Do the Hershey Bears Need Cheerleaders?

hershey bears cheerleaders washington capitals red rockers-1

Sunday night was affiliate night at the Hershey Bears game and it was mascots and cheerleaders galore for fans to enjoy. Right now, the Chocolate and White only have the famous Coco the Bear, who recently got a make over of his own, but does the 76-year-old franchise need cheerleaders?

As of the 2013-14 season, 25 NHL teams have or had Cheerleaders and/or Ice Girls at one point during their tenure. The list of teams includes the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington Capitals. Many AHL teams also have a form of cheerleaders to help encourage the fans to make some noise. Yet to some fans, they feel like the take away from the game, becoming a distraction and not necessary. Right now, fans are not begging for cheerleaders at Bears games, but could the team use them?

The Bears affiliate Capitals have about 20 Cheerleaders with the Red Rockers and they are big within the Washington D.C. community, but going by TV markets, D.C. is 32 spots ahead of Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, meaning they would need more bodies to cover the community than an AHL team.

The other question is: would it work? Hershey’s fan base isn’t the same as most hockey fan bases and they really do not need cheerleaders to bring in more fans. That being said, Hershey could use ice girls to clear the ice. The Rink Rats do a great job at making sure the boards and glass are in tip-top shape, but the only part of the ice that ever gets shoved during games is in front of benches. I don’t know if any scientific studies have been done on if snow buildup on hockey rinks effects the speed of the game, but many NHL teams clean the ice during TV timeouts.

What do you think about Cheerleaders or Ice Girls? Tell us your opinion by tweeting us, commenting on Facebook, or comment down below using your Twitter or Disqus account

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. I’ve always thought cheerleaders were an annoyance in any sport. I especially thought so when they were standing next to my seat Sunday night! Seriously, cheerleaders for hockey??

  2. It’s a waste of money. And quite frankly it’s not needed in Hershey. That arena has enough energy and excitement on it’s own that the team doesn’t need to waste the money on things like cheerleaders.

  4. At Caps games, it’s usually local high school teams who clear off the ice during TV timeouts. I know they don’t have them in the AHL, but they can still use local high school hockey teams or local hockey clubs to clear the ice instead of “ice girls”.

  5. The Texas Stars had Ice Girls for their first four years as a franchise but had to disband them for the fifth. It was a combination of girls leaving the team on their own to pursue other opportunities and girls being forced off the team due to fraternization with the players. At least one player/ice girl pairing got married. Look up Dan Spang on HockeyDB…

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