Washington, D.C. – Bears center Michael Latta takes the opening face off of the 2014 AHL Showcase in Washington, D.C (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Sunday night, the Bears faced off against the Syracuse Crunch in the 2014 AHL Showcase. Despite the outcome not being what the Chocolate and White wanted, the game was still a site to see with Hershey sporting special Capitals jerseys. Below the jump, check out 25 photos from the game and warm-ups.
Saturday night Hershey Bears fans will get a chance to support an important cause, close to the heart of Tyson Strachan. The Bears defenseman and his girlfriend Kate Ankoviak, have formed “Strachan Strays,” to help raise awareness of the pet overpopulation and dog homelessness.
On a cold January day, three Hershey Bears walked into Hershey’s Chocolate World for an experience they will never forget. Chay Genoway, Nate Schmidt, and Patrick Wellar enjoyed a day of chocolate, chocolate, and hairnets. The three defensemen rode the world famous Great American Chocolate Tour Ride before creating their own Hershey’s chocolate bar. Luckily, there were cameras to capture the moments of hilarity.
Patrick Wellar would design Chay Genoway’s chocolate bar wrapper, Genoway designing Nate Schmidt’s wrapper, and Schmidt designing Wellar’s.
HERSHEY, PA – Joel Rechlicz looks towards the Norfolk Admirals bench after his fight Sunday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Joel Rechlicz is arguably the most popular Hershey Bear in recent memory. He might not be the top scoring player, but Recker contributes to the team by motivating the Chocolate and White on the ice and in the locker room. Rechlicz is also one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, signing autographs for each and every fan after games, interacting with all like he’s known them for years. This explains why fans go insane when he drops the mittens and has a go against one of Hershey’s opponents.
HERSHEY, PA – Ryan Potulny sports the Hershey Bears’ Groundhog’s Day jerseys Sunday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Every February 2nd in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, a groundhog named Phil pops out of a hole to determine the weather for the next six weeks. If it’s sunny, then Phil is “scared” back into his hole for 6 more weeks of winter. If it’s cloudy, an early arrival of spring will arrive upon our country. The tradition is as crazy as the jerseys that trainer Dan “Beaker” Stuck designed.
Michael Latta throws a punch at Chris Bruton (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Saturday night’s game between Hershey and Bridgeport was a very scrappy one for the two teams. Both Dane Byers and Michael Latta dropped the mitts late in the first period and both had pretty good bouts. Byers also laid a huge hit on Bridgeport’s Aaron Ness, sparking his scrap with Mike Halmo. Latta would have a go with Chris Bruton just a few moments after that. Below the jump, check out video of the fights from the two.
Just a few days ago, goaltender David Leggio posted a photo to his Twitter account of his new mask this season, but this mask is a special one. Most AHL goalies have two sides, the AHL team and the NHL team with stuff based around both teams on either side. But on this mask, the Capitals side has a special meaning to David.
If you think the past few days Central Pennsylvania have been cold, you clearly have never visited Patrick Wellar’s hometown. “I’m from Saskatchewan and up there’s it’s -50° Celsius. As cold as it is today, back home you have to put your car in, otherwise it won’t start,” said the Saskatoon native. For comparison, Hershey was -20° Celsius Tuesday. “Today’s cold, I’ll give it that. It’s amazing what you get used to growing up as a kid. There were no school days when it was that cold. Saskatchewan is a big Province, but it’s a lot of farm land. The wind chill gets you because there’s nothing to block the wind.”
The Hershey Bears annual Team Autograph Night has become one of the best nights of the season for many Bears fans. Sunday night, following the Bears victory over Manchester, hundreds of fans lined up to get autographs and pictures with their favorite Bears players. Not only did the fans get to go on the ice and get autographs, the experience gives them a chance to interact with the players as well.
We are five days into the new year, but we still have sometime to look back on 2013. Today, I took 26 of my favorite shots from the year and looked back on them. Above, probably my favorite photo from the year; Tom Wilson celebrating his first professional goal. The image captures Wilson’s excitement of getting the goal at a professional level for the first time, plus the excitement of the Bears faithful as Wilson scored the goal ahead goal in Game 4 of the first round series between Hershey and the Providence Bruins.
