It’s hard to imagine that the Maryland Black Bears season is about to start, but with opening night four weeks away, the Black Bears made some player announcements with eight players returning from the 2023-24 East Division championship squad. With six forwards and two defensemen being named, the core of the Black Bears will be solid in order to try and nail down a third-straight East Division crown.
Kareem El-Bashir returns for his third season in Maryland, as the Laurel native will look to improve even further in his junior career. The Army-West Point commit has 17 goals and 53 points in 105 games with the Black Bears over his career. Another Maryand native, Fulton’s Luke Rubin, will return for his second year in the NAHL, as the right-shot forward put up eight goals and 13 points in 32 games last season for the Black Bears. Luke Janus will also return, with the Winnipeg native and RPI commit trying to build off his explosive second half of the season, leading him to 30 points in 58 games and 11 points in 11 playoff games.
Woodbury, Minnesota’s Ben Tauscher will return for his second junior season that saw him play various roles on the team and notch 12 points in his 41 games. David Utkin will be back for a second year in the NAHL, as the Russian forward came out of the gates quickly with 10 points in 14 games, despite setbacks with injuries towards the end of the year. The last forward returning is Riley Fast, who only saw one game last season, but was embedded with the team for most of the second half as an affiliated player to ease him into his full rookie season this year.
On the blue line, Dylan Gordon will return to Maryland for his last season of junior hockey, as the versatile defenseman compiled 27 points in 47 games, as well as numerous disrupting hits in his own end to lock down on the defensive side of the puck. Another thunderous hitter, Sebastien Brockman, will be back in the fold for Maryland in his overage season to ensure a solid defensive presence in front of the net and pretty much all over the ice, while chipping in key goals along the way.
With a solid core coming back, the Black Bears will have the veteran experience they need to head into the season, as well as to continue to build upon the culture created by themselves and those players that came before them. While three-peating as division champs will be a tough road, to have players who have been in those trenches before is invaluable to what’s ahead for the upcoming season.
Clutch And Crab Hockey 