Betting on Bears: Hershey Tops Albany 3-2 on Boardwalk


HERSHEY, PA – Philipp Grubauer warms up prior to a Bears game earlier this season. He stopped four of five Albany shootout attempts in a 3-2 Hershey win on the Boardwalk (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

Every year, thousands of American football fans lose a pocket full of money after making foolish bets on the Super Bowl. Then of course you have that one jerk, who watches three games a season, makes and outrageous bet and picks Seattle to win by a 35 point spread and pockets several figures of cash that night. Only in America.

It’s a question mark whether there are AHL fans who bet on regular season matches, but if that were the case, the Hershey Bears have proven to be a safe bet thus far in 2014. Following a 3-2 shootout win Friday night against the Albany Devils, the Bears improved to a fantastic 14-4-1-0 record in the new year.

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Gazley’s OT Game Winner Drops Wilkes-Barre

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HERSHEY, PA – Philipp Grubauer hugs Dustin Gazley after Gazley’s game winning, overtime goal against Wilkes-Barre (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

As many know, we are in a current time stretch where football season has concluded, the countdown to Spring Training is in full throttle, and where fans continuously fall asleep on their sofa attempting to watch the NBA.

But at the American Hockey League level, the Hershey Bears enter a crucial eight week stretch of their schedule which takes them to April. It is a stretch which will truly decide whether playoff hockey will once again return to Hershey for a ninth consecutive season.

Sunday the Bears battled the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the weekend finale, looking for four out of six standings points in the weekend. Dustin Gazley scored 47 second into overtime to down the Penguins in a Giant Center classic.

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Count ‘Em Ten: Bears Throttle Portland, Win Tenth Straight at GC

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HERSHEY, PA – Dane Byers celebrates his game winning goal against Portland during Hershey’s 2-1 victory over the Pirates (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

In 2009, the Hershey Bears dropped the Manitoba Moose in six games to win the Calder Cup. Shortly after the cup clinching game, “Count ‘Em Ten” T-shirts were released to the general public to celebrate the franchise’s tenth Calder Cup Championship.

Saturday night, fans gained the right to break out the former catch phrase in honor of not the Bears’ tenth Cup, but their tenth consecutive victory on Giant Center ice. Dane Byers scored a third period game-winning-goal, and the Chocolate and White celebrated a 2-1 over the Portland Pirates.

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Bears Hammer Admirals 3-1 on Groundhog’s Day

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HERSHEY, PA – Brandon Segal celebrates his second period goal with teammates during Hershey’s 3-1 win (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

Which is of the following is more abnormal– The Hershey Bears wearing Groundhog Day jerseys in their Sunday game against Norfolk, or Groundhog Day combining with Super Bowl Sunday?

Regardless the answer, at an early 2pm start time the Bears faced the Anaheim Ducks’ top affiliate, Norfolk Admirals. Nearly 24 hours after the Adirondack Phantoms snapped Hershey’s overall six game winning streak, the Bears extended their home win streak to nine games in a 3-1 win over the Admirals.

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Philipp Grubauer, Bears Stymie Penguins 2-0

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HERSHEY, PA – Michael Latta and Dustin Gazley watch Jeff Taffe’s goal in the second period of Hershey’s 2-0 win (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

If you were to compare the weekend schedules of the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, it’s easy to predict the Bears might have had an edge entering Sunday.

The Chocolate and White kicked off the weekend with a home-and-home series beginning in Syracuse on Friday. Back-to-back wins over the Crunch including a Saturday 3-2 win at Giant Center built towards the hype of Sunday’s contest against Wilkes-Barre.

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Michael Latta Shines, Bears Sweep Home-and-Home Against Syracuse

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HERSHEY, PA – Michael Latta celebrates his first goal of the night with Matt Watkins in Hershey’s 3-2 win (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

We can all appreciate a sports season that is evenly split between two calendar years. It provides every team with a chance to start fresh and turn the page if it’s felt necessary.

In 2013, the Hershey Bears struggled to stay above the .500 mark in the AHL standings, had a power play unit ranked near the league’s worst and floated near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

But into the final Saturday of 2014’s opening month, the Bears suddenly hit a power surge bringing them to 20 wins at the 40 game mark. A sudden six game Giant Center win streak and a climb in the special teams rankings has helped Hershey to their recent success. Entering Saturday’s contest against Syracuse, the Chocolate and White had the best point percentage (.750%) in their previous ten games compared to all other Eastern Conference teams.

An impressive angle on Friday’s win in New York was winning by a three goal margin despite going 0-for-5 on the improving power play unit. In the next night’s rematch, the power play was blanked once more, but Michael Latta’s two goals lifted Hershey to a thrilling 3-2 win.

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Bears Capture Sixth Straight GC Win in Third Period Comeback

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HERSHEY, PA – Casey Wellman celebrates with his teammates after his shootout goal in the Bears’ 4-3 win over Albany (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

The Hershey Bears battled the Albany Devils for the second time in as many weeks Sunday night. The Bears entered riding a 5-2-1-0 record in 2014. A win would up-lift Hershey into the eighth seed of the Eastern Conference standings.

The Chocolate and White also entered with a five game winning streak on Giant Center ice.

A two-goal, third period comeback lifted the Bears for the second time this season over Albany by a 4-3 shootout final.

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A Boardwalk Beat Down: Bears Throttle Devils, 4-1

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Riley Gill at a Bears practice earlier in the season (Photo by: Kyle Mace)

The historic Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall hosted the first meeting of the 2013-14 season between the Albany Devils and Hershey Bears. Brandon Segal continued to dismantle opponents on the scoring sheet, Michael Latta channeled his inner Joel Rechlicz and Riley Gill earned his first AHL win during a 4-1 Bears win.

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Hershey Bears Stun Skilled Falcons, 5-3

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HERSHEY, PA – Ryan Stoa celebrates his first period goal with teammates during Hershey’s 5-3 win (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

The Hershey Bears debuted on Giant Center ice for the only time this weekend with a Saturday night match against the Springfield Falcons. Bears Play-by-Play voice Scott Stuccio tweeted hours before puck drop, “Bears undoubtedly will be ready to go for this one. Springfield (25-6-1-3) is the AHL’s top team (.771 points %).”

Hershey dropped a 4-2 tilt in Binghamton, NY the night before. However, Stuccio also tweeted Saturday afternoon that the Senators appeared to have too many men on the ice during their second period, game-winning goal.

Just as Stuccio warned, the Bears were ready to play and grinned out a 5-3 win over the top team in the American Hockey League.

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