Binghamton Edges Hershey in 2-1 Victory

As the Washington Capitals wrapped up a win against the Ottawa Senators, their farm teams dropped the puck in Binghamton.

It was a rough start for the Bears as the Binghamton Senators took an early lead. Maybe they were feeling a little tired after a late game the night before and travelling today. Whatever the reason, they were rudely awakened by a goal by Andrew Sweetland. Sweetland just signed a PTO with Binghamton and he was definitely impressing everyone tonight.

Boyd Kane tied the game up after a play that he deserves all the credit for. He was harassed by David Hale on the boards behind the goal but was able to keep the puck. He passed it briefly to Keith Aucoin but it returned to him. He powered to the front of the goal and beat Barry Brust to tie it up.

The second period saw no scoring change although the Senators were awarded a penalty shot after Mike Hoffman was hooked on a breakaway. Braden Holtby was ready to make the big save and it all came down to the third period.

Unfortunately, penalties ultimately won this game for the Senators. Patrick McNeill took his second penalty of the night and the best power play unit in the league got to work. They got Holtby moving and Ryan Keller scored the game-winning goal. Bingo takes this one 2-1.

Hershey gets a couple days to rest up and prepare for their next weekend of games. Hopefully it will be better than this weekend’s.

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Penalties Help Moose Get Retribution Against Bears

When the coaching staff opted to play tonight’s game against the Manitoba Moose with seven defensemen and eleven forwards, I don’t think they realized what a good decision that was.

Through two periods, the Bears were not able to get any kind of offensive momentum going. This was mostly a result of the ten power plays awarded to Manitoba. Some of them were obvious ones like delay of game and playing with a broken stick. Others, like a tripping call against Francois Bouchard, were questionable.

Nonetheless, the Bears penalty kill unit deserves a lot of credit tonight. Even though the Moose scored three power play goals (including the game winner), the Bears special teams held the Moose off during the nine other power plays. Still missing Andrew Joudrey and Boyd Kane, the Bears tempted fate with so many penalties. The players were getting frustrated but, for the most part, they were able to hold back and not take dumb penalties due to anger.

Dmitri Kugryshev kicked off the scoring with an unassisted beauty. It’s awesome to see Kugryshev coming into his own because he’s going to be a dangerous offensive player soon. During the second period, Lawrence Nycholat salvaged any chance Hershey had at winning this game with a shot that beat the Manitoba goaltender’s five hole.

As if you needed any more evidence of what a clutch player Steve Pinizzotto is, he scored the game-tying goal during the third period. He was in the perfect spot for a rebound shot and made sure he didn’t miss on the second try. Thanks to him, Hershey got a point out of this and the game went to overtime.

The game ended in the most fitting way possible. Sean Collins was whistled for a tripping call with 40.5 seconds left in overtime. The Moose didn’t hesitate. They scored on the power play and sent Hershey packing. Moose win 4-3.

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Hershey Bears Edge Out Manitoba Moose, 4-3

Hershey started off incredibly strong. They absolutely punished the Manitoba Moose in the first two minutes alone. Brian Fahey got the first goal of the night 43 seconds into the game. His shot came from the blue line and may have deflected off a Moose player before entering the goal. A little over a minute later, Nikita Kashirsky recorded his second goal of the season. Two shots for Hershey, two goals for Hershey.

Manitoba then took a time out to regain their composure. They rebounded and were able to keep calm despite their early deficit. In the last minutes of the period, they got their first goal of the night. It kind of looked like Patrick Wellar screened Dany Sabourin on that shot.

During the second period, the Bears relaxed a little. They stopped firing shots at Manitoba goaltender Eddie Lack. As a result, Manchester kicked it up and tied the game. It was a good cross ice pass for Manitoba but Sabourin didn’t handle it well. Instead of using lateral movement to slide across the crease, he panicked and dove.

Hershey regained the lead before the end of the second period. Stop me if you’ve heard this before but Andrew Gordon scored on the power play with a shot right on the door step of the Manitoba goal. Shocking, I know.

During the third period, the first half was mostly uneventful. It didn’t get interesting until Manitoba tied it up again with a goal that beat Sabourin short side. I’m going to guess he wants that one back.

But have no fear! Andrew Gordon, power play player extraordinaire, is here to save the day! Once again, parking out in front of the net paid off. Lawrence Nycholat‘s shot from the blue line came towards the net and Gordon got his stick on it with less than thirty seconds left in the game. The Bears were able to stave off any last minute chances from the Moose and won 4-3 in exciting fashion.

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Bears Create Custom Ornaments for the Holidays

This past weekend was a very festive one at Giant Center. Most people already know about the, er, distinctive holiday jerseys they wore during Sunday’s trumping of the Charlotte Checkers. But if you were at the game this weekend, you may have seen another way they got in the Christmas spirit: by decorating ornaments.

It is a tradition involving the wives and girlfriends that dates back to 2003 for Hershey. Out on the concourse, a table displayed the artistic talents (or lack thereof) of our very own Hershey Bears. Each of the players were given a plain glass bulb and free rein to decorate it as they wish. The results involve a lot of sharpie art, glitter, and tinsel. With each player putting a twist on their ornament, you can really see a fun side of the players come out.

In addition to the individual ornaments, the team also signed over a hundred extra ornaments to sell. As for the one-of-a-kind decorations, they were auctioned off to the highest bidder.

After the cut, see pictures and a video of some of these original ornaments and the unique ways the players chose to adorn them.

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Bears Pummel Checkers With 6-3 Win

Bears pummel Checkers with 6-3 win

This evening the Hershey Bears took on the Charlotte Checkers. If you weren’t at this game or listening to it…you missed out. Oh boy.

The first period seemed innocent enough. Brian Willsie opened scoring on the power play. Kyle Greentree, returning from injury, got the primary assist. A minute later, Greentree himself would pot a goal, his 11th overall, during a 4-on-4. Tim Leone and John Walton have dubbed him the “Checker Killer.” Incredibly fitting as that goal was his 5th goal in 4 games against the Checkers. Charlotte seemed to gather some momentum in the second period. They scored 95 seconds into the period to cut Hershey’s lead in half.

But it was Brian Fahey‘s goal in the middle of period that changed the game. Checkers goaltender Justin Pogge immediately argued the goal, though we’re not sure why exactly. He stormed out of the crease, shoving Trevor Bruess to the ice before arguing with the refs. He was immediately given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty…but he kept arguing. He stormed around the ice, yelling at the ref and pushing the goal over. Talk about a temper tantrum. After getting a misconduct and game misconduct for abuse of officials, he left the ice but not before breaking his stick into two pieces. Kyle has some great photos of the entire sequence below. Be sure to check them out.

With Mike Murphy in net, the Checkers had to regroup. In the final few moments of the second period, Keith Aucoin scored his 200th AHL career goal. This milestone was delayed a little bit due to his knee injury but better late than never. Big congratulations to Coiner! He also scored his 201st goal during the third period on a rebound shot.

Despite getting another two goals in the third period, the Checkers could not overcome Hershey’s lead. Boyd Kane eventually ended the game with a goal in the last minute. The Bears go into the holiday break with a 6-3 victory. Rest up, boys. Happy Holidays!

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Bears continue losing skid after 2-1 loss to P-Bruins


The Providence Bruins celebrate Kirk MacDonald’s goal. Photo by Kyle M.

As far as I’m concerned, tonight’s game against the Providence Bruins lasted twenty minutes.

The first two periods yielded zero goals. Despite power plays for both sides and a number of decent scoring chances, the score was still zero-zero after forty minutes. The goal post seemed to be the third goaltender on the ice tonight.

We did get a fight though! Joel Rechlicz took on Sean Zimmerman. It was Rechlicz’s second fight of season (the first gave him the terrifying double black eyes). There were some pretty good punches thrown and I’d give the win to Rechlicz, although Zimmerman got the take down.

The teams made up for the lack of scoring by getting three goals in about five minutes during the final period. The Bruins scored first on a shot that may have deflected off a Bear before flying past Braden Holtby. Quickly after, the Bruins got an insurance goal during a delayed penalty call against Hershey.

The only scoring highlight for Hershey came when Andrew Joudrey tipped a Zach Miskovic shot to beat Nolan Schaefer. Schaefer, for the record, was phenomenal tonight. He is a big reason for the 2-1 win for Providence

So the Bears have started a losing streak just like their big brothers, the Caps. Hopefully they’ll break out of it tomorrow against the Charlotte Checkers (yes, them again).

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Holtby shuts out Phantoms 4-0 in return to Hershey


Dmitri Kugryshev is all smiles after he scores his first career AHL goal! Photo by Kyle M.

The Adirondack Phantoms came into tonight’s game with just three wins in the season. But, for the first few minutes, they were standing strong against Hershey. The last thing the Bears needed was a loss to the last place team to kill their swagger.

Boyd Kane drew first blood late in the first period. Andrew Gordon later scored on the power play when he deflected a Kyle Greentree shot. Gordon leads the league in goals (with 15) and in points (with 29). After Gordon’s goal, Phantoms goaltender Johan Backlund was helped to the bench with seemingly a lower body injury. Nic Riopel replaced him in goal and there was no looking back.

Big congratulations to Dmitry Kugryshev who scored Hershey’s third goal of the game and his first career AHL goal! It’s been a long time coming for Kugryshev. Every game he seems to be getting more and more playing time and deservedly so. Mark French even tried mixing the lines up a little and playing Kugryshev on the top line with Gordon and Mathieu Perreault. Kugryshev’s confidence was through the roof for the rest of game. He’s a talented guy and is bound to be a serious threat once he fully adjusts to AHL life.

Hershey helped maintain their lead by scoring 32 seconds into the third period. It was Kane’s second goal of the night. Kane just loves playing against the Phantoms. He always seems to love harassing his former team.

The story of the night though is Braden Holtby‘s triumphant return to Hershey. After a fairly long call-up in Washington, he came back and took his rightful spot as the #1 goalie for the Bears. He stopped 28 of 28 shots and some of them were doozies. He seemed as comfortable as ever as Bears defeat Phantoms 4-0.

Hershey remains undefeated since the closed door meeting on Wednesday night. Like I said in the last recap, hopefully this is the start of a better, more consistent season.

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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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