skip navigation

Trevor Cear to play in EHL game for Connecticut Oilers

By Anthony Di Paolo, 01/11/18, 8:45AM EST

Share

87's captain Trevor Cear will make his EHL debut today in Connecticut

On Tuesday morning, New Jersey 87's captain Trevor Cear walked into Middletown Sports Complex to prepare for another day of practice. Head coach Adam Houli called him into the coaches office upstairs to speak with him.

Cear was told that he would play for the Connecticut Oilers of the EHL.

"It's an honor to be playing for (the Oilers) and represent this program," Cear said. "It'll be a big thing for us and everything we've done here."

This is the first time a player on the 87's has been called up to play for an EHL team. Cear, who was named captain just over a month ago, has 22 points in 29 games (7g, 15a) and is coming off a two-goal performance against the Philadelphia Little Flyers on Sunday.

Houli spoke about the importance of Cear's call-up for both him and the team.

"The team is very excited for him, obviously the guys are happy to see him get a game up there," he said. "From the organizational standpoint, we're super excited. It's why we did this, it's to get players to the next level and Trevor has been a guy that's worked hard all year and now he's starting to reap some of the benefits."

The call-up was announced to the rest of the team at the conclusion of Tuesday's practice, and Cear was quickly and enthusiastically congratulated by his teammates. 

"They always support everybody, we all got our backs and we're all brothers," Cear said of his teammates' reaction.

Houli also mentioned that the call-up adds credibility to the 87's as a new franchise.

"You want to push guys forward and you want to get them to next step, for us in the Premier Division, the EHL is that next step. To have a first-year program move somebody up mid-year to play a game is very impressive."

The Connecticut Oilers are in the Central Division of the EHL and will face the first-place Connecticut RoughRiders today at noon. This will be Cear's first game in the EHL level, and he gave credit to the 87's when talking about his new opportunity.

"I'd just like to thank coach Houli and everyone for helping me get there, and it's going to be a big game."