â??â??The Brooks Bandits are proud to announce that 16-year-old â??defenceman Shane Bear has committed to play for the University of Massachusetts. Located in Amherst, Mass. the “Minutemen” play in the Hockey East conference under Head Coach John Micheletto.
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Shane is the third current Bandit to choose UMass joining Maddison Smiley and Patrick Lee who made their commitments last season.
Shane is from Calgary, AB and grew up playing his minor hockey for Crowchild. Last season he graduated to the NWCAA joining the minor midget Stampeders. Shane was second in team scoring with 7 goals and 20 assists for 27 points. He attended the Bandits Spring â??and Summer â??Camps last year, earning a spot for the exhibition season. After a strong exhibition Shane grabbed one of the open positions on the defensive core that returned 5 defencemen from the RBC Championship team.
â??Bandits â??Head Coach/GM Ryan Papaioannouâ??, “Shane has a great deal of potential and has played exceptionally well for his age. He exceeds our expectations daily and is already playing in key situations for us. It’s exciting to see such a young player contribute like he has and we owe much credit to our Development Coach Kevin Yellowaga for bringing Shane to our attention. We are happy for Shane and are looking forward to his contributions to our hockey team and community over the next couple years before he begins his college career at UMass. ”
The Bandits Organization would like to congratulate Shane and his â??family on his athletic and academic future.
Shane is the seventh Bandit committed to play in the NCAA joining Patrick Lee (University of Massachusetts), Maddison Smiley (University of Massachusetts), Anthony Paskaruk (Clarkson), Anthony Petruzzelli (University of Vermont), Jake Larson (University of Alaska Anchorage) and Braxton Bilous (Merrimack College).
