Frederic Cassivi Out of Retirement, Signs with Reading Royals

At 41-years-old, former Hershey Bear and AHL Hall of Famer Frederic Cassivi has come out of retirement to sign with the Reading Royals. Cassivi signs as an emergency back-up goaltender as the Royals are without Mark Dekanich, who played one game for the Chocolate and White last year and signed with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this offseason.

Cassivi was the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player and spent six seasons with the Bears (1999-2002, 2005-2008) before finishing his career with two seasons in Germany and Austria. In 2015, Cassivi was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame. Currently, the Sorel, Quebec native is a guest radio color commentator on Hershey Bears home games.

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Chris Bourque Selected as 2017 AHL All-Star Classic Captain

On Monday morning, American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced he had selected Bears forward Chris Bourque to represent the Eastern Conference as their captain in the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic.

The selection marks Bourque’s fifth all-star game appearance and his fourth with Hershey. The 30-year-old currently leads all active AHL players with 604 points in 610 games and is two points away from 500 as a Hershey Bear. Last season, Bourque was named AHL MVP after winning the AHL scoring title for the second time in his career.

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Promotion to the Second Line Brings Newfound Confidence to Liam O’Brien’s Game

Since his assignment to Hershey in December 2014, Liam O’Brien has become a fan favorite. The Halifax, NS native won over Bears fans with his grit and hard-nosed style of play. But a recent promotion to the second line has O’Brien only two points away from matching his season total from last year. Heading into Christmas Break, O’Brien is riding a four-game point streak, which was extended with a beautiful assist to Paul Carey on Sunday night.

“This is basically our third year with Liam, and his skill set has certainly improved,” head coach Troy Mann said. “One thing I brought up during my interview process three years ago was to involve more skill development with our team prior to practice. We’ve been doing it here for the third season. Liam as a prospect, young player, has been a big part of that, and a lot of the credit goes to Ryan Murphy. One of his strengths as a coach is his ability to break down the skillset. He does a nice job with the forwards.”

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The Helmer’s Give Back to Local School

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Hershey Bears VP of Hockey Operations Bryan Helmer heads back to school every December along with his wife Pam. Pam is the co-author of a children’s book which uses hockey to teach valuable virtues to the young reader. “Hero’s Ho Ho Ho Hockey Dream” is a great holiday story with lots of fun and adventure. Bryan and Pam make a few school visits every December to be ambassadors for the game of hockey and teach the importance of learning to children across the local area.

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Former Bear Erik Burgdoerfer Gets First NHL Call-Up to Buffalo

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On Monday morning, the Buffalo Sabres announced they had recalled former Hershey Bear Erik Burgdoerfer. Burgdoerfer played 132 games for the Bears over two seasons before signing his first NHL contract with Buffalo this off-season.

After playing five of seven preseason games for the Sabres, the 27-year-old defenseman was assigned to Rochester to start the season. Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma said he was “stunned Burgdoerfer played as long in the ECHL as he did,” according to Joe Yerdon. “Said he’s a good player people fell asleep on.”

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Zach Sanford Scores First AHL Goal

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Zach Sanford spent 19 games in the NHL with the Capitals to start the season but was still missing that first professional goal. He finally got it Sunday night with the Hershey Bears. On a feed from behind the goal line, Nathan Walker sent the puck to the tape of Sanford’s stick, who was able to put the puck past Kristers Gudlevskis of the Syracuse Crunch, giving him that first pro goal.

“It was a good feeling,” Sanford said after the game. “Walker had been working hard all night. One finally popped out to me and I was finally able to put it in the back of the net.”

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Jakub Vrana Recalled by Washington Capitals

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Forward Jakub Vrana has been recalled by the Washington Capitals – his first NHL call-up.

In 18 games for Hershey this season, Vrana has 16 points with nine goals. Vrana, 20, is in his third season with the Bears, playing 57 games for the Chocolate and White, including 31 playoff games.

Vrana was drafted by the Capitals in the first round in 2014, 13th overall. The Czech Republic native came to Hershey in 2015, scoring his first pro goal on May 2, 2015.

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