New York Bobcats

The New York Bobcats (also called New York Bobcats Royals) were a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey organization from Dix Hills, New York, at the Dix Hills Ice Arena. The team was most recently a member of the Eastern Hockey League in the 2017–18 season.

New York Bobcats
City	Dix Hills, New York
League	Metropolitan Junior Hockey League (2000–2003) Atlantic Junior Hockey League (2003–2013) EHL-Premier (2013–2016) Eastern Hockey League (2017–present)
Founded	2000
Home arena	Dix Hills Ice Arena
Colors	Dark green, black, white
Owner(s)	Ron & Joel Friedman and Chris & Peter Ferraro
Website	New York Bobcats
Franchise history
2000–2016	New York Bobcats
2017–2018	New York Bobcats Royals

History

The Bobcats organization was founded in 2000 as a member of the Tier III Junior B Metropolitan Junior Hockey League (MetJHL) winning the league playoffs in 2002 and qualified for the 2002 Tier III Junior B National Championships.^[1] In 2003, the Bobcats became one of the charter members of the Tier III Junior A Atlantic Junior Hockey League (AJHL) along with five other MetJHL organizations. The Bobcats would go on to win the regular season and playoff titles in 2006 and 2007 while in the AJHL.^[2] In 2013, Tier III junior hockey leagues were reorganized and the AJHL became the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). In 2015, the EHL added a lower level division (formerly called Junior B) called the EHL-Elite Division and added all the current EHL teams (including the Bobcats) to the EHL-Premier Division. In 2016, head coach and general manager Craig Doremus took the same positions with the Tier II junior New Jersey Titans of the North American Hockey League. Subsequently, the Bobcats were no longer listed as part of the EHL and as of July 2016 have not announced any plans for the following seasons. At the time they were playing out of The Twin Rinks at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York.

In 2017, the Bobcats returned from hiatus and began play out of the Dix Hills Ice Arena in Dix Hills, New York. The team announced Ken Hoey as the new head coach after three seasons with the Bobcats affiliate, the Long Island Jr. Royals of the North American 3 Atlantic Hockey League. Upon their return, the top level Bobcats were often called the Bobcats Royals after the Jr. Royals also joined the EHL in the developmental Tier III division.

The players, ages 16–20, carried amateur status under Junior A guidelines and hoped to earn a spot on higher levels of junior hockey in the United States and Canada, Canadian Major Junior, Collegiate, and eventually professional teams.^[3]

Season-by-season records

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs
Atlantic Junior Hockey League
2003–04	No information								2nd of 6, AJHL	Lost Semifinal game, 1–3 vs. Washington Jr. Nationals[4]
2004–05	41	35	5	0	1	71	247	115	1st of 4, South 2nd of 8, AJHL	Won Semifinal game, 11–2 vs. New Jersey Rockets Lost Championship game, 1–4 vs. Boston Bulldogs
2005–06	42	35	5	0	2	72	269	138	1st of 11, AJHL	Won Quarterfinals, 2–0 vs. Portland Jr. Pirates Won Semifinal game, 7–4 vs. Hartford Jr. Wolfpack Won Championship game, 9–6 vs. Boston Bulldogs League Champions
2006–07	44	36	6	0	2	74	244	141	1st of 6, South 1st of 12, AJHL	League Champions
2007–08	44	28	12	0	4	60	197	150	2 of 5, South 4th of 11, AJHL
2008–09	42	34	7	0	1	69	175	106	1st of 6, South 2nd of 12, AJHL
2009–10	42	37	3	0	2	76	212	97	1st of 6, South 1st of 12, AJHL
2010–11	44	35	5	0	4	74	231	111	1st of 6, South 2nd of 12, AJHL
2011–12	44	31	12	0	1	63	185	112	3rd of 12, AJHL
2012–13	44	24	16	3	1	52	158	153	6th of 12, AJHL	Lost Quarterfinals, 0-2 vs. Connecticut Jr. Wolfpack
Eastern Hockey League
2013–14	44	23	15	5	1	52	146	132	2nd of 6, Central Div. 5th of 17, EHL	Won Round 1, 2–0 vs. Boston Junior Rangers Lost Quarterfinals, 0–2 vs. Boston Bandits
2014–15	44	26	16	—	2	54	156	131	3rd of 5, Central Div. 7th of 19, EHL	Won Round 1, 2–1 vs. East Coast Wizards Lost Quarterfinals, 1–2 vs. New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs
2015–16	41	25	12	—	4	54	173	121	5th of 9, South Conf. 7th of 18, EHL-Premier	Lost First Round, 0–1 vs. Philadelphia Revolution
2016–17	Inactive in junior hockey
2017–18	50	4	42	—	4	12	92	298	4th of 4, Central Div. 8th of 8, South Conf. 16th of 16, EHL	Did not qualify

Alumni

The Bobcats have produced a number of alumni playing in higher levels of junior hockey, NCAA Division I, Division III college and professional programs, including:^[5]

• Tim Filangieri - Syracuse Crunch (AHL)
• Louis Liotti - Worcester Sharks (AHL)
• Dinos Stamoulis - Springfield Falcons (AHL)
• Tony Romano - Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL),^[6] (New Jersey Devils 2005 NHL Entry Draft)
• Will Bodine - Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)
• James Brannigan - Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)
• Bill Keenan - Lindlövens IF (Swedish Division One)
• Joe Grimaldi - Elmira Jackals (ECHL)
• Vlady Nikiforov - Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)
• Keith Kinkaid - New Jersey Devils (NHL)
• Joey Spagnoli - Elmira Jackals (ECHL), Danbury Whalers (FHL)

References

1. "NY Bobcats - About Us". NY Bobcats. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
2. "EHL History". EHL. Archived from the original on August 8, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
3. "Ice Hockey in Harlem" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-23. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
4. "Washington Junior Nationals, Junior Hockey, Washington DC, Bowie, Maryland, hockey". www.jrnats.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
5. http://www.nybobcats.com/Page.asp?n=26848&snid=430764208&org=nybobcats.com ^{[dead link‍]}
6. "Tony Romano Stats and News".

External links

• Official NY Bobcats web site
• Official League Website