The Maine Mariners have announced that they have signed defenseman Justin Bean for the 2024-25 season. Bean joins the Mariners after spending the 2023-24 season playing overseas in Hungary for DVTK Jegesmedvek, where he would put up four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 31 games and added two goals and three assists for five points during the playoffs. The Pickering, Ontario, native had spent his first two pro seasons in the ECHL playing with the Cincinnati Cyclones, Wichita Thunder, and Tulsa Oilers, where he would put up four goals and 30 assists for 34 points in 109 games. For the Mariners, they add another right-handed shot on the blueline and a guy who has proven that he can help produce a little bit of offense from the backend. Bean is the second player who spent last year overseas that the Mariners signed after the team signed Carter Johnson on Monday.
“I played in Portland a couple of years ago with Tulsa on the road and I really enjoyed the city,” said Bean. “I’m looking forward to calling it home for this season. It seems like a real hockey city and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the fanbase.”
-Bean on signing with the Maine Mariners (Via Maine Mariners Press Release)
Prior to going pro, the 28-year-old defenseman spent four seasons bouncing between the OJHL and OHL as he would play in 110 OJHL games with the Wellington Dukes, where he put up 27 goals and 55 assists for 82 points, and would be the captain of the Dukes during the 2016-17 season. He would play in 76 OHL games with the Belleville Bulls and Mississauga Steelheads, putting up one goal and 11 assists for 12 points. Bean then spent four years at York University in USports, putting up 10 goals and 27 assists for 37 points in 77 games and serving as the captain of the Lions in his final season.
