“Pittsburgh Hangover” Crunch beat Bears 4-2


The Crunch celebrate a goal against Dany Sabourin. Photo by Kyle M.

Fresh off their statement win against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Pittsburgh, the Bears traveled back to Hershey to take on a struggling Syracuse Crunch team.

It seemed like a lot of Syracuse’s goals and scoring chances came when there was a turnover by a Hershey defenseman. The Crunch did a good job of keeping the pressure up and making Hershey pay for mistakes like that. They got their first goal when John Mitchell beat out Johann Kroll and took the puck from him right in front of the goal. Trevor Smith was left alone and converted on a bounce from the back wall to give Syracuse another goal.

Kyle Greentree scored Hershey’s first goal of the night when Syracuse was already up 2-0. He had a nice shot on the power play to cut the lead in half. Unfortunately, Syracuse repaid the favor the next period by scoring on a power play of their own. Add on another Syracuse goal towards the end of second period and suddenly Hershey was down 4-1.

Dany Sabourin has an iffy record in front of the home crowd. It’s nights like this that it’s almost become expected of him when he starts in Hershey. After Syracuse scored their fourth goal, he was pulled. Braden Holtby was able to shut the door the rest of the way.

Keith Aucoin gave the Bears a bigger chance at a comeback when he scored in the third period. His deflection of a Sean Collins shot was able to elude the Syracause goaltender. Sadly, it wouldn’t be enough to power the comeback. Mark French even opted to play with four forwards and one defenseman in the final few minutes of the game, hoping for some last minute offensive magic.

Overall, the Bears threw 47 shots at Timo Pielmeier. Read that again: 47 shots. And only two went in. It should come as no surprise when I tell you that Pielmeier was awarded the number one star of the game.

Call it a hot goalie, call it fatigue, whatever you’d like but the four-game winning streak had to end there. The Bears wrap up 2010 with a loss. The start of the new year means it is time a strong second half to push Hershey to playoffs and help defend the championship. Happy New Year!

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Bears Finally Defeat Penguins with 1-0 Shutout Win

The Bears were looking for their first win against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and boy, did they get a big one.

When this game started, I’m sure everyone involved was anticipating an exciting, action-packed game. After all, the game was being played at Consol Energy Center, where the Pittsburgh Penguins normally play.They sort of got that. I’ll be honest, I thought the first two periods were kind of boring. There were a couple big hits made and both goalies made some stellar saves. But, overall, it didn’t have all the goals and excitement that people expected to see from these rivals.

The first truly exciting moment came when the Bears were on the power play at the very end of the second period. The puck was shot towards the net and it was deflected past Brad Thiessen. The goal was awarded to Keith Aucoin (who was playing his first game since being sent down from Washington), but it looked like a Penguin may have deflected into his own goal.

The third period was when things started heating up. The Bears had to protect a one-goal lead and the Penguins were running on all cylinders and making some amazing offensive plays. There were many close calls in the third period that had all the Hershey fans holding their breath. The Penguins, desperate to not get shut out on such a large stage, were dangerous. But Hershey stepped up to the challenge, even managing to kill of a few poorly timed penalties.

Braden Holtby was the number one star of the game, stopping all 25 shots that he saw. He was able to make clutch saves and shut out the hated rivals in front of the 13,567 fans inside the Consol Energy Center.The Bears set a nice standard for the Capitals to follow when they step out onto Heinz Field on January 1st. Go get ’em.

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Hershey Shames Binghamton in 6-1 Victory


Joel Rechlicz is all smiles after fighting three Bingo Senators in one night. Photo by Kyle M.

Wow…what is there to say about this game?

Before the game, the Washington Capitals called up Keith Aucoin in time to play against the Montreal Canadiens. I admit that I was one of the ones worried about how Hershey would play tonight against the Binghamton Senators. Top line? We don’t need no stinkin’ top line! Hershey put together one of the best offensive efforts we’ve seen all season. Now if I were to actually go into detail about every Hershey goal, this recap would be five miles long.

Basically, Sean Collins started the game off on the right foot with his first goal of the season. Kyle Greentree then scored twice. Dmitri Kugryshev scored a goal and then had a sweet assist on Nikita Kashirsky’s goal (his first goal as a Bear). Zach Miskovic made sure the Senators didn’t escape the second period and scored with 13 seconds left in the period. Six goals, five different goal scorers, eleven different players with points. Good times had by all.

Oh yeah, and the Senators did manage to score once. Dany Sabourin was a bit out of position and they scored just seconds into a power play while Andrew Joudrey was in the box for interference.

The real story of the night? “The Wrecker,” Joel Rechlicz. I’m not sure how many minutes he played exactly (not many), but everyone will remember him tonight. He got a hat trick alright, a hat trick of fights.

Round 1: vs Francis Lessard. You may remember their last bout as the fight that gave Rechlicz the double black eyes. Lessard seemed hesitant to start throwing the punches and kept skating away when Rechlicz would close in on him. Rechlicz had a huge finish with a lot of rights straight to Lessard’s face. Decision: Rechlicz

Round 2: vs Cody Bass. I’m not completely sure this was a wise decision for Bass, who is much smaller than Rechlicz. He picked the fight though and when you ask, you shall receive the fists of fury. Decision: Rechlicz.

Round 3: vs Tim Spencer. This might have been the closest fight of the night. Another marathon fight with two strong guys. But another big finish pushed Rechlicz to the end. Decision: You guessed it, Rechlicz.

Rechlicz received a game misconduct (automatic after three majors). Lessard wanted a rematch and had to settle for fighting Patrick Wellar. However, that was over quickly and Wellar didn’t even have time to actually drop his gloves.

To sum up: Hershey blows Binghamton out of the water with a 6-1 win. The Bears are now 4-1 against the Senators and have outscored them 27 to 9. And Rechlicz now has three enemies on the Senators team. Good night.

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Hershey Takes Down Offensive-Powered Norfolk, 3-1


Steve Pinizzotto’s empty net goal is icing on the cake in the Bears victory over the Admirals. Photo by Kyle Mace

There’s nothing like a good power play goal to get the game rolling. Hershey did just that when the Norfolk Admirals were whistled for a tripping call. Zach Miskovic was able to tip Patrick McNeill‘s shot past Dustin Tokarski on the power play to give Hershey the first lead of the night. The score stayed the same until the second period when Norfolk’s Chris Durno tied it up.

During the second period, Ashton Rome was jumped by Norfolk’s Vladimir Mihalik. At 6 foot 8, Mihalik has the clear size advantage. They were shoving back and forth beforehand but it wasn’t until Rome had his back turned that Mihalik attacked. Rome wrestled back and they both fell to ice. The crowd expressed its disapproval as both were assessed two minute roughing penalties.

While skating 4-on-4, Brian Willsie got tangled up with an Admiral player. The call could have gone either way, but it’s definitely hard to agree with two minors (tripping and roughing) against Willsie for the play. The Bears then had to play four minutes down a man. However, they rose to the occasion and did a great job keeping Norfolk back. And it remained all tied up after two periods.

And that’s how two high-scoring teams ended up starting the third period with a score of 1-1. Keith Aucoin brought the game back under Hershey’s control with a completely innocent shot. He was at the back wall and lightly tapped the puck to be back in front of the net. It some how caromed off of Tokarski himself and found its way into the net.

Steve Pinizzotto topped it off with an empty net goal and Hershey beat the Norfolk Admirals 3-1. It’s a big two points against a very strong team. It’s a game like this that gives a team a lot of confidence.

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Bears Pummel Checkers With 6-3 Win

Bears pummel Checkers with 6-3 win

This evening the Hershey Bears took on the Charlotte Checkers. If you weren’t at this game or listening to it…you missed out. Oh boy.

The first period seemed innocent enough. Brian Willsie opened scoring on the power play. Kyle Greentree, returning from injury, got the primary assist. A minute later, Greentree himself would pot a goal, his 11th overall, during a 4-on-4. Tim Leone and John Walton have dubbed him the “Checker Killer.” Incredibly fitting as that goal was his 5th goal in 4 games against the Checkers. Charlotte seemed to gather some momentum in the second period. They scored 95 seconds into the period to cut Hershey’s lead in half.

But it was Brian Fahey‘s goal in the middle of period that changed the game. Checkers goaltender Justin Pogge immediately argued the goal, though we’re not sure why exactly. He stormed out of the crease, shoving Trevor Bruess to the ice before arguing with the refs. He was immediately given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty…but he kept arguing. He stormed around the ice, yelling at the ref and pushing the goal over. Talk about a temper tantrum. After getting a misconduct and game misconduct for abuse of officials, he left the ice but not before breaking his stick into two pieces. Kyle has some great photos of the entire sequence below. Be sure to check them out.

With Mike Murphy in net, the Checkers had to regroup. In the final few moments of the second period, Keith Aucoin scored his 200th AHL career goal. This milestone was delayed a little bit due to his knee injury but better late than never. Big congratulations to Coiner! He also scored his 201st goal during the third period on a rebound shot.

Despite getting another two goals in the third period, the Checkers could not overcome Hershey’s lead. Boyd Kane eventually ended the game with a goal in the last minute. The Bears go into the holiday break with a 6-3 victory. Rest up, boys. Happy Holidays!

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Bears continue losing skid after 2-1 loss to P-Bruins


The Providence Bruins celebrate Kirk MacDonald’s goal. Photo by Kyle M.

As far as I’m concerned, tonight’s game against the Providence Bruins lasted twenty minutes.

The first two periods yielded zero goals. Despite power plays for both sides and a number of decent scoring chances, the score was still zero-zero after forty minutes. The goal post seemed to be the third goaltender on the ice tonight.

We did get a fight though! Joel Rechlicz took on Sean Zimmerman. It was Rechlicz’s second fight of season (the first gave him the terrifying double black eyes). There were some pretty good punches thrown and I’d give the win to Rechlicz, although Zimmerman got the take down.

The teams made up for the lack of scoring by getting three goals in about five minutes during the final period. The Bruins scored first on a shot that may have deflected off a Bear before flying past Braden Holtby. Quickly after, the Bruins got an insurance goal during a delayed penalty call against Hershey.

The only scoring highlight for Hershey came when Andrew Joudrey tipped a Zach Miskovic shot to beat Nolan Schaefer. Schaefer, for the record, was phenomenal tonight. He is a big reason for the 2-1 win for Providence

So the Bears have started a losing streak just like their big brothers, the Caps. Hopefully they’ll break out of it tomorrow against the Charlotte Checkers (yes, them again).

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Breakaway goals help Phantoms defeat Bears 3-1

Tonight was a big night for the Bears. In the midst of injuries and call-ups, Keith Aucoin returned after missing 16 games due to a knee injury. Additionally, Patrick McNeill made his season debut after having shoulder surgery during the offseason. They were facing the struggling Adirondack Phantoms, who were looking for only their fifth win of the season.

The game started off on the right foot with a power play goal by Brian Willsie. Aucoin got the primary assist and looked to be back in his element.

During the first period, Sheldon Souray chased after a puck with Matt Clackson and fell funny on his leg. He had to be helped off the ice and never returned to the game. Ironically, the last injury Souray had also involved Clackson after he injured his hand in the now infamous fight.

It was during the second period that the wheels started to fall off. After losing Souray in the first period, Dylan Yeo then made the fateful trip down the tunnel. He too never returned to the game.

After getting called for one penalty too many, the Phantoms scored their first goal of the night on the power play. Exactly one and a half minutes later, Phantom Shane Harper capitalized on a blue line turnover and scored his first ever AHL goal on a breakaway. I hate to admit it but it was a really nice goal.

Despite a handful of power plays in the third period, the Bears could not find the back of the net. Adirondack’s Denis Hamel scored his second goal of the night on a breakaway after Dany Sabourin was, once again, left out to dry. It’s worth noting that Hamel’s goal was his 300th career goal, which is pretty impressive. Phantoms take this one 3-1.

And so Hershey finishes their four-game road trip with two wins and two losses. They return home tomorrow to play the Providence Bruins at Giant Center.

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Depleted Hershey line-up loses 5-3 to Charlotte


Patrick Wellar pushes Jacob Micflikier to the ice. Photo by Checkers SmugMug.

After Friday’s game against the Charlotte Checkers, we were happy for the win but still hoping to see some players return to bolster the line-up. Instead, we lost Phil Oreskovic and, more importantly, leading scorer Andrew Gordon. Oreskovic didn’t play after getting injured in the last game. Gordon was called up to Washington before the game and joined the Capitals in New York for their game aginst the Rangers tonight. Returning from his one game suspension, Steve Pinizzotto took over Gordon’s spot on the top line.

The Charlotte Checkers put the Bears in an early hole today. Three quick goals within the first nine minutes made it 3-0 in favor of the Checkers before you could blink. The only shining moment of the first period was Jay Beagle‘s short-handed goal that finally put Hershey on the board. That goal was Beagle’s fourth short-handed goal of the season. I can’t talk about this enough. He now has more short-handed goals than even strength goals.

During the second period, the Bears were able to cut Charlotte’s lead down to one on the power play. Sheldon Souray scored his first ever goal as a Bear on a blistering one-timer. I’m sure you’d expect nothing less from Souray.

Mark French decided to stick with Braden Holtby in goal. After letting in three goals on six shots, Holtby was able to steady himself and shut the door for…almost the rest of the game. It started to really go downhill when the Checkers scored on a 5-on-3 during the third period. They got another goal when Holtby decided to play with the puck outside of his crease with a lot of traffic around him. One of the reasons we love Holtby is his aggressive style and his puck handling. But today he was making a lot of questionable decisions outside of his crease and eventually it caught up with him. He went to play the puck and turned it over to the Checkers who scored on the practically empty net.

That was pretty much the dagger for the Bears. The game did end on a high note though as Lawrence Nycholat scored his fourth goal of season in the final minutes of the game. But Hershey seemed to accept their 5-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers. Hey, Keith Aucoin, how is your knee feeling?

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Injured Bears stay strong to defeat Checkers 2-1 (SO)


Captains Bryan Rodney and Andrew Joudrey take a ceremonial face-off before the game. Photo by Checkers SmugMug

The team dressed to play against the Charlotte Checkers tonight only sort of resembled the Hershey Bears. Missing big players because of injuries, suspension, a call-up, we watching the bare bones of the Bears. More on that later.

Charlotte made an interesting choice off the bat by choosing Justin Pogge to start instead of Mike Murphy. Murphy, this season, has all but had Hershey’s number. The only game Hershey had won against the Checkers was the game Pogge started and then subsequently was pulled during. The first period had the appearance of history repeating itself. At first, Pogge was shaky, juggling the puck and giving up big rebounds. On Hershey’s first shot of the game, Andrew Gordon potted his 16th goal of the season, breaking his brief scoring “slump.”

Despite Hershey leading the shots 17 to 5 at the end of the first period, it was a tie game. The Charlotte goal came after Braden Holtby made a great poke check save. Unfortunately, Jerome Samson was there to cash in on the rebound while Holtby was sprawled on the ice.

Even with the Checkers stepping their game up in the waning minutes, the second and third periods saw no scoring change. This was only the third time that the Bears had gone to overtime and only the second time they’d gone to the shootout.

Pogge deserves all the credit he can get for tonight’s game. Hershey threw 49 shots at him and he stopped all but one. Holtby got the win tonight though, stopping all four shots he saw in the shootout. After Holtby stoned Chris Terry in the shootout and clinched the victory, he skated furiously out of his crease and proceeded to celebrate as if he scored a goal. Kinda like this. Should we count this as another Holtbyism? Sure, why not!

In an interesting twist by that genius, Mark French, Lawrence Nycholat scored the game-winning goal. Yes, you read that correctly. Brian Willsie also scored in the shootout to help secure the 2-1 win. I don’t think people were expecting the broken down Bears to put up almost 50 shots in one game. If they keep up this kind of effort, the team is bound to start seeing more success, especially with a healthy line-up.

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Bears hold back Devils’ comeback to win 3-2


Jay Beagle takes a faceoff against Tim Sestito. Photo by the Albany Devils.

As the players have often noted, it’s important to start a game strong. That’s just what the Bears did against the Albany Devils. Despite only leading by one goal after twenty minutes, Hershey was in control. The first period was characterized by a offensive effort that left Dany Sabourin mostly twiddling his thumbs on the other side of the ice. It was just the icing on the cake that Andrew Joudrey scored his fourth goal of the season on a rebound shot.

The Bears started the second period down a man. Patrick Wellar was in the box for holding but that didn’t stop Hershey. Jay Beagle led the effort to score a breakaway short-handed goal just thirty seconds into the second period. That’s Beagle’s sixth goal of the season and his third short-handed goal. Clutch. But wait! We’re not through! Steve Pinizzotto decides to try that play himself and scores a second short-handed breakaway goal only 25 seconds after Beagle. 3-0 Bears.

It looked like Hershey had this game in the bag. The Devils sit at the bottom of the league in power play goals. Even allowing two short-handed goals, you wouldn’t think it tonight. Hershey allowed the Devils to score two power play goals, putting them in prime position for a comeback. And that’s how the Bears found themselves needing to shut down the Devils for the third period.

Thankfully, the Bears clung to their lead and Pinizzotto was rewarded with the game-winning goal. He now has the game winner for both games against Albany. Bears win 3-2 and remain undefeated against Albany this season.

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