Bears Mailbag: Mathias Bau Heads Home
Mathias Bau waves to the Giant Center crowd as he is announced during the Bears opening night ceremony

Bears mailbag: Mathias Bau heads home

Chocolate Hockey’s mailbag is back, and there’s a lot of questions looking for answers. Let’s jump into it.

Cassie on Facebook: When will Colby Williams be back? Also Bau?

Right after we asked for mailbag questions, Vitek Vanecek wished Mathias Bau “good luck in your hockey career” on Instagram. We asked the Bears what was going on, and it was confirmed he was heading home and is out indefinitely with an injury. Bau broke some ribs and had a tear in his spleen as we addressed in our last mailbag. Wasn’t able to recover for this season, so instead of waiting around in Hershey, he’s heading back to Denmark.

The last update we received on Colby Williams was week-to-week with an upper-body injury. He has not played since January 6 against Milwaukee.

Hershey’s all-time win streak is 12 games in 2009-10. The team’s current streaks are 14 games with a point and eight games without a loss. The team’s all-time point streak is 15, which was set in 1942-43.

Luke on Facebook: Bears will have a glut of defensemen with Alexeyev, Fehervary, and Priskie coming in next season. Only Williams is a UFA but they love him so he’ll probably be back. Lewington can probably be an extra in the NHL but that isn’t certain.
Johansen-Hobbs
Alexeyev-Priskie
Fehervary-Williams
Geisser-Lewington
Bindulis
So how do you see it shaking out?

While Williams is a UFA, I would suspect he is re-signed by Washington this offseason. He along with Johansen, Hobbs, and Geisser are my guesses for Hershey’s top four to start next season in Chocolate Town. Bindulis is an unknown factor with such a small sample size in Hershey (12 games, only four this year, out indefinitely with an injury,) that I’m not sure how he fits into the roster next year.

Lewington I could see being in a situation similar to Jonas Siegenthaler’s this year where he is ready for the NHL, but doesn’t get a look until an injury in Washington then impresses the Caps so much they struggle to send him down.

Alexander Alexeyev and Martin Fehervary are the most exciting two pieces coming in next season. I’ll be interested to see how Alexeyev’s style of play transitions to Hershey, as well as Chase Priskie, who I think should be a breakout star once he gets rolling. Fehervary will bring a big body (6’2″, 195 lbs) and good vision to the Bears backend next year. They’ll all work their way up the lineup once call-ups start happening, and/or if Washington makes any moves to move a defenseman for some forward prospects before next season.

Dawn on Facebook: Why wasn’t there a Hockey In Heels this year? Is this something Hershey has gotten rid of for good?

Hockey in Heels has been an extremely popular event for the Bears, but there’s still no word on whether or not it will happen this season. The event is not gone, but it’s a massive project for the team that requires a lot of work for them to put on for Bears fans. If I have to guess, there will be another Hershey Bears Hockey in Heels event, whether that’s this season or next season we will have to wait and see.

There’s a logjam with forwards in DC. With the Caps also signing Nic Dowd and picking Dmitrij Jaskin off waivers before the season, that took up two spots that could have gone to Walker, Barber, or O’Brien. I think Walker and Barber are likely gone from the Capitals organization after this season. They’re players that could be playing regularly in the NHL, but there’s just no space in DC. O’Brien is a restricted free agent, and I would suspect that Washington would give him a qualifying offer again this offseason. But because he is a restricted free agent, he might be more appealing to a team looking to make a trade. If Washington is looking to move a player or two at the deadline, O’Brien could be a part of that move with his RFA status.

We appreciate all the questions. If you have any Bears questions you want to be answered, tweet them using the hashtag #chockeymail, comment down below, or e-mail them to contact@chocolatehockey.com!

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