The Hudson Valley Bears were an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team in the Eastern Professional Hockey League. They split their home games between the

Mid-Hudson Civic Center Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center (formerly the Mid-Hudson Civic Center) is a venue located in Poughkeepsie, New York, consisting of Mair Hall (a concert and convention hall) and the McCann Ice Arena (an ice skating venue). It was built in th ...

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

and th
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 The Copper City Chiefs were a low-level professional ice hockey team located in Rome, New York. The team was owned by Wayne Premo. Franchise History The Chiefs joined the NEHL as an expansion team for the 2007-2008 season. When the season was ca ...

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

and th
Ice Time Sports Complex
in Newburgh, New York. 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. 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.

Roster

External links

Hudson Valley Bears

References

{{EPHL Eastern Professional Hockey League (2008–09) teams Ice hockey teams in New York (state)