Brown Bears Murphy commits to NCAA DI Alaska-Anchorage

The Kenai River Brown Bears, proud members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), are pleased to announce that forward Bobby Murphy has made his commitment to play NCAA Division I hockey for the University of Alaska-Anchorage of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).

"Bobby created this opportunity for himself by working over the course of two seasons at reaching his goal,” said Brown Bears head coach Oliver David.  “He came back better after a successful season in 2010-11 because he spent the summer training and preparing for the 2011-12 season.  He had tremendous motivation and desire to try and make something like this happen. Alaska-Anchorage is getting a strong competitor in Bobby."

Murphy, 20, just finished his second season of playing in the NAHL for the Brown Bears.  The Anchorage, Alaska, native appeared in over 100 games in his NAHL career, registering 59 points.  Each of the past two seasons, he helped the Brown Bears not only improve their record year by year, but also clinch playoff berths as well.  This past season, Kenai River posted their best record in club history.

“It is a rewarding commitment for me because I felt like we built something really good here in Kenai during my time here and it is set up for the team to be successful in the future because of what we have done the last couple years,” said Murphy.  “Coach (Oliver) David has really worked hard to develop his players and build this program into one that is a contender and putting players into colleges every season.”

The commitment was particularly gratifying for Murphy because he gets to remain in his hometown of Anchorage to play college hockey.  “I have always wanted to stay in my hometown and play for Alaska-Anchorage,” remarked Murphy.  “Interest from them really picked up towards the end of the season right after the Top Prospects event.”

Murphy played for team West at the 2012 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament back in February in Troy, Michigan.  He said the experience was a memorable one for him.  “Being selected and invited to play in the Top Prospects Tournament was huge for me.  To play in front of that many scouts with some of the best kids in the league was a great opportunity and one I will remember for a long time,” said Murphy.