August 21, 2015
The Kenai River Brown Bears, proud members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), are pleased to announce that goaltender Evan Hauser has committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA). UAA are members from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
Hauser, 21 just completed his final season of junior hockey in 2014-15 and is a great ladder of development story. The native of St. Paul, Minnesota, split time during the season between the Brown Bears in the NAHL and the Great Falls Americans of the NA3HL.
“This is huge for Evan,” Kenai River head coach Geoff Beaupartant said. “It’s why he accepted an offer to leave an NA3HL contender in Great Falls to come up to be our No. 1 goalie at Christmas. It gave him the possibility to earn an NCAA Division I slot. Better late than never. He’s technically sound and he has excellent work ethic,” Beauparlant said of Hauser. “He’ll push the guys ahead of him and hold them accountable in practice. He’s very mature and he’s a great teammate.”
During the 2014-15 season in the NAHL with the Brown Bears, Hauser (6’2/180) appeared in 20 regular season games, posting a 3.84 goals against average and an 88.8% save percentage.
However, it was Hauser’s run in the NA3HL with Great Falls earlier this year that may have caught the eye of scouts. In 14 regular season games, Hauser posted a perfect 14-0 record with a 1.42 goals against average and a 95.7% save percentage. For his efforts, Hauser was named NA3HL Goalie of the Month in October of 2014. Some of Hauser’s final games in the NA3HL last season were played at the NA3HL Showcase, where Kenai River and other NAHL teams were in attendance scouting.
Overall, Hauser spent two and a half years playing and developing in the NA3HL (AWHL) with Great Falls and played in a total of 64 games with the Americans since the 2012-13 season.
“Evan is an extremely hard worker and a guy who never gave up on his dream. He is one of the most determined guys that I know,” said Great Falls head coach Jeff Heimel. “I think the development path really worked in this case because Coach Beauparlant in Kenai River gave him the opportunity after seeing what he could do and understood that it was a player that was going to benefit his program.”
Heimel continued… “I am proud of the relationship that we as a league have with the NAHL, because Evan’s story is one of many for the league and continued evidence that hard work, determination and development that situations like this are happening and possible. We will continue to build these relationships and remain committed in moving our players to the next level.”
Click here for Evan’s stats in the NAHL, NA3HL and AWHL (Stats).
Click here for the official press release on NA3HL.com
Click here to see an updated list of NAHL college commitments.
Story Courtesy: North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL): Kenai River goalie Hauser makes NCAA DI Commitment (August 21, 2015)