While many of the Squirt level teams in the Buckeye Travel Hockey League have been playing games during the past month, the Athens Bobcats have been waiting. They have been waiting for other prior commitments to end and practicing hard for the right time to pounce on their competition. These are a young group of ‘Cats, but still have a great deal of experience and chemistry that should lead to success in league play.
Led by Head Coach, Steve Sammons, the Bobcats return only two players from last year’s squad. Rhys Westenbarger and netminder, Teagan Ries hope to provide the experience and leadership necessary for young ‘Cats. Rhys’ smart and reliable play along with Teagan’s quickness in net should provide the building blocks needed for a good team. Coming up from a mite team that took a couple of tourney championships will be the slick skating of Max Cook and the hard-nosed, gritty play of Evan Adams and Anthony Koping. Chase Sammons will be called upon to lead the offensive charge. Pulling double duty as both a mite and squirt will be Jackson Kohn, Storm Walburn, Nicholas Barga, Finnegan Mitchell, and Eli Kennedy. All of these players are very versatile and are great additions to the team. Welcome additions to this year’s team are Nick Lutz and Garhett Kerns. Both players have mite level experience and are very athletic. They will provide the extra punch necessary for team success.
The Bobcat’s start their season with a pair of non-league games this Saturday, November 14th when the Newark Generals (White) travel to Bird Arena. The puck drops at 3:15 and 6:15. The following weekend the ‘Cats will travel to the Dayton area to start BTHL play when they will play a pair against the Troy Bruins and a pair against the Dayton Bluehawks. Let the hunt for the BTHL begin. Go Bobcats !!!