Hersheypark Arena fire. Photo by Sean Simmers of the Patriot News.
Yes, I know this is a day late. Yes, I know that there wasn’t one last week either. There was plenty of material, but it was a holiday. 😛 Because of all of that here is an extra jam packed version of Chocolate Fix.
Picture by Kyle Mace.
Another week in the books for the off-season and the trickle of Bears related news still goes on.
Mid-week last week we found out that Jacob Micflikier will no longer be a Bear. Fortunately, we will not see him in an opposing sweater either. [PennLive]
PA Lawmakers may decide fate of the soon to be Allentown Phantoms with the state’s budget. I wouldn’t want to be them right now. [Yahoo]
Former Bear (and a personal favorite of my daughter) Kyle Wilson adding depth to the Lightning. [BoltsByTheBay]
Good-bye Cody Eakin. [LDN, PennLive, AHL]
The NHL draft is complete. Who could we be seeing in the chocolate and white in the future? Check out RMNB’s draft coverage. [Filip Forsburg, Thomas Wilson, and all of the day 2 draftees]
Public sale date announced for the Outdoor Classic. [Bears]
Next week brings free agency. Anyone care to make any guesses about what might happen starting July 1?
Season ticket holders standing in line for ticket to the Outdoor Classic. Photo from the Hershey Bears facebook page.
Hello Bears fans. It’s another week gone by in the off-season with just a few items of note. Tickets went on sale for the Outdoor Classic for season ticket holders. There were early lines at the Giant Center box office. A glitch with Ticketmaster gave fans looking to purchase tickets online problems for about half an hour after they went on sale. Here are the links to those stories and more.
Bears alumni to play outdoors. [Bears, PennLive, LDN]
Former Bear Freddy Cassivi has been one of the organizers for the alumni. He shared his thoughts on the event with Tim Leone. [PennLive]
Season ticket holder Joe Colaniro doesn’t like the outdoor logo. What do you think of it? [LDN]
A look at the first day of limited ticket availability sales and the cost of the tickets. [PennLive]
Yesterday the Bears announced their 6 guaranteed home game dates for 2012-13. [Bears]
Scott Stuccio continues with his Top 10 countdown with #6 featuring Braden Holtby. [Bears]
Leone also wrote that the Capitals have announced dates for their Development Camp and issued qualifying offers to resericted free agents Mike Carman and Kevin Marshall. [PennLive]
Boyd Kane photo by Kyle Mace
Greetings Bears fans! There are a couple items to note over the past week. First I’d like to congratulate the Norfolk Admirals on their first Calder Cup win. They put together a great team this year and gave our Bears trouble all season. Next congratulations are due to the LA Kings for winning the Stanley Cup. Also a franchise first for them. Both teams had good seasons and great playoff runs and deserve to hoist their respective awards. Now on to the Bears news…
Captain Boyd Kane will be back for another season in the chocolate and white. [PennLive, LDN, Bears]
The team unveiled the game logo to be used for the outdoor game. [Bears]
Scott Stuccio is also still counting down the top 10 moments from the season. [8, 7]
Former Bear Steve Martinson was hired as the Coach/GM of the Allen Americans in the Central Hockey League. [Star]
Martinson is probably best known for setting an AHL record in the 1985-86 season with 49 major penalties. He also totaled 432 minutes in the sin bin that year.
Goodbye Chris Bourque. Photo by Kyle Mace.
Just a couple quick notes for Chocolate Fix this week.
Chris Bourque was traded by the Caps to Boston in exchange for C Zach Hamill. [Bears]
Dany Sabourin signs a one year extension. [Bears]
Last week Scott Stuccio started a Top Ten Moments from 2011-12. There will be a new one each week. [10, 9]
One of the highlights of the season. Photo by Kyle Mace.
Well, folks, it was an early exit from the playoffs this season. Something we aren’t used to seeing too often. With the end of the Bears season and the Capitals still playing, many players will still be eligible to be called up if needed by the Caps. Kyle put together a list of those players.
Tim Leone also had a list of the players contract status for next year. [PennLive]
On a positive note, John Walton got a nice write up on his rookie season with the Caps. [WashPost]
Former Bears making an impact for the parent club. [PennLive]
And that’s about all the news that I have. Over the off season I will try to get Chocolate Fix out weekly, but if there isn’t much news it might not be every week. Are there sites that cover the Bears that you know of and want to see linked here? Let me know in the comments below and I will add them to my list.
Photo by Kyle Mace.
Sorry that I missed last week. There was a lot going on and I couldn’t get to this, but fear not. Chocolate Fix is back this week in time for the first home playoff game. Things are looking a little grim for the chocolate and white after they dropped game 1 and game 2 to the baby Pens. The Bears were outscored in those games by a combined score of 10-3. Not good at all. Game 3 is tonight at Giant Center. Because the first round this year is a best of 5 series, the Bears can not lose to the Pens again. Come out to cheer them on tonight.
In what make winning a little more difficult, the baby Pens got three players back after their parent club was eliminated from the NHL playoffs. [CitizensVoice]
And Patrick Wellar will miss tonight’s game due to suspension. [AHL]
The Old Barn Hockey Show of course has their opinion on the current state of the Bears as well as NHL playoffs. [OBHS]
Time Leone has the latest update from practice on Tuesday. [PennLive]
There are a couple promotions for tonight. The first 1500 fans get a Reese’s t-shirt and the first 3000 get a fan clapper. The boys need your support, so come out and cheer loud.
Let’s at least end this post on the positive note. Former Bears bench boss Bob Hartley adds another championship to his resume. [NHL]
How about a nice picture of Coco since I didn’t have many other bright spots to feature. Photo by Kyle Mace.
The Bears didn’t close out the last of their home games on an up beat, but in a couple weeks it will be a brand new season… playoff season. It started with a loss on Friday night versus the baby Pens on their home ice. Saturday night at home ended with another loss. They were able to salvage one point in a shootout. Sunday night was Team Awards Night. That was really the only bright spot of the weekend as Sunday ended with yet another loss. The playoffs are right around the corner and this is not the time to go on a losing streak. The Bears need healthy players now, or this may be a short post season.
Ryan Potulny picture from our Instagram.
Another eventful week in the books for us. Last Wednesday night we had our first ever viewing party. We had quite a few people come out to Fire Alley to watch the game and help us raise some money. It also helped that the Bears won against Binghamton extending the winning streak to seven. Sadly, that streak came to an end on Saturday against St. Johns. Fortunately the Bears got a little help from other losses that night and clinched a playoff spot. Thanks in part to an effort from Ryan Potulny that earned him AHL Player of the week honors, the Bears came back from a deficit on Sunday against Binghamton. That effort proved to fall just a little short when the Bears lost in 13 rounds of shootout. Before you move on to the rest of the links from around the web, check out the pictures from autograph night taken by Kyle.
Photo from pennlive.com/Anthony Fiore
Welcome to Chocolate Fix on the day of our viewing party. Please join us and other Bears fans tonight at Fire Alley in Hershey to see the boys take on the Binghamton Senators. Everything gets underway at 6:30, so get there to claim your spot near one of the many TVs. Because of the party, our twitter coverage of the game will be a little lighter than normal. The game recap will probably also be delayed, but don’t worry we will have it covered. Your best bet is to come join us!
There was a lot happening this past week. Last Wednesday night the Bears hosted the St. John’s IceCaps for the first time ever. Hershey greeted them properly and came away with a win. Next up was a weekend doubleheader against the Charlotte Checkers. Before the game on Saturday came the biggest news of the season. AHL President Dave Andrews joined Bears GM Doug Yingst to announce that Hershey will be hosting an outdoor game next year to celebrate Hershey’s 75th anniversary! After that the Bears went on to beat the Checkers. On Sunday they extended their winning streak to six games with another win over Charlotte.
And now a look at Bears news from elsewhere…