About Us BBSG

Black Bear Sports Group Inc. owns and operates the Maryland Black Bears.

Ownership website:

Our Mission

Black Bear Sports Group, Inc. was founded to purchase under managed and underperforming ice rinks to bring professional management and badly needed capital to 20-30 year old rinks to save the facilities and provide a safe and fun environment for the local community.
 

Our Philosophy

  • Focus on arenas in metropolitan areas with compelling demographics
  • Invest capital to ensure we have the highest quality facilities
  • Hire best in class operators to manage our arenas
  • Partner with local hockey and skating clubs for mutual long-term success
  • Make sure that “Moms and Dads” are not mismanaging their respective hockey clubs
  • Ready and able to invest and hold for a very long time horizon
  • Operate primarily in the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions where there is an NHL presence
OUR HISTORY
Black Bear Sports Group, Inc. is a Bethesda, MD based private company that was founded in 2015, and is led by CEO Mr. Murry Gunty. Mr. Gunty is a lifelong hockey fan who founded Black Bear based on combining his turnaround experience in a broad array of industries with his passion for the game of hockey. Black Bear’s goal is to save older rinks by investing capital to bring their facilities up to modern standards and provide great programming for its hockey and figure skating communities.
 

THE MARYLAND BLACK BEARS MISSION:

  • Provide Black Bear players access to all of the resources necessary for success on and off the ice as they mature from boys to young men
  • Consistently display our appreciation for Black Bear Nation and the surrounding Central Maryland Community by giving back as much and often as we can
 
The Maryland Black Bears entered the North American Hockey League’s (NAHL) East Division as an expansion team in 2018 and is the first team in the 42-year history of the NAHL to be based out of Maryland. The Black Bears play their home games at the Piney Orchard Ice Arena aka “the Den” in Odenton, Maryland. Both the arena and team are owned by the Black Bear Sports Group. The Piney Orchard Ice Arena has a capacity of 530 fans and features an additional rink that was built over the 2019 offseason.
 

The team consists of players, 16 to 20 years old, that are vying to play college hockey at the NCAA Division I/III level. The regular season starts in September and ends in April, which is then followed by a playoff for the Robertson Cup Championship. Black Bear Nation is primarily made up of fans from the Central Maryland Community, predominantly from Anne Arundel, Howard, and Prince Georges Counties.

There is no Black Bears Hockey without the support of the remarkably generous Billet Families. These families take the players into their homes and treat them as one of their own. Becoming a Billet is a very

The Maryland Black Bears truly play for more than wins! The players within Black Bears organization strive to grow as men and leaders in their community.