Bears Make April Fools of Admirals with 6-3 Victory

Andrew Gordon celebrates Sheldon Souray’s goal against the Norfolk Admirals.

It’s officially April. We all know that means it’s almost time for playoffs, but first we have to wrap up the final five games of the season. And it would be pretty nice for the Bears to lock up second place in the East Division.

Step one? Take down the Norfolk Admirals.

As far as first periods go, tonight’s was a pretty nice one. Well, except for the whole two 5-on-3s. It seemed as if the Bears were only capable of being penalized in pairs. Nevertheless, the penalty kill unit did it’s job and held off the Norfolk power play. Despite the penalties and Norfolk leading in shots, the Bears were the ones leading after twenty minutes.

The first goal came from Andrew Gordon. Right after killing the first power play, Gordon had a pretty shot with no one between him and goaltender Dustin Tokarski. Francois Bouchard followed that with a goal of his own. Perhaps not appreciating his recent demotion to the fourth line, he took his assist from Andrew Kozek and didn’t miss. Dmitry Orlov also got an assist on that goal.

The second twenty minutes started off just as nice. Sheldon Souray, who returned to the line-up for the first time since getting injured back in mid-March, was making his presence known all night. Early in the second period, he demonstrated his NHL talent as he danced around a Norfolk defender and unleashed the a big shot on Tokarski. 3-0 Bears.

Braden Holtby was called on to make a save on a penalty shot. He was ready but perhaps shooter Stefano Giliati wasn’t as his shot appeared to miss the goal. After that, it take Hershey long to get goal #4. After closing in on the Norfolk crease, Mathieu Perreault‘s shot deflected off on Norfolk’s Radko Gudas and past an unsuspecting Tokarski.

Finally fed up, the Admirals responded with a goal of their own. Holtby might have been screened but nevertheless, his shutout bid was gone. For Norfolk, the ninth time was a charm. With Andrew Carroll in the box and the Admirals on their ninth power play, they finally figured out how to work the man advantage and got another goal back to make it 4-2 after two periods.

The third period saw a Hershey power play early on. For once, it was the Bears with the 5-on-3 power play. It took a couple of shots but Keith Aucoin finally put one away to increase Hershey’s lead. Bouchard appeared to score again but it was waved off because of a penalty to the Bears. It wouldn’t be just one penalty, it would be two. Yes, another 5-on-3. No sweat, Hershey killed it. Again.

However, Souray was sent to the box late in the period and Norfolk did score then. Steve Pinizzotto made sure that it didn’t matter though and topped off the game with an empty net goal.

I would like to give a standing ovation to our penalty kill unit. To face thirteen penalties and only allow two goals is phenomenal. I don’t think I need to tell you that this would have been an entirely different game if they hadn’t played so well. Thanks to them, Bears win 6-3.

In the long run, this game could prove important in helping Hershey mentally. They have had issues battling the Admirals, especially with Tokarski in goal. Tonight they proved that they are capable of big games. I can’t imagine Norfolk will make it an easy game when these teams battle again tomorrow.

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Penguins Win 3-2 Nail-Biter with Overtime SHG

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Bryan Lerg scores in overtime to beat the Bears. Photo by Kyle Mace

What a game!

We already know that both teams will be going to playoffs this season. Despite the troubles that Hershey has had with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this year, it would be a fun series if these teams met up during the post-season.

After shutting out the Montreal Canadiens last night, Braden Holtby returned to Hershey and allowed a goal on the second shot of the game. The Penguins got the first lead of the night on the power play while Perreault was in the box for tripping. They only needed four seconds of the man advantage before they scored.

Hershey tied it up during the second period. They came rushing into the offensive zone and Brian Willsie passed to Mathieu Perreault. He got a shot off and John Curry stopped it but the rebound bounced back out to Francois Bouchard who didn’t miss.

Unfortunately, the Penguins regained their lead in the same period. Yet again, it was on the power play. This time it took them 37 seconds on the power play to score.

With their backs against the wall in the third period, the Bears had to kill off a penalty to Boyd Kane for elbowing with the final few minutes of the period dwindling. The Bears stood tall and interrupted the Penguins offense. There was a two-on-one but Wilkes-Barre broke that up. Perreault collected the puck and dished a perfect pass to Keith Aucoin, who was crashing the net: tie game thanks to a short-handed goal.

With the crowd roaring, this game would need overtime to end it. Steve Pinizzotto was whistled for tripping just 29 seconds in and fans held their breath. But they were excited again when Brett Sterling took a penalty of his own almost two minutes later.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t slow down the Penguins. They scored short-handed to cement the win and their East Division Championship. Bears lose 3-2 (OT).

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Healthy Hershey Line-up Loses 2-1 to Adirondack

As the regular season dwindles down, the Hershey Bears traveled up North to play the Adirondack Phantoms for the final time this season.

All in all, it was quiet start to the game. Both goalies faced about the same amount of shots and both teams had good scoring chances. The Phantoms had two power plays but the Bears held them back. Unfortunately, Adirondack had the lead after one period. A pass came to Ben Holmstrom from behind the net and Nolan Schaefer couldn’t stop it in time.

Andrew Carroll did his part to get the team going by dropping the gloves with Marc-Andre Bourdon during the second period. For relatively smaller guys, this was a pretty nice fight. Good punches from both guys. I give the win to Bourdon though because he had the final say.

And that was all that happened during the second period. The Bears killed off an early third period penalty but that didn’t stop Adirondack. A puck was deflected in front of Schaefer and suddenly the Phantoms were up 2-0. It wasn’t until just about the halfway point that the Bears finally broke the shutout! Brian Willsie scored and tied his career best in goals. Coincidentally, the last time he scored 29 goals in one season was back in 2002-2003 when he was the Bears.

Even with Willsie making it a close game again, it wasn’t enough. Bears lose 2-1.

Ironically enough, this was the healthiest line-up the Bears have dressed in a long time. Looking at the lines and pairings below, you would think this team wouldn’t have any problem finding the back of the net. In fact, the scratches for this game (healthy or not), have accounted for only 26 of the 230 goals Hershey has scored this season.

Nevertheless, the Bears’ offense didn’t play a full game tonight and the score shows it. The good news is that there are two more games this weekend for them to make up for it.

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Syracuse Crunch Destroy Hershey Bears, 5-2

Braden Holtby very clearly disagrees with the call on the Syracuse goal. Photo by Kyle Mace

The Bears wrapped up this 3-in-3 with a Sunday matinée game against the Syracuse Crunch. With one win and one loss already, this game decided whether it would be a winning or losing record for the weekend.

The Crunch got the first lead of the night on just their second shot of the game. There wasn’t much Braden Holtby could do as Matt Kennedy spun around and deflected the puck off Dmitry Orlov‘s leg.

But the Bears tied it up at the end of the period during a delayed penalty call. Brian Willsie took at shot and it bounced out to Kyle Greentree was behind Jean-Philippe Levasseur and had a mostly empty net to shoot at. Tie game.

Enter controversy. At first, it looked like the second period was going to wrap up without a scoring change. The Bears got a late period power play but it was Syracuse that scored. Nick Bonino was left alone and had a bit of a breakaway right up to the goal. He deked a few times and took a quick shot. The puck flipped past Holtby and appeared to hit the crossbar and bounce back out. The goal light never went off but referee Francis Charron said it was good.

The replay that played in-house was a little hard to decipher but I’m still not convinced it went in. Many people were pointing to the fact that the water bottle that was resting on the netting jumped, usually signaling a good goal. Tim Leone, who most likely got a better look at the replay, had this to say:

I’d be interested to hear what some of you who saw it in person have to say, especially those seated near the goal.

Despite leading in shots on goal 26 to 11, the Bears were down a goal going into the third period. It took just under twelve minutes before the Bears were able to tie it up. They threw a bunch of shots towards Levasseur and Greentree ended up scoring on his own rebound to get his second goal of the night.

However, the Crunch didn’t take long to respond. They couldn’t even finish announcing Hershey’s goal when Syracuse regained their lead on a strange goal. I can’t fault Holtby too much on this first two goals, but this was one he should have had. He was flush up against the post but a Crunch player was able to sneak it past him after Holtby tried to poke check it away.

Then the wheels fell off and Syracuse scored on a 2-on-1 rush with a minute and a half left. The final nail in the coffin was the empty net goal with five seconds left. Hershey loses 5-2.

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Portland Comeback Stymies Hershey, 4-3 (OT)

Mark Parrish of Portland scores in overtime to beat Hershey. Photo by Kyle Mace

Tonight’s game against the Portland Pirates was a specialty jersey night: the Bears sported Capitals Winter Classic jerseys, but with a twist. Instead of the Capitals logo across the front, it had the Hershey logo. As usual, the jerseys were auctioned off after the game.

The Bears got the first lead of the night (as they so often do) with a goal from Andrew Joudrey. The Bears maintained the lead until Steve Pinizzotto was whistled for cross-checking and a ten minute misconduct. Down a man, Braden Holtby (just sent down from Washington this morning) almost had the puck but had it knocked out of his control and into the net.

The Bears quickly responded and scored a power play goal of their own. Patrick McNeill joined the play and scored back door on David Leggio, showing off that offensive side.

The second period saw a lot of penalties doled out to both sides. The Bears had a 5-on-3 but were not able to convert on it. However, when a Pirate was penalized for hooking Joudrey on a breakaway, they took this chance. Back in front of the loyal home crowd, Andrew Gordon did not let down and scored on the power play. He was right in front of the goal and ready to chip it home to score his first goal since returning from injury.

The Pirates scored to make a one goal difference when two Pirates sped past the Hershey defense. Two-on-none, they beat Holtby to make it 3-2 Hershey.

Things were looking good until Joudrey high-sticked a Pirate and Portland had the man advantage with a little more than six minutes left in regulation. It only took 26 seconds before T.J. Brennan one-timed it past Holtby. I hate to admit it, but it was a beautiful shot. Unfortunately, that meant it was a tie game once again.

The teams pushed on to overtime but it was Portland who came out on top. Despite leading by two goals earlier in the game, the Bears lose 4-3 (OT). Overall, the offense was spotty and could have been better but they were playing a talented Portland team. One point is better than none.

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Kozek and Willsie Lead Bears to 5-1 win over Falcons

It was a big night for the Hershey Bears as they traveled up north to play the Springfield Falcons.

It was a great start to the game if you were wearing chocolate and white. The same cannot be said for Springfield goaltender, Gustaf Wesslau. In just about four and a half minutes of play, Wesslau saw two shots. They both became goals.

The first goal was Andrew Kozek, who tipped a Brian Fahey one-timer shot. The second goal belonged to Brian Willsie. Willsie was assisted by Andrew Gordon, who made his triumphant return to the line-up for the first time since he was injured on February 5th.

And that was the end of Wesslau’s night. He was quickly pulled in favor of David LeNeveu. Before the end of the period, the Falcons brought it back within one with a back door shot from Maksim Mayorov.

The second period had sort of a deja vu feeling. It took a few shots, but Kozek finally beat LeNeveu to score his second goal of the night. With two defenders closing in on him, he scored thanks to a long pass from his defenders. Not to be outdone, Willsie scored his second goal of the game as well when he capitalized on a Falcons turnover. And that’s how Hershey found themselves with a cushy lead going into the third period.

It was a pretty quiet third through. Springfield all but rolled and over and gave up. Kyle Greentree put the final nail in the coffin with a 4-on-4 goal. Bears win 5-1.

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Penalties Prove Decisive in 3-2 SO Loss against Norfolk

Johan Harju scores the game-winner in the shootout against Schaefer. Photo by Kyle Mace

It was a big day for the special teams as the Hershey Bears took on the rival Norfolk Admirals.

Patrick McNeill scored during a first period power play. He was skating between the face-off circles when he stopped the puck with his foot. He kicked it in front of him and shot a sweet wrister past Dustin Tokarski.

During the second period, the Admirals countered with a power play goal of their own. They got Nolan Schaefer moving and he couldn’t cross the crease in time to stop a shot from Alex Berry. Tie game after two periods.

As it always seems to with these teams, it came down to a big third period. The Admirals took their first lead of the game almost halfway through the period while (you guessed it) on the power play. It was speedy play and a fast pass to the middle where James Wright tipped it past Schaefer.

But Kyle Greentree was ready to respond! Just a minute later, Greentree gave Hershey a second wind by scoring five-hole on Tokarski. And get this: it wasn’t on the power play!

I’m sure that after seven games in nine nights, overtime during the seventh game was not deserved. Nevertheless, the Bears found themselves in sudden death, fighting for that extra point. Sean Collins was whistled for a delay of game late in overtime and the Bears killed it off to move the game to the shootout.

The Admirals only scored once, but that was all they needed. Tokarski stopped all five Hershey skaters. Bears lose 3-2 (SO).

Tokarski is just unreal. We all keep waiting for him to show signs that he’s human but he’s the epitome of a “hot goalie” right now. Nevertheless, the Bears should be proud of the way they played tonight. It was a fantastic all-around effort and they definitely have a well-deserved rest coming up this week. See you Friday.

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Bears beat the Whale for French’s 100th Coaching Win

The Bears celebrate Brian Willsie’s goal, which proved to be the game-winner.

Break out the Brass Bonanza! The Hershey Bears came to town to play their first game against the Connecticut Whale (though they did play them earlier in the season when they were still the Hartford Wolfpack).

Kyle Greentree scored the first goal of the night with a nice shot from between the face-off circles. New addition, Andrew Kozek (who was playing in his first game as a Bear) had the primary assist to register his first point as a Bear.

The Bears extended their lead during the second period when Connecticut had an iffy line change. Greentree dished a long pass to Brian Willsie who was waiting up ice. Once he got the puck, Willsie raced towards the net, took aim, and scored. 2-0 Bears.

The Whale finally broke the shutout during the third period when Kris Newbury darted through the zone and right up to the net. There wasn’t much Nolan Schaefer could do to stop it. Connecticut couldn’t muster up any more goals and Bears win 2-1!

You know what that means? We finally get to congratulate Coach Mark French on his 100th AHL coaching victory! He is the fastest coach in AHL history to reach the 100 win plateau. We can’t even begin to say how much French has done for the Bears. We know the team is in great hands with him. Now the race begins to 200 wins!

Just a heads up to our readers: we will not be covering the game tomorrow night against the Adirondack Phantoms. Instead, we’ll be in Virginia with our Russian Machine Never Breaks brothers at the RMNB Party 2: Electric Boogaloo. If you’re free, head down to Arlington and have fun while donating money to the Brian St. Louis Family Fund.

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Worcester holds off Hershey Comeback, Win 3-2


Dmitry Orlov’s first AHL goal isn’t enough to stop the Worcester Sharks.

And so the road trip rolls on…

Tonight, the Bears faced the Worcester Sharks. You may remember the last time these two teams met Brian Willsie almost fought Worcester goaltender, Alex Stalock.

Thankfully for Willsie, Stalock wasn’t playing tonight but that didn’t mean that this game would be any easier.

All was well at first. The Bears were putting some good shots on goal and even got the early lead. It was none other than Dmitry Orlov who gave the Bears the lead, scoring his first career AHL goal. It was a hard shot from the face-off circle that goaltender Tyson Sexsmith couldn’t handle. Orlov has been paired with Sheldon Souray for four games now. Between the pure skill, the physicality, and the hard shots, that pairing has to put some fear in the opposing teams. I definitely would not want to be facing down those guys.

However, the Sharks tied it up in the same period. The Sharks were attacking and the Bears couldn’t clear the zone. After a couple of quick shots, Nolan Schaefer tried his best but couldn’t stop the last shot and Worcester scored.

During the second period, the Bears badly outshot the Sharks 16 to 7. Unfortunately, it was the Sharks who came ahead though. The Sharks killed off a Hershey 5-on-3 power play and then scored in the minutes afterwards. It was a bit of a fluky goal as Brandon Mashinter flung the puck towards the goal and it tipped off Schaefer and into the net.

The third period saw the Bears on the wrong side of a 5-on-3. Boyd Kane and Ashton Rome were whistled for penalties and the Worcester didn’t miss the opportunity. With two Bears in the box, the Sharks scored. There was a glimmer of hope later on when Rome dished out a perfect pass to Maxime Lacroix who backhanded it past Sexsmith. It wouldn’t be enough to push the Bears to victory and they lose 3-2.

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Schaefer Shines Despite 3-2 Shootout Loss to Pirates

It took a shootout for the Portland Pirates to defeat the Hershey Bears.

The Bears traveled up North yesterday to play a rare regular season game against the Portland Pirates. Mathieu Perreault gave Hershey the early lead with an absolutely beautiful goal. He skated the puck from one end of the ice to other and blew right through the Portland defense. It was one of those goals that you could watch a replay of over and over again.

His goal stood as the only one through two periods of play.

It was a fairly quiet game except for whenever Sheldon Souray and Tim Conboy were on the ice at the same time. Conboy had a controversial hit on Maxime Lacroix that Souray took offense to and they dropped the gloves. Souray had the takedown. Thankfully, Lacroix was okay.

During the next period, the teams started shoving at the whistle and Conboy and Souray decided to have a rematch. If Conboy was looking for redemption, he didn’t get it because Souray delivered a vicious knockout punch.

The Bears started the third period on the man advantage but the Pirates shut them down. Right after the successful kill, the Pirates tied the game up when Mark Voakes fought through the play and Nolan Schaefer had to face him alone. He tried him best to stone him but was unsuccessful.

The Pirates scored again during a late period power play. Schaefer tried to grab the shot in his glove but he ended up just tipping it and it bounced over him and into the net. Just when it started looking grim, the Bears had a 4-on-3 power play at the very end of the period. It took a couple attempts but Patrick McNeill tied it up with a nice shot down low. Spurred on by this goal, the teams went to overtime. When that didn’t solve anything, we moved on to the shootout.

It was ironic that the game came down to goaltending since the goalies from both teams were playing great games. Unfortunately, David Leggio came out on top today, stopped all four of the Bears shootout attempts. The Pirates scored twice on Schaefer and the Bears lost 3-2.

Guess we’ll have to wait another day for Mark French’s 100th career win…

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