Hershey Bears vs. Toronto Marlies: Eastern Conference Finals Series Preview
For the first time since 2010, the Hershey Bears are back in the Eastern Conference Finals where they will face one of the best teams to come through the AHL since the 2010 Hershey Bears team, the Toronto Marlies. This season’s Marlies team finished with 114 points and a 54-16-5-1 record. The teams only faced each other twice this season, each winning in the other team’s building.
With both teams coming off of a series that went the distance, we could be in for another long match-up between these two division winners.
Forwards:
If you look at stats alone, Toronto has the edge. Currently, Toronto has 17 active 20 point or more scorers (19 if you include Connor Carrick, who scored 26 of his 29 points with Hershey and Tobias Lindberg who scored 22 of his 34 points with Binghamton), compared to Hershey’s 15 active 20 point scores (16 if you include Ryan Bourque who had 24 of his 29 points with Hartford). While more recently Hershey’s top point getter Chris Bourque has been cold with only four points in the last series against Wilkes-Barre, he’s put 10 more shots on net than any other player coming into this next series. At any time this series, those shots could start going in and cause a major problem for Toronto.
Advantage: Toronto
Defense:
There are two things to look at with these teams in terms of defense: their shutdown ability and their scoring ability. Toronto’s defense is almost their offense with Connor Carrick leading the way. T.J. Brennan, the league’s point leading defenseman during the regular season, is also a major threat with the puck that Hershey will need to watch out for. But, from the footage I’ve watched of the Marlies, there are still some major holes in their blueline that Hershey could exploit the same way Albany did. The Bears also have a great shutdown pairing in Tyler Lewington and Aaron Ness that could be the key to Hershey’s success in this series.
Advantage: Even
Goalies:
Justin Peters has been playing out of his mind so far in the playoffs, playing the most minutes of any goalie so far in the Calder Cup playoffs, and posting a line of 1.78 GAA, 0.935 SV%, and a 7-4-0 record. Compare that to Toronto, who has handed over the reigns to Antoine Bibeau. The 22-year-old Canadian has a 2.69 GAA, 0.909 SV% in 468 minutes, allowing 21 goals over eight games, giving him a 5-2 record. While Bibeau has been strong as of late, Pete-Dawg is Hershey’s rock right now.
Advantage: Hershey
Power play:
Six for 55. That’s how Hershey’s power play has gone in the playoffs so far. As Charles Barkley would say, “That’s Turrible.” The Bears need to step up their offensive special teams play to really make an impact in this series. It’s as simple as that on the man advantage end of the Bears play.
Advantage: Toronto
Penalty kill:
Hershey’s penalty killing in the playoffs has been outstanding so far, going 52 for 59. But with that being said, the Bears have had to kill 22 more penalties than the Marlies these playoffs. You read that right; Hershey has had to kill 59 penalties these playoffs compared to 37 for Toronto. If there has ever been a time to buckle down and play an extremely disciplined game, now is the time for the Chocolate and White. Hershey should be proud of their penalty killers, but shouldn’t have to use them this much.
Advantage: Hershey
Prediction: Hershey in 6
Garrett Mitchell said it best after Game 6 against Wilkes-Barre. “We believe in the group we have right now.” I like this Bears team a lot, and I think the locker room could not believe in themselves more than they do right now. The scheduling couldn’t have been better for the Chocolate and White, too. Starting at home, despite the fact Toronto is a killer team on the road, is huge for the Bears and they need to use the home ice advantage to their advantage. If the Bears can get one, if not two wins at Giant Center before heading north of the border, then this becomes a fun series. No matter what, Hershey is coming back home after heading to Toronto, and if they can bring back a 3-2 series lead to Giant Center for Game 6, the atmosphere in GC will be second to none.
Hershey Social Media:
Twitter: @TheHersheyBears
Our Twitter: @ChocHockey
Our Facebook: Chocolate Hockey
Our Instagram: @ChocolateHockey
My Twitter: @Kyle_Mace
Toronto Social Media:
Twitter: @TorontoMarlies
Facebook: Toronto Marlies
Beat: @JeffVeillette
Series Hashtag: #TORvsHER
We will have stories throughout the entire series on the site, along with game updates on our Twitter, and goodies on our Instagram, and Facebook pages. I will also have insights and opinions on my Twitter account all series long.
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