Pesonen’s Late Strike Leads Albany Over Hershey


HERSHEY, PA – Harri Pesonen scores the game winning goal for Albany during their 3-2 win over Hershey (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

On December 29, 1973, the Hershey Bears set a franchise record with 63 shots in a single game en route to an 11-2 win. Thirty nine years later, it was quite the opposite story when the Bears took on the Albany Devils at Giant Center. Rather than an 11-2 blowout, Albany battled their way to a 3-2 win in Hershey.

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Braden Holtby Shuts Out Albany in 3-0 Win for Hershey

HERSHEY, PA – Zach Hamil (center) celebrates his goal with teammates Stan Galiev (left) and Ryan Stoa during Hershey’s 3-0 win over Albany (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

After dropping three straight games including their first two games at Giant Center, the Hershey Bears looked for redemption against the Albany Devils. With Braden Holtby back in between the pipes for the first time since game one, he earns his first shut out of the season in a 3-0 Hershey victory.

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Bears Cut Magic Number to 14 with 4-1 win

Chris Bourque, seen here at practice, got his 80th and 81st points on the season in this afternoon’s game against Albany (Kyle Mace, 2011)

In a rematch from last night, the Albany Devils and Hershey Bears faced off for two important points. Hershey trying to cut their magic number down to 14, Albany trying to get that final, eight playoff spot. Hershey would get those two points and the win over Albany, 4-1.

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Hershey Tops Albany, 3-2 in Shootout Victory

Tomas Kundratek scored twice against the Devils tonight. All Photos by Kyle Mace.

Another holiday, another specialty jersey design. Donning white and green St. Patrick’s Day jerseys, the Bears took to the ice for the first of back-to-back games against the Albany Devils.

For the second night in a row, Tomas Kundratek potted the first goal of the night. His shot may have taken a bounce as it eluded Albany goaltender, Keith Kinkaid. It was the only goal of the period.

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Shootout Struggles Continue as Bears Lose 6-5 (SO)

Tim Sestito scores on Braden Holtby in the Bears 6-5 loss. (All photos by Kyle Mace)

The Hershey Bears lost their fourth straight game on Saturday night. Sort of. In the hockey world of losses, there are also overtime losses and shootout losses. Those losses aren’t as bad as a regulation loss. Saturday night’s 6-5 shootout loss to the Albany Devils gave Hershey a point in the tight AHL Eastern division. It was Hershey’s fourth straight defeat, but only one of those losses was a regulation loss.

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Bears Start Weekend with 4-1 Win against Albany

Tonight began the first three games in three days of the season for the Bears. Stage one: take on the Albany Devils on the road.

For the first time this season, the Bears gave up the first goal of the game. Steve Zalewski scored on a breakaway. Patrick Wellar tried to catch up to him but couldn’t make it in time. Braden Holtby tried his best to stand Zalewski up but the shot went high and into the net.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the Bears to counter with a goal of their own. Keith Aucoin took an Albany turnover and set up Matt Ford, who was all alone in front of the goal. Tie game.

If the Bears can continue to dominate on the man advantage, opponents should be afraid. It’s no secret that Chris Bourque has the magic touch for the power play. Tonight, he put a shot on goal during Hershey’s first power play. That shot took a funny bounce off of Cody Eakin and Jeff Frazee had no chance of stopping it. 2-1 after twenty minutes.

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Boyd Kane Leads Bears to 4-3 Win Over Devils

Joel Rechlicz has another impressive fight against LeBlond. Photo by Kyle Mace

We said earlier that the organization was one goalie injury away from having a serious problem on our hands. In front of a sold out crowd tonight against the Albany Devils, Jared DeMichiel showed that don’t need to completely panic. He was a little shaky at first and gave up a goal when he couldn’t get control of the puck. But after that, he settled down and stood up for some great saves, including a jaw-dropping one on Darcy Zajac in the third period. By the end, he stopped 27 of 30 shots.

After allowing the Devils the early lead, Boyd Kane countered with a goal of his own, bouncing the puck past Mike McKenna. Later on the 5-on-3 power play, the Bears took their first lead of the night on a goal from Francois Bouchard.

Steve Pinizzotto scored to start the second period, also on the power play. The Devils didn’t respond until the waning moments of the second period but they still stood a goal behind.

Kane scored again in the third period. His second goal would prove to be the game-winner as the Devils scored with 18.4 seconds left. Can we talk about Boyd Kane for a second? We all know that Kane is a clutch player, but as of late he has really stepped his game up even more. He’s been racking up the points and some confidence.

The story of the night for many people was the AHL debut of Dmitri Orlov. I think all around, people were impressed. Troy Mann did a great job coaching Orlov. He was doing a great job of keeping up with his teammates and definitely didn’t look like he was new to the team. He even recorded his first AHL point tonight with a secondary assist on Pinizzotto’s power play goal. He was on ice for both of Hershey’s power play goals and none of Albany’s goals. He also finished the game with three shots on goal. I think it’s safe to say that Hershey fans are happy to add this Russian to the team.

The other story of the night is Joel Rechlicz. I said it on Twitter during the game but I need to repeat it: it’s absolutely mind-blowing how long Rechlicz can fight before he tires out. I’ve never seen a player consistently have fights that last over a minute all while throwing some great punches. Tonight, he was speared in the ribs by Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (yes, him again) and they fought, of cour se. All while using only his left arm, Rechlicz took down Leblond and was even yelling at him for more. What a champ.

And that wraps up yet another exciting game against the Devils. Bears win 4-3. Goalie carousel be damned.

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Bears Top Devils 5-3 in Atlantic City Showdown

Okay, first off: nobody panic. Just because Braden Holtby and Dany Sabourin are out with knee injuries does not mean we need to panic (more on that to come).

Tonight’s game against the Albany Devils was already circled on our calendars. Instead of being played in Albany, the game took place in Atlantic City at Boardwalk Hall, home of the now-defunct Boardwalk Bullies. But with the added obstacle of being backstopped by two ECHL goalies, this game got a whole lot more interesting.

The Bears stumbled a bit right out the gate when Albany took the early lead. However, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond was called for a roughing penalty late in the period and Andrew Gordon made him pay. He tied it up right off the draw for the ensuing power play. Tie game after one.

Continuing to exchange back-and-forth goals, the Devils regained their lead when they scored on a rebound shot. Thankfully, Hershey’s power play was there to tie it up once again, this time with a shot from Francois Bouchard. It would be Brian Willsie‘s 20th goal of the season that gave the Bears their first lead of the game going into the final period.

Just like the first period, the Devils got the early goal in third. But Willsie didn’t take too kindly to this and countered with his second goal of the night on the (you guessed it) power play! Able to hold down their lead, the Bears wrapped it up with an empty net goal courtesy of Boyd Kane. Bears win 5-3.

Todd Ford wasn’t called on to make too many saves but he was pretty solid, especially against some monster shots, including a breakaway attempt. Thanks in part to him, the Bears extend their winning streak to seven straight games. Like I said, don’t panic.

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Bears Gain Penalty Minutes and Goals Against Devils


Dany Sabourin lays on the ice in pain after being run down by Louis Robitaille. Photo by Kyle Mace

If you were looking for excitement tonight, you better have been watching the Hershey Bears play the Albany Devils tonight.

The game started off innocently. Brian Willsie opened scoring on a funny goal that he jammed past the Albany goaltender, Mike McKenna.

Then Louis Robitaille jumped on the ice and the game was never the same.

In true Robitaille fashion, he caused drama just four minutes into the game. Dany Sabourin went to clear the puck next to the goal and Robitaille absolutely ran him down. There was no effort to slow down and Sabourin fell awkwardly on his leg. He took a while to get back up but did finish the game and played pretty damn well. Robitaille received a game misconduct (along with two major penalties) and never returned. After the game, Robitaille claimed that he was just coming around the forecheck and that he didn’t mean to hit him. I guess that’s his story and he’s sticking to it.

I’m awarding Robitaille’s dumb penalty as tonight’s game changer. During the subsequent power play, Steve Pinizzotto scored on the power play.

I won’t even begin to go into detail with all the goals tonight, but here’s the gist: Patrick Wellar and Brian Fahey added goals and the Devils were able to get one back before the end of first period.

In the second period, Francois Bouchard and Sean Collins scored, as well as Willsie getting his second goal of the night. McKenna was pulled and Dave Caruso took his unenviable spot.

The third period was better for the Devils, as they scored twice more. Suffice to say, it wasn’t enough, especially with Kyle Greentree adding a power play goal. Bears destroy Devils, 8-3.

To say this game was ugly would be the understatement of the century. With other 32 penalties and seven fights, there was not a dull moment in this game.

Even Keith Aucoin dropped the gloves with Matt Anderson. It was mostly a wrestling match but when Aucoin fights, you realize how insane this game really is.

So that’s that. I reckon tomorrow’s game against the Rochester Americans looks pretty calm at the moment. It’ll be hard to top tonight.

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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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