception came on January 22, when the Bobcats left the VFW Sports Center ice with a 4-3 loss to the Bulls. Dylan Gajewski factored into three of the four goals in that game, scoring the final go-ahead goal of the night. This game is the first home contest for North Iowa against Bismarck since November 6, with four more meetings on the slate after this weekend.

 

FOUR-POINT PLAY:

Jack Campion celebrated a milestone last weekend, becoming the 17th player in North Iowa Bulls history to hit the 100-point mark all-time on Friday and bumping his career mark to 102 on Saturday with two assists. The Crystal, Minnesota native earned his first NAHL point against the Bobcats just before Christmas, but seven of his 12 NAHL points thus far have come against the Wings.

 

HOCKEY 101:

Friday’s game is set to be the 101st on the ice for North Iowa defenseman Greg Japchen, who reached the century mark last Saturday against the Wings (not including a single NCDC contest in 2018-19). Three of those games came in the United States Hockey League with Madison and Omaha – barring any absences from the lineup over the next week, the Bulls will likely mark a milestone in a more official manner at the Springfield Jr. Blues as he takes the ice for his 100th North American Hockey League game.

 

BOBCATS LOOK BACK:

Bismarck split last weekend against Minot, taking a 4-2 loss on Friday behind a three-goal third period for the Minotauros. The Bobcats rebounded for a 5-1 win Saturday, thanks to a pair of goals from Brandon Reller and 26 saves from Oskar Spinnars Nordin.