Bismarck – With the Bismarck Bobcats already having been crowned Central Division Champions and having a 12-2 season edge on Alexandria, it’s time for the Sheriff to look into his crystal ball and give you my Fearless Handcuffs.  Alexandria comes into Bismarck as the #3 seed in the playoffs, but they are worthy of a better fate.  A couple of wins here or there and it might have been the Bobcats going to the Runestone Community Center.

Here’s some of what the Sheriff will be watching for all series long:  The last time the Bobcats were in the playoffs, Chad Johnson was their coach.  Can Byron Pool and his team step up in a season that has been clearly one of the franchise’s best?  The keys in this series will be powerplays, tightening up defensive zones, and being aggressive on one of the quicker teams in the league.  Numbers do not mean anything.  I see it going all 5 games, but in the end the key match-up is Freismuth vs. Keefer.  Cody Keefer has been Bismarck’s leading scorer all season long.  Now is the time when your mind 
starts to play tricks on you, and you feel every ache in your body.  

Another key for the Bismarck Bobcats will be to take the body on Freismuth and Knoepke.  Make them feel every hit, make them want to 
sit on the bench, and don’t let them sniff the scoreboard early. 

Bismarck needs Will Aide to stay out of the box.  If Aide scraps early, it’s going to be a long series for the ‘Cats.  The whole team better stay out of the box, because Alex can burn you, especially with leading point-getter Jerry Freismuth.  Keep in mind that this is a Brad Willner team, who had gone to the Robertson Cup last year, while the Bobcats were recruiting after a dismal 20 win season a year ago.  The two Borne Cups are in the past, and the silver medal means nothing now.  This series means everything.  Now is the time when Byron Pool’s recruiting skills will be tested.  See if he really got what he wanted.  This series is sure to be a war.  Game 1, Round 1, in Bismarck.  Where?  VFW SportsCenter (along with game 2), before the scene shifts to Alexandria.  You can listen to the playoffs Game 1, beginning at 6:30 pm with the Dvorak Motors Pre Game Show with the voice of the Bobcats, Skip Berry.

You heard this reporter’s view of the series, now it’s time to get a view from the other side, Bobcats players and coaches.

The first person you will hear from is Lino Lakes, MN native Jordan Singer, who was with the Southern Minnesota Express last year who lost to the Blizzard.  This year Singer gets another shot at Alexandria.  When sitting down with Singer, we asked him if anything has changed as they prepared for tonight’s Game 1.  “We’re not going to change anything. We’re just going to keep playing the way we have been. We’ll go at them hard,” Singer stated.  When speaking about Alexandria’s leading scorer on the season, Singer stated of Freismuth, “He is a dangerous forward, and a dangerous threat out 
there. We have to make sure we know where he’s at all the time.”   Singer was also focused on Alex’s speed, but was confident in his team’s defensive aspect of the game, as well as in between the pipes.  He stated that the crowd would be a big factor.  “Hopefully, it will get nice and loud. That really gets us going,” Singer said.

Up next, as playoff coverage continues, is a native of Mount Prospect IL, defenseman #20 John Avino.  The first question I posed to Avino was how he thought the guys needed to play against Alexandria.  “I think we just need to keep playing strong defensively. I think we’ll be fine, as long as we don’t change anything up. Just pick up the intensity a little bit and we’ll be good to go,” Avino stated.  Avino said that the Bobcats are not really frightened by the Blizzard, but “they have a couple fast guys up front that could get hot in the playoffs.”  He said that they are a good team, but he thinks they can handle them.  “We have to be extremely physical and send the message that we are the dominate tough team. It’s going to be a battle from start to finish,” he said about Game 1.  John Avino was asked how drained the Bobcats are, to which he replied, “We have a second burst of energy for the playoffs. It gets tiring, but I think we’ll be fine.”

Finally, it’s time to hear from the bench boss of the Central Division Champs, Byron Pool.  The first question we asked the head  coach was what he tells his troops heading into the second season.  
“We’re looking at it as a continuation of our already successful season, as opposed to starting over at zero,” Pool answered.  “The biggest thing is that we don’t have to change anything. If we’re having success, we’re not going to change anything. We take a one- game-at-a-time attitude”  When posed the question, as far as adjustments that Alexandria’s coach Brad Willner will make, Pool stated “He’ll have a couple of things up his sleeve, but we won’t really have any idea of how Brad’s going to try to counter us until we get there.”  When asked what stood out of the regular season, 
Coach Pool stated that no other Bobcat team had ever got 43 wins.   “It’s a special number to these guys in this program.”  Coach pool was asked to look at assistant coach Aaron Kinslow in a different light, as a teammate, and he stated, “I never really thought of him that way. That’s a good way to put it.”