2018 Outdoor Classic morning skate update

For the final time before the 2018 Outdoor Classic, the Hershey Bears took to the ice at Hersheypark Stadium for a morning skate to prepare for their match-up against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

A simple practice gave the Bears one last feel of the ice, getting ready for what still is a game that counts for two points in the standings. “I think I’ve said it to a number of people: once you get out here and get practicing and knowing that it’s here, it’s always exciting,” said Troy Mann.

“Before you’re trying to get game to game and now all the sudden it’s here. I felt the excitement in yesterday in practice too, and to be honest, getting in at four in the morning and having the guys out here at noon on Thursday was more of a chipper type practice than a normal day. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to get two points here somehow.”

While those two points are a talking point for a team that hasn’t won a game in almost two weeks, Mann is making sure his players still take in the moment. “I kind of avoided it this morning because you want guys to enjoy the moment and enjoy the day in general. Tonight, once we get in there and go over a couple of components of our game we need to do against these guys, we’ll certainly make sure the game is played from the glass down.”

With any game comes the tough decision of who will be scratched, even more so with the Outdoor Classic. “The worst part about a head coach’s job is telling players they aren’t going to play on a normal game day, let alone something of this nature. We’ve kind of liked the line-up where it’s at. Obviously, the decision to put Labrie in a no-brainer because Williams is suspended.

“Garrett Mitchell’s our captain, he’s been apart of the organization for eight years, so he’s going back in. It’s the right thing to do for him and the organization. Unfortunately, with the veteran situation, someone has to come out. Anthony Peluso who played very well in Springfield the other night is going to have to be the scratch. Not an easy thing to tell a player, specifically in an event like this.”