Black Bear Sports Group Enters Into Agreement with P.A.L. Ice Hockey

 =  Rockville, MD – An affiliate of Black Bear Sport Group, Inc. has entered into an agreement to operate the youth hockey club P.A.L. Ice Hockey. P.A.L. has 10 Tier I youth hockey teams, 13 Tier II hockey teams and 3 junior teams and has perennially been one of the premier youth hockey organizations on Long Island, NY. Ron Kinnear will continue to oversee the Midget/Junior portion of the club and Mark Dubeau will continue to oversee the youth portion of the club. With the addition of P.A.L., Black Bear now operates 33 youth hockey clubs including 10 AAA organizations. P.A.L. will continue to operate out of its existing rinks including the Rinx at Hauppauge, Northwell Ice Arena and Iceworks in Syosset.

“We are thrilled to have P.A.L. join the Black Bear family of teams,” said Thomas Palamara, Executive Director of PAL. “Our Board has decided that Black Bear has the resources to grow P.A.L. into one of the best programs in the Northeast and we are extremely excited for this special opportunity” “P.A.L. is a storied program with over 50 years of success on and off the ice and it is a pure honor to bring this organization into the Black Bear family and help guide and lead it into the future,” said Murry N. Gunty, Founder and CEO of Black Bear. “We believe Long Island is a critical part of our operating strategy and we hope that this will be the beginning of Black Bears growth strategy on the Island and overall in New York.”

About P.A.L Jr. Islanders
P.A.L. Jr. Islanders is the premier youth hockey club on Long Island, NY. Pride in Athletics for Life represents the message P.A.L. has been delivering to youth hockey players and their families since 1975. P.A.L. has over 450 travel ice hockey players from Mite through Midget, and all levels of Tier II and Tier III juniors including a franchise in the prestigious USPHL NCDC. P.A.L. is a proud member of the Tier 1 Hockey Federation and is part of the Black Bear Sports Group ladder of development including teams starting at the 8U level extending through every junior league including the United States Hockey League, North American Hockey League, USPHL NCDC and Eastern Hockey League.
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About Black Bear Sports Group, Inc.
Black Bear Sports Group, Inc. is a privately held company formed by Murry Gunty and Blackstreet Capital Holdings, LLC in 2015 that seeks investments in sports and entertainment facilities, teams, and youth sports events. Black Bear arenas are clean, professionally managed, and offer world-class recreational programs. Black Bear focuses on ice arenas in metropolitan areas with compelling demographics, markets with a National Hockey League club presence and arenas with existing youth hockey clubs. Black Bear not only features the ability to acquire healthy and stable arenas, but also the expertise required to turn around mismanaged or under-performing facilities. The largest owner/operator of ice arenas in the U.S., Black Bear’s footprint totals 34 facilities across the United States with 64 sheets of indoor ice, four indoor turf fields, 33 youth hockey clubs, four hockey leagues (Atlantic Hockey Federation, Atlantic Girls Hockey Federation, Tier 1 Hockey Federation, and Foundry Adult Hockey, two tournament businesses, Defender Hockey Tournaments and the National Girls Hockey League and seven Junior “A” hockey franchises with membership in the United States Hockey League, North American Hockey League, United States Premier Hockey League NCDC and the Eastern Hockey League.

Junior teams transfer subject to league approval