FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 9, 2018

NC FORCE ANNOUNCES EASTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE JUNIOR TEAMS FIRST HEAD COACH

RALEIGH, NC – Paul Strand owner and GM of the NC Force Golden Bears of the Eastern Hockey League is proud to announce Brent Selman as the franchise first Head Coach. “I have been friends with Brent for 12 years and have seen firsthand the program he built at Duke University of the ACCHL. Years of working with him in the youth community and spending time as an assistant for him at Duke and can attest to his attention to detail and ability to work with elite adult hockey players. He has an integrity and character about him that is rare these days.” Strand Says.

Selman, a Raleigh resident, brings a wealth of experience to the job, with this being his first foray into the junior ranks. Having spent the past 16 seasons as the Head Coach of Duke University Club program in the ACCHL, Selman has built that program into one with a strong reputation for its quality of play. Selman was a 6-time coach of the year in the ACCHL over his 16 seasons and won the league Championship 3 times. He has proven to be able to work with older players at a competitive level.

“I am excited to be a part of this EHL Franchise. Starting from scratch is never easy, but with a strong ownership group and a core group of players that have already expressed interest in joining our team- I think we are going to be a very well respected program”- Brent Selman.

In addition to building strong teams on the ice, Selman has been instrumental in developing an Alumni club that is unrivalled in the world of club hockey. Selman will maintain a strong tie to the Duke program alumni association in the future. Under Selman’s leadership we look forward to building that same Alumni strength with the NC Force.

Born in Sarnia, Ontario Canada, the 46 year-old Selman played his college hockey at Wilfrid Laurier University in U-Sports (Formally the CIS), Canada’s top Collegiate league. After college, Selman spent a couple years playing professionally. In 1993-94 Selman played for the Lakeland Ice Warriors in the Southern Hockey League amassing 15 goals, 22 assists, 47 points in 42 games. In 1994-95 Selman ventured overseas to the British Hockey League to play for the Bracknell Bees where he once again showed as scoring touch with 24 goals, 25 assists, 49 points in 44 games.

After playing spent time coaching in the Northwest USA. He developed programs in the Spokane and Seattle area. During this timeframe he travelled periodically to Raleigh to work with the Carolina Hurricanes in developing its diversity program. He liked the area and decided to move to NC to pursue his career and hockey life. We look forward to having Brent provide the leadership this inaugural year.

Bear tracks - NC Force begins play in the Eastern Hockey League in 2018-19. The EHL began as the Atlantic Junior Hockey league in 2003-04 and officially became the EHL in 2013. Prior to the 2017-18 season the Eastern Hockey League set out to re-brand its two divisions. The first division is simply the Eastern Hockey League, while the second division is called the Eastern Hockey League Premier.

NC Force is excited to be a part of a strong league that will see upwards of 100 NCAA D1 and D3 commitments from the current 2017-18 edition. A full list of NCAA commitments from the EHL can be viewed here: https://www.easternhockeyleague.org/ncaacommitments

 Media Contacts : Paul Strand – pstrand@ncforce.com   Website: www.ncforce.com