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.
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]
| width=5% | width=5% | align=left! | width=35% | Player | width=5% | Pos. | width=8% | Catches | width=8% | Height | width=8% | Weight | width=37% | 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 | ||||||||||
| width=5% | width=5% | align=left! | width=35% | Player | width=5% | Pos. | width=8% | Shoots | width=8% | Height | width=8% | Weight | width=37% | 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 | |||||||||
| width=5% | width=5% | align=left! | width=35% | Player | width=5% | Pos. | width=8% | Shoots | width=8% | Height | width=8% | Weight | width=37% | 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 | |||||||||