HERSHEY, PA – Dustin Gazley points at Dane Byers after Byers’ second goal of Hershey’s 5-2 win over Lehigh Valley (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
After a big win over Albany Saturday night, the Hershey Bears looked to extend their lead on their new first place lead in the East Division. Another five goal night did that for the Bears, giving them a 5-2 win over Lehigh Valley, and a three point lead at top of the East Division.
HERSHEY, PA – Opening faceoff of Saturday night’s match up between Hershey and Albany Saturday night. (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
One of the struggles the Hershey Bears have had this year is finding the back of the net. When the Bears score, they only score an average of two to three goals a game. When Hershey is able to put four goals on the board, they normally don’t have an issue with winning the game. But in the wonderful world of hockey, that’s not always the case.
HERSHEY, PA – Pheonix Copley goes to hugs Chris Brown after making his final save in the shootout against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday night (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
After Philipp Grubauer was injured in the Bears last game on New Year’s Eve, back-up goalie Pheonix Copley was set up to start against the Penguins where he hoped to get his second win against Hershey’s archrival. Sitting six points back behind the Baby Pens, the Bears hoped to get a quality start out of the young goalie and gain some ground on the first place team.
HERSHEY, PA – Casey Wellman celebrates his ninth goal of the season during Hershey’s 2-1 win over the Admirals (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
Coming into a weird two game Tuesday-Wednesday back to back series of games for the Hershey Bears actually became a big two game set for the Chocolate and White. Coming into game one of two, Hershey was only four points behind first place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with two games in hand. The Bears played one of those two games tonight, looking to gain some ground on the Baby Pens before facing off against them on New Year’s Eve.
HERSHEY, PA – Connor Carrick and Stan Galiev celebrate Galiev’s goal as Brandon Manning leaves the penalty box in the third period of Hershey’s 4-2 win over Lehigh Valley (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
After coming off of a tough stretch of losing three straight games, the Hershey Bears faced off against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms exactly one week after being shutout by Anthony Stolarz in a 2-0 loss. Stolarz would get the nod again against the Chocolate and White, but this game would end a bit differently for the two teams.
HERSHEY, PA – Philipp Grubauer is beat by T.J. Tynan in OT in Springfield’s win over Hershey on Saturday night (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
The only thing missing from Saturday night’s Hershey Bears experience, was one more Bears goal. The evening began with the induction of five new members of the Hershey Bears Hall of Fame, MC’d by NHL legendary broadcaster Mike “Doc” Emrick. The new inductees includes three players, Nick Damore, Gil Gilbert and Dunc Fisher. Longtime Hershey executive Arthur Whiteman and PR Director Brent Hancock were also inducted.
HERSHEY, PA – Philippe Cornet celebrates his first period goal during the Bears win over Binghamton Saturday night (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
Seven goals, six (give or take two) fights, and 114 penalty minutes. This game was the first of eight matches between the Hershey Bears and Binghamton Senators in the 2014-15 season, and boy was it a fun one. Hershey would take the two points, but not without a lot of action in the game. Chris Brown and Philippe Cornet would give Hershey an early 2-0 lead only seven minutes into the first period.
HERSHEY, PA – Hershey Bears forward Joel Broda laughs at Coco the Bear as the lay in a pile of teddy bears on Teddy Bear Toss Night (Kyle Mace – Chocolate Hockey)
An annual tradition at Giant Center is the teddy bear toss. Each year Bears fans bring teddy bears to Hershey to toss on the ice after the Bears first goal. This year the Bears looked to set a new AHL record by beating their own record of 12,890 plush toys from last season.
It took only 39 seconds for Steve Oleksy to score and let the stuffed animals fly. 17,295 went flying onto the ice at Giant Center for multiple regional organizations. Due to the fact so many Bears were thrown, the whole Hershey Bears team pitched in and helped clean up the furry friends, making for some great photos.
HERSHEY, PA – Stan Galiev smiles after scoring his fifth goal in four games during Hershey’s 6-3 win over Bridgeport (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
After struggling to find the back of the net last few weeks, the Bears have relied on only a few players for their scoring. One of those players was Stan Galiev, who came into the game scoring Hershey’s last three goals. He kicked off the scoring Friday night by putting Hershey first on the board early in the first period.
HERSHEY, PA – Stan Galiev celebrates his goal against Syracuse Saturday night. Galiev has had the last three goals for Hershey (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
After a huge win against archrivals Wilkes-Barre Wednesday night, the Hershey Bears looked to take that momentum into a two game weekend series. The Bears took on the Syracuse Crunch Saturday night, losing 4-1. They bounced back the next night against the St. John’s IceCaps and former Bears goalie Peter Budaj, with a 1-0 win.