The Seattle Thunderbirds’ Ethan Bear, while proud of his past, is looking to his future.
NHL scouts project the 5-foot-11, 204-pound defenseman as an early round draft pick in 2015.
Bear, who developed and shined in his role with the club last season, returns to the ice this weekend when the T-Birds open the regular season. Seattle begins Western Hockey League play at Portland on Friday night before playing Everett in its home opener Saturday. Face-off is 7:05 p.m. at the ShoWare Center.
From the Ochapowace Native American reservation in Saskatchewan, Canada, Bear has been playing hockey from a young age. He was inspired by his brother, who played junior hockey in Manitoba.
“I’ve always been watching him ever since then, watching him while I was growing up and him being my role model,” Bear said. “I’ve always liked (hockey).”
While he’s grown up in a family of Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens fans, he said that any opportunity to play for the NHL looks good right now.
“Canadian teams would be nice to go to, but it doesn’t much really matter,” he said. “It’s a dream to be in the NHL, and that’s what I’m working for.”
Last year Bear was selected, along with T-Birds center Matthew Barzal, for the Canadian U-18 team. The team won the gold medal at the U-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in August, an experience Bear won’t forget.
“That was unbelievable, just to be there and to see all your competition for the draft. And you get to wear the Canadian jersey for the first time and to play for your country, it’s really something else,” Bear said. “It’s something I worked for when I was a kid, and I’m so happy I got that opportunity.”
The path to success for Bear started in the midget league in Canada. He played his first game with the Thunderbirds in Portland in 2012. He said the experience was overwhelming at first, but it just took one game to adjust.
With the Thunderbirds in 2013-14, Bear was able to spend more time on his skating fundamentals and tactical thinking during games. As a 16-year-old rookie last season, Bear played 58 games with the T-Birds and had six goals and 13 assists for 19 points with 18 penalty minutes.
“The first season was mainly working on my defensive zone, working on defense all the time. Mainly you gotta put in work every day … every time you’re away, in the gym, on the ice,” Bear said. “It’s always something you gotta improve on playing in the WHL. You gotta adapt to all those situations on the ice.”
He said that power skating was a major focus during summer workouts, specifically maneuvering and speed.
“You gotta be able to move your feet,” he said when facing standout players.
Today, he gets his inspiration from competition and camaraderie.
“I’ve always been really competitive in everything I’ve done,” Bear said. “When you step onto the ice everything just disappears. I just like being on the ice and being with a good group of guys. I’ve never really thought of anything else other than hockey, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”
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