Locker Clean Out Day Reaction from the Hershey Bears
Monday afternoon the 2015-16 Hershey Bears were together for the last time, cleaning out their lockers after a disappointing end to the season. Below the jump are thoughts and reaction from Bears head coach Troy Mann, captain Garrett Mitchell, alternate captain Zach Sill, and goalie Justin Peters.
Troy Mann, reflecting on season 48 hours after it came to a close:
It still hurts that you weren’t able to fulfil the final goal. In the bigger scheme of things, it was certainly a very successful season. We’re a very young team and probably to some degree, exceeded expectations when you start thinking about in October if you really felt like you were going to play hockey in June. The goal here is to always win the Calder Cup and develop young players for Washington, and I think we did a little bit of both this year in terms of them gaining valuable experience. I thought those playoff games against Lake Erie were, next to being in the NHL, the pace was almost an NHL regular season types of games. I think that bodes well for our young players, for not only their future with Washington but for next year with us as well.
Mann on the development of players this season:
It’s always great to see that. From the coaching side of things that’s what you’re here for; to try and make these players better and hopefully get them to the NHL. From our first year players to our second-year players, like the Nathan Walker and Liam O’Brien’s of the world, the improvement from month-to-month. That’s the goal and what we talked about with the staff all year with these guys. We want to try and make them better. It’s a two-way street; as coaches we try and do our part, but it has to come from them as well. I think we had a great team when it came to that and in terms of those guys wanting it as well.
Zach Sill on perspective on Lake Erie series:
Still a bit of a disappointment. We wish we could have made more of a series – never good losing four straight. They’re a good team. All their lines were deep and everybody on their team plays the same way. It was kind of a wave after wave thing. The last two games were tight – could have went either way, but that’s the way it goes.
Sill on development of young players:
It’s a big future for this organization with the young crop they have in right now. They’re just going to continue to get better, especially with the experience of going to the Calder Cup Finals. You know what it takes to get there and you’re going to have that hunger to win after getting there and losing.
Justin Peters on the way the season ended:
It still stings. Looking back on it now, we had a pretty good run. Unfortunately, we came up a little short. There’s such a fine line here when it comes down to the end, there’s only two teams left playing, and we were fortunate to be a part of it. But we didn’t get the job done in the end.
Peters on his play in the postseason:
It was a lot of fun to be a part of. Everyone really elevated their game in the playoffs – the sacrifice, the commitment, the buy-in everyone had – I think is what allowed us to go all the way to the Finals. You create bonds, you have memories that last a lifetime with the experiences we went through.
Peters on pending free agency:
That’s the business side of hockey. No idea what’s really going to happen. I haven’t really had too much time to process that. I really thought we were going to come back and change the series. We’ll see what happens. I had an awesome time here in Hershey. The coaching staff does an awesome job, it’s an awesome place to play. The fans are unbelievable with support. It was a really fun time here for me and my wife. We’d definitely come back in a heartbeat.
Garrett Mitchell looking back on the season:
For us, it’s a little bittersweet. I think it was a good learning experience for our young team. Right now we’ve got a group that came a long ways from the start of the season. It’s a tough thing to swallow for us. Last night, you watch the Stanely Cup Finals and you watch those guys lift the Cup over their head, it’s a pretty special feeling. We get that feeling just watching. I can’t even imagine if it was us doing it. We knew we had a young team coming into it, we didn’t really know what we were going to have. I remember at the start of the season telling everybody we really didn’t know what we were going to be. I think we came a long ways throughout this year.
Mitchell on having a strong core already for next season:
That’s the way right now we have to look at it. We have to use that experience we did gain from making it all the way. The biggest thing I said after we ending up losing was “There’s 28 other teams that didn’t get the chance to play in the Finals. We got to take that as an accomplishment, not something we hang our heads about.” I don’t want to sit here and say I’m happy. I think we had a great season – I’m happy with the season – but it would have been pretty awesome to lift that cup over our heads. We gave ourselves a chance and we lost to a good team.