Having pro hockey withdrawal? Get your fix through youth hockey with Bedford Bears games at the Harvey School’s Maxwell Evarts Rink in Katonah. The Bears invite the public to attend free hockey games at the Harvey rink on weekends showcasing local rivalries and league battles for the HVHL title. Enjoy hockey in its purest form.
This Saturday, Jan. 5, watch league play when the Bears Squirt A team faces off against the Palisades Predators at 1:15 p.m. At 4:05 p.m. Squirt B takes on Pelham, and immediately following the Pee Wee A team battles Pelham A.
On Sunday, Jan. 6, Great Neck travels from Long Island to play Bantam A at 1:30 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., Squirt B plays their second of the weekend against Skyliners and Pee Wee A goes for a win against Scarsdale A at 6 p.m.
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The Bedford Bears Youth Hockey Association is a nonprofit organization comprised of approximately 120 players between the ages of 4 and 18. Run by an elected board of directors and hockey director Tim Halewicz, who is Harvey’s hockey director, the Bears have adopted USA Hockey’s ADM Model, which focuses on small area games and multiple touches of the puck along with station-based practices.
This model increases the ice time for each player while also allowing for more drill repetitions and touches of the puck within the structure of a highly organized practice. Players are grouped by age and ability, which promotes healthy competition and an excellent learning environment.
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The Bears have recently attracted some of the best coaches in our area, along with their children, because they understand the edge their children get by following USA Hockey's ADM Model. Last season, the Bears sent five teams to the HVHL playoffs. The Squirt A team boasts having made it to the NY State Semi-Final game.
The Bedford Bears program, over the years, has been a breeding ground for many of the local high school stand-outs. Currently, several of the top players from John Jay, Fox Lane, and Horace Greeley sharpened their skills with the Bears. Frazier Bostwick of John Jay and Ryan Kelly of Fox Lane currently play for the Midget U18 team when they are not representing their respective schools.
Several of Horace Greeley’s up and coming players are on the successful Bantam U14/15 team coached by Harvey graduate Mike Mitchell: Tyler Levy, Ryan Katchis, and Ryan Rusiecki. Theo Rattner is a Bantam player who plays varsity hockey for Halewicz.
The Harvey rink hosts the Bears and is home to the Harvey Cavaliers and its hockey program, run by Halewicz. Harvey offers student-athletes a middle school, modified, junior varsity and varsity team. The varsity team is a member of the New England Prep School Ice Hockey Association, offering the Cavaliers an opportunity to play a broad range of small prep schools while also competing annually in the Fairchester Athletic Association with Fieldston, Hamden Hall, Rye Country Day, and St. Luke’s.
Recently, the Bears have also opened up their ice time, at the Harvey School, to the Rye Mariners. The Mariners lost their home Rink, Rye Playland, in late October by Superstorm Sandy. Rye’s U8 group shares the ice on Monday nights at Harvey from 6-7pm. The combined U8 teams are a direct result of two HVHL rival organizations coming together to ensure that hockey is all about the kids and having fun on the ice.
Go to our website bedfordbearshockey.com and find a team you can root for.
The Maxwell Evarts Rink at the Harvey School is located at 240 Jay Street in Katonah.
