New Leadership Team to Spearhead Next Era of Blue Ridge Bobcats & Hitachi Energy Arena

Wytheville, VA - Apex Drive Holdings, LLC is proud to announce Charlie Pens, Nate Gosline and Vojtěch Žemlička as the leadership team for the upcoming 2026-2027 season.

Charlie Pens will serve as the President of the Blue Ridge Bobcats Professional Hockey Team and Vice President of Operations of Hitachi Energy Arena.  Pens brings an extensive Sales and Marketing background with him to Wytheville, where he will focus on expanding Team Partnerships, Community Engagement and enhancing Fan Experience.  Charlie has already made strides in the right direction, attracting more sponsors, implementing a plan to lower concessions and beer prices for the upcoming season, enabling fans to pre-order team jerseys and working with Edwina Richardson to overhaul the team's scholastic "Claw N2 Reading" program and roll-out a new "Roar Into STEAM" scholastic program.  "My goal is to grow the game in Southwest Virginia for both Youth Hockey Program and our new Adult Learn to Play.  There is a ton of potential for the Hitachi Energy Arena to grow this season and next summer.  We've added a lot to our ice schedule already.  I want the property to be utilized 12 months a year and get the local community involved as much as possible, " Pens stated.  "I want to thank the Bryniarskis for bringing me to Blue Ridge, all of our office staff for being great to me since I got to town, the Wythe County staff and all of the fans I've met so far.  We're going to have a great year."

Nate Gosline also joins the Bobcats front office staff as its Vice President for the upcoming season.  Nate has a decorated 20-year career in the AHL, ECHL and MLB.  Nate's exceptional skills in Sales and Marketing have already made a huge impact on renewing sponsors, forming new partnerships and relationships across the region.

Vojtěch Žemlička re-signed with the Blue Ridge Bobcats for the 2026-2027 season as GM of Hockey Operations and Head Coach.  Zemi will be entering his 4th season as the Bobcats bench boss, and his role expands to handling all transactions, prospects, training and scheduling travel for the team.  

Chris and Jen Bryniarski stated "We are thrilled to have Charlie and Nate join our organization and for Zemi to continue with us to further build on the hockey foundation he has established.  We believe Charlie, Nate and Zemi together bring a strong vision to the Blue Ridge Bobcats and Hitachi Energy Arena.  Their leadership will be the catalyst to power further growth of hockey and year-round programming, creating more opportunities for hockey and entertaining experiences across Wythe County and the entire Southwest Virginia community."