Hockey: Bobcats hire Garrett Roth as head coach

BISMARCK, N.D. — Last month, Layne Sedevie stepped down as the Bismarck Bobcats head coach after 15 years at the helm. Flash forward to now, not even a month later, the Bobcats have their guy bringing a familiar face back to the Capital City in the franchise’s all-time leading scorer Garrett Roth.

Roth returns to the Bobcats after spending the last four years as the head coach of the now-Oklahoma Warriors. Prior to his time with the Warriors, he spent eight seasons with Bismarck as an assistant coach and the Director of Player Personnel, and says he’s excited to be back where it all started with the Bobcats.

“It was an honor to be able to be part of the coaching staff for eight years alongside Layne and to be able to have an opportunity to come back here and coach again,” Roth says. “This is really special to myself and our family. Bismarck has meant so much to us and to have the opportunity to come back and continue to help develop the next generation of Bobcats is is definitely awesome.”

“To me, there is one guy,” Sedevie adds. “If you look in VFW One, there’s one significant banner retired for the Bismarck Bobcats, and that’s Garrett Roth. He’s the all time leading scorer. He was my right hand man for eight years here. Not only is he a great friend, but he’s a great coach. And I think through the transition period here he was to me, the one guy that was it was a no brainer for him to to come back and lead the Bobcats.”

As a new era of Bobcats hockey is on the horizon here in Bismarck, the team’s former longtime head coach is staying with the organization as Sedevie takes over as the goalie coach. Roth, who’s connection with Sedevie dates back prior to their college days at Bemidji State, says it was important to keep one of his best friends alongside him.

“Working with those guys over the years, the goaltenders that have come here and the relationships that I have had with Ryan Faragher, who’s in town now, and Hunter Sheppard and, you know, some of the other guys that have that have gone through,” Sedevie says. “Clayton last year. Stephen. It’s the position that I played. I can relate well to and can help them the most in.”

“To be able to work together with him again and be able to pick his brain on things that over the time has worked here while I was gone,” Roth adds. “For us to have that back and forth is going to be awesome.”

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