It’s only January, but the New York Bobcats and Boston Bulldogs appear to be on a collision course for the Atlantic Junior Hockey League championship.

The Bobcats and Bulldogs lead the league’s respective Southern and Northern divisions by a wide margin, and each have been the toughest competition for one another thus far into the season. The teams have split their six head-to-head games down the middle, but the Bulldogs had the last laugh in the Waterville Valley (N.H.) Tournament finals on December 19, when they rallied from a 3-1 deficit by closing out the game with five unanswered goals.

“It was a Christmas present for the Bulldogs,” said Bobcats head coach Aleksey Nikiforov, vowing to exact revenge when it counts most – the AJHL finals. “Believe me, we are going to win. If we have everybody healthy, I look forward to the playoffs.”

Nikiforov was surprisingly unalarmed about his Bobcats’ soft finish in the Waterville Valley finals, citing his team’s fatigue after playing six games in less than three days, including 100 minutes of ice time on Sunday. But Boston played the same amount of games, so the Bobcats will ultimately have to get tougher if they want to win the AJHL’s playoff tournament – another draining, three-day affair.

“I think we turned into rivals this season. The games have gotten more physical when we play them,” assistant captain Casey Hubbard said of the Bulldogs. “They take the body a lot, but a lot of our guys can take it, and we can also give it back to them. A big key to the game against them is being physical.”

The Bulldogs’ trademark physicality, according to coach Nikiforov, “takes a lot of energy, even mentally.” And that means the Bobcats players – many of whom blamed their most recent loss to Boston on their demanding schedule and looming two-week vacation – must show more intestinal fortitude come the AJHL Playoffs from March 11 to March 13 in Salem, New Hampshire.

 “Definitely when we play the Bulldogs we have to get physical,” said forward and captain Mike Coppola. “They’re a physical team and they know how to play us.”

“We have to play the way they play,” said forward Tom Galiani. “When they bang we have to bang with them, so that’s something we have to start doing.”

Although the two teams have shared similar success – the Bobcats won the Northeast Hockey Showcase on November 27 in Chelmsford, Mass, where the Bulldogs were supposed to dominate – they are a contrast in terms. If the speedy, pass-happy, open-ice skating Bobcats are the Lamborghinis of the league, then the hard-hitting, intimidating, more mature Bulldogs are its Mack Trucks.

“They’re a lot bigger than us,” Hubbard said, “so a lot of times it takes our little guys awhile to get into the game.”

The Bulldogs aim to do just that – take the Bobcats out of their game through physical play. But whereas the Bobcats must learn to battle back along the boards, they also must not get completely caught up in the Bulldogs’ slow-down, North American style of play.

“We’ve got our certain lines. We have a couple that can bang going against a couple of lines that can bang. You’ve just got to know what to do and know your job out there,” said forward and assistant captain Patrick Moriarty. “If you’re a banger and a scorer, you bang and score. If you’re a finesse guy, you use it when you can. But all in all, we’ll stick with our game and we know we can beat them.”

Bobcats goaltender Chris Molinaro, who is perhaps the most important player in the looming games against the Bulldogs, agreed with Moriarty. “We just have to play our game,” he said. “We’re a small team. We use our speed, and on our big ice surface we can get around them. That’s how we beat them when we were here [at The Rinx in Hauppauge on September 11 & 12].”

But the Bobcats haven’t beaten Boston since the Fall-Face-Off Classic way back on October 17. And since that game, a 9-6 victory, the Bobcats have dropped three straight to the Bulldogs – all come-from-behind wins for Boston. So even though the season series is now even at three games apiece, the Bulldogs undoubtedly have the psychological edge.

“I think we’re going to have to play hard and not take anything for granted,” said defenseman Justin Porpora. “We had the lead and we sat back on the lead, and that’s how we got caught.”

“Against the Bulldogs, we absolutely must maintain our composure,” coach Nikiforov said. “They’re big, they’re older, and for them it’s very prestigious to beat a younger team like us.”

Nikiforov noted the Bobcats’ troubles on the penalty kill. Boston is a very strong power-play team, and some bad penalties helped turn the tide in each of the Bobcats’ three head-to-head losses. Galiani said a determining factor in the next meeting between the two teams will be “the amount of penalties that we take, because [the Bulldogs’] power play is amazing. And every time we take a penalty, they take advantage of it.

“It’s three-three playing each other during the year, split down the middle,” Galiani said, “so that kind of tells you it’s going to be an important game.”

“Right now, we’re even. Three times we beat [the Bulldogs] and three times they won,” coach Nikiforov said. “So right now it’s time to prove who has stronger character. It’s about your ambition; it’s about who you are. Everyone has to step up.”

Especially the Bobcats’ netminders, Molinaro and Joe Spagnoli, who have allowed 19 goals in three straight losses to the Bulldogs. The Bobcats allowed only four goals during a two-game sweep of Boston at The Rinx on September 11 & 12.

“The first thing that’s important is goaltending. The goaltending against the Bulldogs has not been consistent at all,” coach Nikiforov said. “Without good goaltending, it’s almost impossible to beat the Bulldogs because they have size, they’re older, and they have good depth. They have three lines – offensive, defensive – so they’re a good, balanced team.”

The Bobcats are balanced, too. They just need to prove they have more of a backbone than they showed in the Waterville Valley Tournament finals.

Porpora said the Bobcats expect to face the Bulldogs for the AJHL championship “because we know they are now the team to beat.

“That’s what it’s going to come down to,” he said. “I think we’re going to have to play them, and that’s going to be the deciding game.”