During the second intermission of tonight's Caps Game, Comcast SportsNet featured a Mic'd Up segment with Andrew Gordon during the AHL Skills Competition. After it aired a sampling of the reactions on twitter include: "AGordo is the most precious thing…
This was a busy week/weekend for Hershey. The Bears hosted this little thing called the AHL All-Star Classic. From a fan perspective it was a great weekend. Hopefully the staff of the Bears would agree. I'll start this week's Chocolate…
Thanks, Tux! Photo by Brian Mills
All Star games tend to remind me more of a Sunday morning pick-up game. This one was no different. I’m sure there were fans in the stands expecting to see the sort of hockey that we are accustom to here in Hershey, but anyone who has been around hockey for more than a couple years knew that wasn’t going to be the case. All Star games are typically high scoring affairs with little defense. This was the case this evening as well.
Hometown favorite and Eastern Conference All Star Andrew Gordon opened up the scoring just 16 seconds into the game. By the way, that is a record for the quickest goal in an AHL All Star Game. The West answered back with four goals of their own, but the East ended up tying the game up before the end of the First.
The second period was a little bit of a snore fest. Half speed skating was the name of the game. The East outscored the West 4-2 in the second bringing the game total to 8-6 in favor of the East.
Shortly into the third period controversy erupted. Gordon scored again, but the tally was initially given to the West on the score board. Former Bear and Captain of the East had some word with the officiating crew and all was put right in the world of scoring. There was also a quick whistle at one point that cost the West a goal. Oh, David Banfield! You silly ref, you! When the third period came to an end, the East ended up on top by a score of 11-8. Andrew Gordon had 2 points (2G) as did Brian Fahey (2A). Braden Holtby remained sidelined for the game due to a minor left knee injury.
Bobby Butler of the Binghamton Senator was named MVP of the game. He had one goal and three assists.
No stars of the game were named, however that won’t stop me from naming mine.
#3 Star of the game goes to Andrew Gordon for setting a record for the quickest goal in an AHL All Star game.
#2 Star of the game goes to Bobby Butler. Hey, the kid was the MVP. How can I argue with that?
And finally…..
#1 Star of the game goes to David Banfield. Yes, Referee Banfield. He managed to call a game without his arm in the air for half the time. That counts for something!
Last, but not least enjoy some pictures from the game.
Photo by Brian Mills
The 2011 AHL All-Star Classic was the news of the day in Hershey. A large crowd gathered to witness the best players in the AHL show off their skills in an assortment of events. Unlike recent years, the format this year is an East versus West match up. One player from the Western All Stars received a loud round of applause. That player was former Bear, Alexandre Giroux. Of course current Bears Brian Fahey, Andrew Gordon and Braden Holtby also received large show of support.
The First event was the “Sher-Wood Puck Control Relay.” The East took two out of three heats to get an early lead. Up next was the “Reebok Fastest Skater.” The RBC Future Stars gave the West a point, while the East got points for the fastest individual and fastest team average. The “RBC Rapid Fire” competition was next on the agenda. The goalies from the East came up big. Martin Jones and John Curry had to split duties because Holtby sat out the events with a sore knee. The East got another point thanks to fabulous goal tending. The East picked up two more points in the “Reebok Hardest Shot.” The East had the highest team average and Fahey led all contestants with a shot of 96.9 mph. In the “Reese’s Accuracy Shooting” the East yet again prevailed gaining two more points. The “Reese’s Pass and Score” also belonged to the East when they won 4-2. The last event was the “Panasonic Breakaway Relay.” Again, the goaltending from the East was the dominant factor. The offence from the East also produced 4 goals. After all events were done, the East outscored the West by a score of 19-7
For a full score sheet from the competition, check out the results on the AHL’s official website. After the jump, make sure to check out our extensive photos from the day.
Sheldon Souray celebrates another win with Dany Sabourin. Photo by Kyle Mace
Before I dive into this game recap, I want to congratulate John Walton on calling his 1,000th game. Fans of any team should appreciate Walton and all that he has done for Hershey. It wouldn’t be half as interesting to listen without you, John. It would be an understatement to say that I hope he’s around for 1,000 more.
And now about the game. After getting snowed in last time and having to push the game to tonight, the two teams were going pretty strong right from the start.
The Springfield Falcons had a some notable names in the starting line-up. Mike Commodore was in, playing his first game for the Springfield Falcons. But the bigger name for Hershey fans was the return of Kyle Wilson. The Reeses Cup mascot dropped the puck in a ceremonial face-off and Andrew Gordon and Wilson took it together. It was nice to see two former teammates together again, even if they were wearing different jerseys.
Speaking of Gordon, he was the first Bear to find the back of the net. With a nice pass from Keith Aucoin, Gordon scored short side on David LeNeveu. Sean Collins, who is having a pretty good season, made it a two goal lead with a missile from center point.
The Falcons cut Hershey’s lead in half when they scored ten seconds into their first power play of the night. The second period was fairly quiet but Brian Willsie added some insurance with a power play goal of his own.
The Falcons looked like they were on the cusp of a comeback during the third period when John Moore got Springfield within one goal of tying. Steve Pinizzotto didn’t take too kindly to this and just moments later scored a sweet goal where he danced around the Falcons goaltender.
Kyle Wilson wasn’t willing to accept defeat and scored a goal with 17.8 seconds left in the game after a botched clearing attempt by Sabourin. The Bears were able to stave off any last chances from Springfield and won 4-3.
Hershey took advantage of this four game home stand and gained eight points in the standings. These four wins are crucial ones and have shown just what this time is capable of. Dany Sabourin played great, winning all four games. He has proven that we can rely on him even when we don’t have Braden Holtby with us.
Dany Sabourin gets some well-deserved congratulations. Photo by Kyle Mace
It took a whole period for the Hershey Bears to wake up in their game against the Adirondack Phantoms. Maybe they were feeling a little lethargic on their third game in three days. On the other side, the Phantoms were looking even more tired due to all their traveling in the past few days.
The Bears made up for the goal-less first period. Francois Bouchard started the Bears off with a beautiful top shelf snipe against Michael Leighton. A few minutes later, Patrick Wellar scored on a shot from the blue line. Andrew Gordon topped off the period with a goal, the whole time fighting off a Phantom who was watching him closely.
Adirondack ended the shutout with a goal on the power play with Tyler Sloan was in the box for interference.
Thankfully, Sheldon Souray, playing his first game back from his most recent lower body injury, made up for it later. Phantom Stefan Legein absorbed the entire blow of Souray’s first bomb of a shot. As he struggled to get up, the puck returned to Souray and this time no one was willing to block it the second time and he found the back of the net. David de Kastrozza, playing only his second AHL game, got the primary assist and his very first AHL point!
Brian Willsie scored on the power play to make the final score 5-1 Hershey.
Dany Sabourin has taken a lot of criticism for his play this season. As such, I feel more than obligated to give credit where credit is due. Not only did he play three games in three days, not only did he win all three games, he played damn good. He even stopped a penalty shot late in the third period. Throughout the weekend, he stopped 78 of 83 shots. I think the decision to play him all three days is a show of support from the coaches. If anyone deserves a lot of rest tomorrow, it’s Sabourin.
These players deserve a lot of credit. Hopefully they will wrap up the homestand with a win against the Springfield Falcons on Wednesday.
The Bears celebrate one of many goals against the Rochester Americans. Photo by Kyle Mace
Sometimes after a blow-out victory, like the game last night against the Albany Devils, it’s easy to sit back and relax during the next game. But it’s games like the one tonight against the Rochester Americans where you will look back and regret not getting those two points if you relax too much.
I think Steve Pinizzotto took it a little too seriously when someone told him to start the game strong. Right off the opening face-off, he dropped the gloves with Michael Duco. It was over pretty quickly but I’d say Pinizzotto came out on top.
The Bears also started strong by scoring the game’s first goal. Patrick McNeill had a nice goal during a 5-on-3 where he came in and sniped the rebound shot. It was his first goal of the season and a well-deserved one. Keith Aucoin would add to the scoring sheet after he snuck in back door while Andrew Gordon had the puck.
Rochester’s only goal of the night game came during the second period. They beat Dany Sabourin on the power play to cut Hershey’s lead in half. Speaking of Sabourin, he had another great night. He stopped 25 of 26 shots and those were big shots. It’s a great thing to see him getting comfortable and winning two in a row in front of the Hershey faithful.
Thankfully, the third period was all Hershey in terms of scoring. Gordon got Hershey’s third goal with a perfect deflection past Tyler Plante. Brian Willsie tacked on another goal during the power play that got Plante moving. Finally, Ashton Rome added even more goal insurance by cashing in on another juicy rebound.
The top two lines were fantastic tonight and Hershey defeated the Amerks 5-1.The homestand continues tomorrow night when the Adirondack Phantoms come to town.
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.
Braden Holtby looks in disbelief at the replay. Photo by Kyle M.
A sold-out crowd gathered in Giant Center tonight to watch the Bears take on the Lake Erie Monsters. It was the only time we will see the Monsters in Hershey this season.
The game started off perfectly. Hershey scored the first goal early in the first period, as they often do. Lake Erie had two men in the box and Hershey had a 5-on-3 power play for thirty seconds. After getting roughed up, Keith Aucoin made the Monsters pay by scoring on the man advantage.
A few minutes into the second period, Ashton Rome recorded his sixth goal of the season. Tyler Sloan had a nice role in the play, joining the rush as a winger. Along with Maxime Lacroix, they got the puck to the goal. John Grahame made the initial save but Rome buried the rebound.
Perhaps getting a little too comfortable, the scoring ended there for Hershey. Meanwhile, Lake Erie started to kick it in gear. They cut Hershey’s lead in half before the end of the second period. Holtby couldn’t see the rebound and Lake Erie got their first goal of the night. With about a minute to go in the game, Lake Erie pulled their goalie. With an extra man, the Monsters got a lot of traffic in front of the Hershey goal and tied it up with just 40 seconds left in the game.
Overtime didn’t solve anything and so it went to the shootout. Unfortunately, the Monsters scored twice and Hershey could only score once.
Despite the loss, Braden Holtby was fantastic in net. It would have been a whole different game without him. He was there to make all the huge saves that the Bears needed him to make. I’m sure a shootout was not how the Bears wanted to end this game, especially with an early game in Binghamton tomorrow. Nevertheless, the Bears watch the game slip through their fingers and lose 3-2.
IT WORKED!!! Since the Bears have occasional mid-week games on Wednesday, I thought it would be a good idea to make this a regular Wednesday morning edition. Hopefully it will help get you ready for the upcoming games. Look for…