Chocolate Fix 07/12/2012

Hersheypark Arena fire. Photo by Sean Simmers of the Patriot News.

Yes, I know this is a day late. Yes, I know that there wasn’t one last week either. There was plenty of material, but it was a holiday. 😛 Because of all of that here is an extra jam packed version of Chocolate Fix.

Let’s start off with the not so good news. Joel Rechlicz is no longer a Bear. Rechlicz signed a two way deal with the Phoenix Coyotes this week. We are sad to see him go, but wish him luck. It’s doubtful that he would have received a deal from the Caps, so you can’t blame him for following his dream to play more in the NHL. Here are the various links. [AHL, Coyotes, PennLive]

Also in the “no longer Bears” list:

Christian Hanson signed with Boston [Boston Herald]

Returning Bears:

Mike Carman [Bears]

Kevin Marshall [Bears]

Mathieu Beaudoin returns after a few years absence. [Bears]

New Bears:

Garrett Stafford [Bears]

Jeff Taffe, Jon DiSalvatore, Alex Berry and Steve Olesky were all announced at the same time. [Bears]

Ryan Stoa [Bears]

Fire at Hershey Park Arena! Thank you to everyone that follows our twitter feed for all the interaction that we had on there. There were lots of retweets and a lot of new followers. I found out later that several news agencies were following our twitter feed for updates on the fire. I was happy to get the news out there. I was even happier that everyone ended up safe on a very hot day and there was minimal damage to the Old Barn. There is a lot of history in that building. If you weren’t following our blog last fall, we did some feature stories on it. You can go back and read about the history of the Old Barn; former players, staff and fans share their memories; and finally a Night at the Old Barn where we sat down with Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick to talk about Hershey.

Here are all the stories about the fire. [LDN, broadstreethockey, PennLive, PennLive, ABC27, CBS21, PennLive, WGAL]

Coco will get a makeover for next season. [PennLive]

The Caps and Bears announced a new ECHL affiliate with the Reading Royals. [Bears, Caps]

Marketing the 2013 AHL Outdoor Classic. [PennLive]

2012 was a big season for babies in Hershey. [Caps Outsider]

Former Bear and fan favorite Jay Beagle gets a 3 year extension with the Caps. [Caps]

Current Calgary bench boss and former Bear coach Bob Hartley made his annual trip to the area to run his hockey camp. [SHoE]