The Blue Ridge Bobcats already have passed one milestone in the 2024-25 season.
Wythe County’s entry in the Federal Prospects Hockey League has eclipsed the points total achieved by the professional franchise in its inaugural campaign in 2023-24.
With 26 games remaining on the 56-game schedule, the Bobcats have 51 points under the FPHL scoring system. The Wytheville team has won 15 games outright (3 points per win) with 10 losses in regulation. The Bobcats also have one victory in overtime (2 points per win) and four overtime losses (1 point each).
Heading into Friday night’s home game against the Carolina (Winston-Salem) Thunderbirds, the Bobcats are in fourth place in the Continental Division standings behind Winston-Salem (64), Baton Rouge, Louisiana (60), and Columbus, Georgia (55), with Athens, Georgia (50), and Monroe, Michigan (47), in contention.
The top three teams in each division qualify for the quarterfinals in the FPHL postseason playoffs. The fourth-place and fifth-place finishers in each division play each other in a one-game “play-in” with the winner advancing to face the respective No. 1 seed.
Binghamton, New York, is running away in the Empire Division with 83 points, ahead of Port Huron, Michigan (51), Watertown, New York (46), and Danbury, Connecticut (34).
The Bobcats have 20 of their remaining regular-season games slated for the friendly confines of Hitachi Energy Arena, located at Exit 77 of Interstate 81. Four games originally scheduled at Poughkeepsie, New York — March 14-15 and April 4-5 — have been moved to Wytheville.
Ten of the Bobcats’ 12 games in March are scheduled for their home ice.
The Bobcats have averaged 1,352 spectators over 14 home games in 2024-25 with a season-high 2,079 fans on Dec. 21 for “Teddy Bear Toss Night.” The game was the Bobcats’ only home date over a 40-day span.
Binghamton swept Carolina 3-0 in the best-of-five championship series to win the 2024 title.
BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS SCHEDULE
(15 regulation wins, 10 regulation losses)
(1 OT win, 4 OT losses)
(51 total points)
October
L — Athens (Ga.), 3-2, OT
L — Athens, 10-2
W — Winston-Salem (N.C.), 3-0
L — Winston-Salem, 5-1
November
W — Winston-Salem, 5-4, OT
L — Winston-Salem, 4-1
W — Biloxi (Miss.), 9-2
W — Biloxi, 6-2
L — Port Huron (Mich.), 4-1
L — Port Huron, 3-2, OT
W — Danville (Ill.), 6-3
W — Danville, 2-1
W — vs. Poughkeepsie (N.Y.), 4-0
W — vs. Poughkeepsie, 5-3
December
at Athens, ppd.
at Athens, ppd.
L — Baton Rouge (La.), 4-2
L — Baton Rouge, 2-1
L — Baton Rouge, 5-3
W — Winston-Salem, 5-4
W — Winston-Salem, 4-3
L — Columbus (Ga.), 7-4
W — Columbus, 2-1
L — Winston-Salem, 5-0
January
W — Baton Rouge, 5-4
L — Baton Rouge, 4-3, OT
W — Danbury (Conn.), 5-3
W — Danbury, 6-0
W — Winston-Salem, 4-2
L — Winston-Salem, 4-1
L — Monroe (La.), 5-4, OT
W — Monroe, 4-2
31 — vs. Winston-Salem
February
1 — at Winston-Salem
7 — vs. Fraser (Mich.)
8 — vs. Fraser
14 — at Columbus
15 — at Columbus
21 — vs. Athens
22 — vs. Athens
23 — at Athens
28 — vs. Poughkeepsie
March
1 — vs. Poughkeepsie
7 — vs. Binghamton (N.Y.)
8 — vs. Binghamton
9 — vs. Binghamton
14 — vs. Poughkeepsie
15 — vs. Poughkeepsie
16 — at Athens
21 — vs. Baton Rouge
22 — vs. Baton Rouge
23 — vs. Winston-Salem
28 — vs. Winston-Salem
29 — at Winston-Salem
April
4 — vs. Poughkeepsie
5 — vs. Poughkeepsie
11 — vs. Danville
12 — vs. Danville
