Brian Fahey Wins Hardest Shot Competition

Photo by Brian Mills

Brian Fahey's third shot was the winner. (Photo credit: Kyle Mace)

Three weeks ago when the AHL All-Star Rosters were announced, Lawrence Nycholat was voted in as a starter. But due to an upper body injury that he re-aggravated Thursday night, he had to pull out of the game.

With All-Star weekend fast-approaching, the league turned to Brian Fahey to fill the void. Fahey, who has played 7 games for the Capitals and has notched 17 points in 34 games with the Bears this year, has consistently produced when called upon. So it was fitting for him to be a last-minute replacement and shine in today’s AHL Skills Competition.

Fahey competed in the “Sher-Wood Puck Control Relay,” but it was the “Reebok Hardest Shot” competition where he shined.

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Highlights from the 2011 AHL All-Star Skills Competition

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.

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Bears Extend Winning Streak With 3-2 Victory in Bingo

Giving Dany Sabourin a well-deserved rest, Braden Holtby led the Bears onto the ice against the Binghamton Senators tonight.

Boyd Kane scored the first goal of the game. He sniped the shot up high and gave Hershey the early lead. Before the end of the period, the Senators tied it up on the power play when Bobby Butler slammed home the rebound.

In the second period, the teams exchanged goals again. Bingo got their first lead of the game when they got the puck close up on the goal crease and beat Holtby. Hershey countered with a power play goal of their own. Brian Willsie gets all the credit on this one as he danced through the defense and placed a perfect backhand shot.

It looked like there was a game-changing penalty when Jim O’Brien of Binghamton was questionably penalized for a hit on Tyler Sloan. O’Brien recieved an elbowing major as well as a game misconduct. But the Senators came up big and killed off the penalty.

Just when it seemed as if not scoring on that power play was going to be their biggest regret, the Bears upped their offense and got moving. Kyle Greentree got the puck right between the face-off circles and scored five-hole on Mike Brodeur with about two and half minutes left in the game.

The Senators couldn’t muster up enough to tie the game again and the Bears won 3-2. They have now won five games in a row, their longest streak of the season!

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Bears Sweep Weekend With 5-1 Win vs. Phantoms


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.

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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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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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SHOE’s Voting Guide for the 2011 AHL All-Star Classic

Hi, I’m Brian. First, let me start by saying I am thrilled to be part of the Sweetest Hockey On Earth team! I will be bringing you coverage of the back-to-back Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears from a local (and rink-side) perspective. Please take a moment to go to the About Us page to read more about me.

As for the 2011 AHL All-Star game, the Captains for this season’s game have already been named.  Heading up the Eastern Conference will be Mark Wotton and from the West it will be Alexandre Giroux.  They both are not only veterans of the league, but between the two of them, they have been named to several All-Star teams.  More interesting to you Hershey fans, is that both of these team captains are former Calder-Cup winning Bears players!

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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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Injured Bears stay strong to defeat Checkers 2-1 (SO)


Captains Bryan Rodney and Andrew Joudrey take a ceremonial face-off before the game. Photo by Checkers SmugMug

The team dressed to play against the Charlotte Checkers tonight only sort of resembled the Hershey Bears. Missing big players because of injuries, suspension, a call-up, we watching the bare bones of the Bears. More on that later.

Charlotte made an interesting choice off the bat by choosing Justin Pogge to start instead of Mike Murphy. Murphy, this season, has all but had Hershey’s number. The only game Hershey had won against the Checkers was the game Pogge started and then subsequently was pulled during. The first period had the appearance of history repeating itself. At first, Pogge was shaky, juggling the puck and giving up big rebounds. On Hershey’s first shot of the game, Andrew Gordon potted his 16th goal of the season, breaking his brief scoring “slump.”

Despite Hershey leading the shots 17 to 5 at the end of the first period, it was a tie game. The Charlotte goal came after Braden Holtby made a great poke check save. Unfortunately, Jerome Samson was there to cash in on the rebound while Holtby was sprawled on the ice.

Even with the Checkers stepping their game up in the waning minutes, the second and third periods saw no scoring change. This was only the third time that the Bears had gone to overtime and only the second time they’d gone to the shootout.

Pogge deserves all the credit he can get for tonight’s game. Hershey threw 49 shots at him and he stopped all but one. Holtby got the win tonight though, stopping all four shots he saw in the shootout. After Holtby stoned Chris Terry in the shootout and clinched the victory, he skated furiously out of his crease and proceeded to celebrate as if he scored a goal. Kinda like this. Should we count this as another Holtbyism? Sure, why not!

In an interesting twist by that genius, Mark French, Lawrence Nycholat scored the game-winning goal. Yes, you read that correctly. Brian Willsie also scored in the shootout to help secure the 2-1 win. I don’t think people were expecting the broken down Bears to put up almost 50 shots in one game. If they keep up this kind of effort, the team is bound to start seeing more success, especially with a healthy line-up.

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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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