Hudson Valley Bears

Hudson Valley Bears
City	Poughkeepsie, New York Newburgh, New York
League	Eastern Professional Hockey League
Founded	2008
Home arena	Mid-Hudson Civic Center Ice Time Sports Complex
Colors	Black, gold, and blue
Owner(s)	Curtis Russell
General manager	Phil Esposito
Head coach	Phil Esposito
Media	Poughkeepsie Journal
Franchise history
2008–2009	Hudson Valley Bears

The Hudson Valley Bears were an ice hockey team in the Eastern Professional Hockey League. They split their home games between the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York and the Ice Time Sports Complex in Newburgh, New York.

History

2008-2009

The Hudson Valley Bears were founded in 2008 as an Eastern Professional Hockey League expansion team. In October 2008, weeks before the first games were scheduled, the Copper City Chiefs and New Hampshire Freeze folded endangering the ability of the season to be played. Rather than postpone the season, a replacement team was put together and named the Hudson Valley Bears, with home games at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York and the Ice Time Sports Complex in Newburgh, New York. ^[1] The Bears' roster was drawn from a pool of nearly 100 "local guys with part-time jobs", as Jim Riggs, the league commissioner, put it. ^[2]

The Bears had little success during their only season as they finished with a 3–45–1–1 record and last place, missing the playoffs by 54 points. They also finished last in attendance with average attendance 235. ^[3]

Roster

Goaltenders
#		Player	Pos.	Catches	Height	Weight	Place of Birth
30		Len DiCostanzo	G	R	5' 10"	185 lbs.	Port Jefferson Station, New York, United States
33		Vincent Januska	G	R			Chester, New York, United States
85		Tim Schneider	G	L	5' 7"	165 lbs	Düsseldorf, NRW, GER

Defensemen
#		Player	Pos.	Shoots	Height	Weight	Place of Birth
3		Dan Malloy	D	L	6' 2"	215 lbs.	Stamford, Connecticut, United States
4		Chris Sullivan	D	R	6' 3"	195 lbs.	South Windsor, Connecticut, United States
5		Chris Clark	D	R	6' 3"	215 lbs.	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
15		Tony Troccia	D	R			Brick, New Jersey, United States
32		TJ Cline	D	L	6' 1"	220 lbs.	Buffalo, New York, United States
77		Gabe Yeung	D	R	6' 5"	230 lbs.	Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Forwards
#		Player	Pos.	Shoots	Height	Weight	Place of Birth
10		Jerry Cardinale	F	L	5' 9"	165 lbs.	Brooklyn, New York, United States
12		Scott Horvath	F	R	6' 2"	225 lbs.	West Redding, Connecticut, United States
14		John Geverd	F	R	5' 11"	217 lbs.	Hooksett, New Hampshire, United States
15		Kevin Kaminski	F	R
16		Joey Bouchard	C	L	5' 9"	240 lbs.	Deerfield, New Hampshire, United States
18		Jeff Pozzuto	F	R	6'1"	180 lbs.	Butler, Pennsylvania, United States
18		Tom Westfall	F	R	6' 5"	220 lbs.	Meadville, Pennsylvania, United States
19		Scotty Estey	F	L	5' 11"	190 lbs.	Highland Falls, New York, United States
20		Joe Morrison	F	R
21		Devin Guy	F		6' 0"	200 lbs.	Highland Falls, New York, United States
44		Phil Esposito	LW	L	6' 2"	235 lbs.	East Haven, Connecticut, United States
52		Bill Blaszcyk	F	R	6' 1"	208 lbs.	Manorville, New York, United States
83		Chris Seifert	F	L	6' 0"	180 lbs.	Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

External links

• Hudson Valley Bears

References

1. Ferguson, Wm (March 27, 2009). "By Existing, a Fledgling Hockey League Declares Victory". The New York Times.
2. Ferguson, Wm (March 27, 2009). "By Existing, a Fledgling Hockey League Declares Victory". The New York Times.
3. "..:: Ephl ::". Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2010.