Den Leader Aaron Ness Celebrates, Reflects on 800 Professional Hockey games
Eight hundred games is impressive at any level of hockey. Whether that’s in the ECHL, AHL or even the NHL, 800 professional games is a long time spent playing this beautiful game on ice for any player.
This past weekend, on top of all the other celebrations in Hershey because of a historic season, the Bears also celebrated 800 games played professionally by defenseman and alternate captain Aaron Ness.
Nesser is beloved in Hershey but his career stretches far beyond the city of Chocolate.
A 2008 draft pick by the New York Islanders, Ness would spend three seasons at the University of Minnesota, before joining the Islanders AHL affiliate, the then Bridgeport Sound Tigers, for the end of the 2010-11 season. After 280 games with Bridgeport, plus 29 up with the Islanders, Ness signed a one-year two-way contract with the Washington Capitals, which kicked off his career in Hershey. Ness spent four seasons with the organization, making appearances for Washington in three of them. Ness ended up playing 239 games for the Bears, and putting up 128 points, a career year in the 2018-19 season saw Ness get his best NHL shot yet with a Coyotes team that looked to be rebuilding.
This part of his career saw Ness spend the most time on an NHL roster in his career. Ness only ended up playing 17 games for the Coyotes AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, even though he was on a two-way contract in the two seasons he spent in their organization, while he spent most of the time up with the Coyotes. However, once that stint ended, Ness found himself back on the East coast, signing a one year deal with the Providence Bruins for the 21-22 season.
Ness now finds himself back in Hershey, wearing the A and a stalwart on the Bears blueline for the last two seasons.
“Too fast.” said Ness when asked how he’d describe those 800 games. “It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve played with a lot of good players, been with a lot of good coaches and met a lot of great people. It goes fast and it’s been a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to playing as many as I can.”
Nesser has had some incredible experiences through his long career as well. His first Calder Cup last year as a member of the Bears, as well as being a member of the United States Olympic team in 2022 in Beijing.
“It’s a lot of ups and downs, but like I said, it’s been a ton of fun,” said Ness. “I’ve loved this league and I’ve been lucky to do a lot of things with hockey and it’s been a great ride. For me it’s just about continuing to enjoy it. Sometimes, early in your career you’re so hyper focused on making the NHL you forget to enjoy some of those moments. Now that I’m older, I can take the time to step back and think about the cool things I’ve gotten to do, like win the Calder Cup, play in the Olympics and really take that in during the offseason when I can.”
Congrats to Nesser, and go Bears!
