At the end of the Hershey Bears practice on Friday, two of the last three Washington Capitals first-round picks were on the ice working on one-timers together. Lucas Johansen was feeding Jakub Vrana pucks for Vrana to slapshot into an open net, a sight Washington Capitals fans hope to see for years to come.
Zach Sill throws a ball to first base as Riley Barber and Travis Boyd look on. (All Photos: Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
Sometimes it’s nice to get away from the rink and have some fun at another stadium. That’s what the Hershey Bears did on Thursday afternoon as they joined the Harrisburg Senators on City Island to try their hand at some batting practice.
After a well deserved second day off on Tuesday, the Hershey Bears were back on the ice Wednesday morning at historic Hersheypark Arena. Two notable faces joined the Chocolate and White as they prepared for their second round series against Providence starting on Saturday.
Photo: Christian Thomas/@cpt27 on Twitter
It all started with a Twitter poll. Bears captain Garrett Mitchell posted on his Twitter account a question for Bears fans: should Ryan Bourque dye his hair blond once again for the Calder Cup playoffs.
The votes were overwhelming and 83% of the 500 people who got to vote in the very short time the poll was live voted “Effin rights.”
“The other night the topic came up in a Twitter poll against my discretion,” said Ryan, “but sometimes you have to give the people what they want. The poll spoke for itself.”
The Washington Capitals have recalled center Chandler Stephenson. The 22-year-old has played four games for Washington this year, and 72 for the Chocolate and White. Washington plays Friday night in game five of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
You couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the season. Winning five straight games, including an overtime winner against their eventual playoff opponent, set the Bears up for a first round match-up against Lehigh Valley.
That final stretch had the Bears in a great mood at practice on Tuesday. A drill that ended with defenseman Colby Williams scoring had some of his teammates mob him in celebration, while other teammates on another squad skated away in disgust. While all in good fun, the Bears are ready to celebrate together fifteen times on the path to a Calder Cup Championship.
Hershey head coach Troy Mann has repeatedly said he believes that 95 points will earn you a spot in the AHL playoffs. This year, Hershey got that 95, but the Bears win over Providence Saturday night pushed them past the Bruins in the standings with 97 points to head into the playoffs as the third seed in the Atlantic Division.
For a team that had a rocky road to playoffs after a tough January, the Bears fought back after many had written them off. “I think throughout every season you have your ups and downs,” said Chris Bourque. “January was definitely a month that we would like to forget about, but I think that made us stronger, made us want the playoffs more.”
Since the 2006-07 season, the Hershey Bears have been untouchable in the race for the AHL attendance record each season. The 2016-17 season was no different. With 353,759 fans visiting Giant Center over 38 games, an average of 9,309 fans a game gave Hershey their 11th attendance title in as many seasons.
Photo: @TheHersheyBears
When watching the video of Bears captain Garrett Mitchell being told he was getting his first NHL call-up, you could feel the emotion coming through whatever screen you were looking at, even though there might not have been much excitement on Mitchell’s face. “When I look at the video, even my wife goes ‘You don’t look that excited,'” said Mitchell. “Honestly, I could have started crying right there. I couldn’t have been more excited.
“I didn’t know it was coming. Once [Troy Mann] said Chandler [Stephenson’s] name, I was kind of like ‘Oh man.’ I was very happy for Chandler, but that’s always something you hope might be you. But then he goes ‘He’s been waiting for six years…’
If you were writing a movie about Garrett Mitchell’s journey to the NHL, this would be the closing shot.
After Mitchell’s call up to the NHL Sunday, he got the rookie treatment by having to skate a lap alone in warm-ups and had to start the game by being forced by Nicklas Backstrom to take the opening faceoff. But after the game might be the most appropriate part of the entire night.