Andrew Gordon talks about social media, his favorite Holtbyism, & playing dryer hockey with Crosby

Andrew Gordon

On November 20th, I went up to Hershey to celebrate my 26th Birthday in style, hoping to break my own personal curse and finally see a Bears victory in person (0-4). Despite Andrew Gordon’s heroic two goals and Semyon Varlamov in net, the Bears couldn’t garner enough offensive power to overcome the dreaded Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Undeterred, after the game, I caught up with the current AHL goals (15) and points (30) leader for an exclusive one-on-one interview to ask for his thoughts on a wide range of topics. This includes life in the AHL, the Bears new Captain, goalies, Holtbyisms, and his experience playing dryer hockey with one Sidney Crosby.

In the weeks to come – if my first-ever video interview with an athlete does not result in me being kicked out of the Bears locker room forever – we’ll continue to do these Q/A’s. So make sure to check out for more profiles on your favorite Hershey players and let us know what you think in the comments below. Okay! Let’s do this.

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Bears dominate Crunch with a 5-1 victory

After Wednesday’s loss to the Worcester Sharks, Mark French was mad. The coaches held a closed door meeting that had us a little afraid for the players. We obviously don’t know what was said but it made tonight’s game against the Syracuse Crunch all that more important. Hershey needed to make a statement.

The first period was pretty even. Syracuse would draw first blood when Patrick Maroon scored his first goal as a member of the Crunch. It would be their only goal of the night. Andrew Gordon tied the game during a 5-on-3 power play before the end of the period.

The second period was key for the Bears. Hershey spent the majority of the period dominating the offensive zone, so much so that Syracuse opted for a goaltender change. This switch was most likely an attempt to wake up the rest of the team and not so much a reflection of Timo Pielmeier’s performance. Before the switch, Mathieu Perreault found the back of the net thanks to an assist from Gordon. Andrew Joudrey added a one-timer from Steve Pinizzotto that eluded Pielmeier.

For the rest of the game, the Bears tried to minimize Syracuse’s scoring chances as much as possible. Gordon scored his second goal of the night and 14th goal of the season. After killing off a penalty, Hershey regrouped and Kyle Greentree scored Hershey’s fifth and final goal of the night.

It’s easy to assume that Dany Sabourin was chosen to start in tonight’s game due to his previous success in Syracuse. Sabourin recorded his first win of the season in this building. He also shutout the Crunch in the last meeting between these two teams. After tonight’s game, he remains undefeated in Syracuse as Hershey wins 4-1.

There you go. A full 60 minute effort proves what Hershey is capable of. Let’s hope that meeting was the kick the Bears needed to turn this season around for good.

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Senators record rare win against Bears, 4-2

Before the game, Andrew Gordon called it:

When the Binghamton Senators scored the first two goals of the game, it was the first time the Senators held a lead against the Bears this season. Boyd Kane got his seventh goal of the season to cut Binghamton’s lead in half. Andrew Joudrey tied the game at two goals a piece with a goal late in the second period. It all came down to the third period.

Unfortunately, it was Binghamton that was ready to finish the game. Try as he might, Jay Beagle just could not get a goal. He had a lot of good chances but none were going his way. Hershey had a good push in the waning minutes of the game, but Barry Brust stood strong and even got the secondary assist on the empty net goal to make it 4-2 Senators over Bears.

Yes, Brust put on a much better performance than on Sunday. He stopped 42 shots tonight, giving himself a .954 save percentage. That’s a pretty good way to make up for a .771 save percentage from the last game.

So, close…but no cigar. The Bears need to rest up because they’ve got a big game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tomorrow. What better way to redeem themselves? Oh, and please send a ‘Get Well Soon’ card to our many injured players.

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Sabourin’s Blunder Ends Hershey Comeback, 3-2


Dany Sabourin makes a save on Mike Zigomanis but costs Bears the game. Photo by Kyle M.

Wellar vs Rosehill (Photo by Kyle M.)

If you’re familiar with the Toronto Marlies, then you’ll certainly find it as no surprise that this was an aggressive game. The only consistent thing about the game was Hershey never losing control of the physical part of the game. Patrick Wellar took on Jay Rosehill for the fight of the night and it was a good one. Hard to pick a winner because all I saw were a ton of punches landing for both guys. They both walked away a little bruised and bloody.

Hershey saw a new player tonight, Phil Oreskovic, who was signed to a professional tryout yesterday. It was the perfect game to pick for his debut as he was playing against his former club. Oreskovic played for the Marlies for the past four seasons. He knew what to expect and came out delivering the big hits.

It took about two and a half periods for Hershey to finally get that first goal. Steve Pinizzotto had a great assist on Boyd Kane‘s tip-in that broke Toronto’s shutout. Just about a minute later, Kyle Greentree scored on the power play and suddenly Hershey had all the momentum in the world.

Well, that is until that fateful giveaway by Dany Sabourin. It’s a play that I think he’ll be replaying in his head over and over. He skated behind the goal to get the puck and then passed to the side where a Marlie awaited. I’m sure the coaches played Sabourin tonight to show confidence in him after a great showing in Charlotte. However, that move didn’t really work. I know that fans will be ripping him apart and they have ample reason to. Tonight was not his best showing, but it was also not his worst either. However, that giveaway was probably the worst moment of his trying season so far. The highlight of the night came after he made a sprawling glove on a shorthanded try by Mike Zigomanis. Check out Kyle M’s amazing photo of it below!

The power play seems to miss Keith Aucoin…a lot. The Bears had two 5-on-3 power plays during the game and could not convert on either. They even allowed a handful of shorthanded tries. That’s not to say that Hershey wasn’t playing well. There were a lot of dazzling offensive sequences but nothing was finding the back of the net. The biggest reason for this is the Marlies goaltender, Jussi Rynnäs. The young goalie was fantastic and I think it was sheer exhaustion from the Marlies that turned the game in Hershey’s favor.

Two weeks ago, Captain Andrew Joudrey touched on the importance of having a great first period. As much fun as those come-from-behind victories are, it’s also fun to see a 60 minute effort.

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Halloween Beatdown: Bears Maul Monarchs 7-3


Jay Beagle defeats a Monarch after Hershey defeats Manchester.

Hershey had something to prove tonight. They needed to show that they could bounce back from even the most embarassing losses. I’d say they did a pretty good job.

Just one night after pulling their own goalie, Hershey forced Manchester to do the same. Jeff Zatkoff saw 5 shots in about 15 minutes of play. 4 of those shots became Hershey goals. Brian Willsie got the first goal of the night, as he often has this season. Thus began the back-and-forth action. Manchester tied it up only to have Hershey regain the lead on a goal from Zach Miskovic. It was his second goal in two games. Manchester tied it up again on a power play goal. Just over a minute later, Keith Aucoin had a great breakaway pass from Andrew Gordon and was able to get it past Zatkoff. Mathieu Perreault, back from his stint in Washington, added an insurance goal on a mini-breakaway.

And that was all just in the first period. “It was key for us to get a good start,” Andrew Joudrey said after the game. “It was a good response.”

The second period saw no scoring change, but Manchester went from having no minor penalties to having four. They were getting frustrated and it was obvious. Jones was pretty strong in goal despite not starting the game.

During the third period, Aucoin was taken down in the corner. He definitely seemed to be in some pain, but was able to skate himself to the bench. He stayed on the bench and returned to the ice after the Bears went on a 5-on-3. Gordon deflected a Lawrence Nycholat shot to add to the score but Manchester retaliated about 30 seconds later with a goal of their own.

Todd Ford saw his first full game of the season. He’s strong on the down low shots but could use a little more work up high. He stopped 27 of 30 shots. Coach French had a lot of praise for him. “He made big saves when we needed him to,” French said. Despite a decent outing, I think Hershey is really hurting for Braden Holtby to return. Having a goalie with confidence could go a long way.

When the final horn sounded, the players were far from done. Five penalties were doled out after the game had ended, including roughing minors to Jay Beagle and Richard Clune for their roles in a pretty bitter scrap.

With the 7-3 victory, I’m sure Hershey restored some their self-esteem that was bruised from the previous night. And they’ve got a week-long break to heal up until their next game Sunday.

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Gordo’s 2 goals leads Bears past Phantoms 4-2


Andrew Gordon pots one of his two goals against Adirondack. (Photo by Kyle Mace)

Do you think Andrew Gordon wants a spot on an NHL roster? The man now has points in seven straight games and leads the team with eight goals. Two of those goals came tonight against the Adirondack Phantoms.

The Phantoms got an early lead, scoring two goals in the first ten minutes of the game. Hershey, like only a top-tier team can, was able to ride out the storm and responded with four unanswered goals. I think they’re doing just fine without Jay Beagle, Mathieu Perreault, and Dany Sabourin in the line-up.

Despite the final score, the game was a lot closer than you would think. It was a pretty evenly matched game, a point emphasized by the sudden lack of penalties in the third period. In the end, the Bears were able to wear down Brian Stewart, the rookie goaltender for the Phantoms, and the rest of the defense.

It was another hard-hitting game (I know that must be hard to believe). Zach Miskovic, Patrick Wellar, and Steve Pinizzotto took it upon themselves to teach the Phantoms players that if you’re not keeping your head up, you’ll be going down. I suspect there will be some Adirondack players with ice bags strapped to them after tonight. I can’t emphasize enough how fun it is to watch these kind of games.

I’m going to wrap up this gamer because I want to go buy tickets to every Hershey/Adirondack game this season.

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Your Photos and Video from Opening Night


Photo by Bridget.

We asked. You answered.

We had so many amazing pictures to go through that it was hard to narrow them down! This post could have easily ended up a mile long. We have coverage from the opening Calder Cup ceremony to the auction after the game, and, of course, pictures from the game itself. If you weren’t at Giant Center on Saturday night, you should definitely scroll down to see everything you missed out on!

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