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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Another Perfect Night for Bears Penalty Killers

The Bears came to tonight’s game looking to grab a couple more points from a struggling Adirondack team.  The Phantoms have recently been playing better than they had at the start of the season.  Before tonight they had not lost in regulation in the last six games.  Both teams played a tight game.  In the end the Bears were able to prevail and take two more standings points home with them.  Those were points that they ended up needing since Norfolk also won tonight.  The Bears are still trailing Norfolk by one point for third place in the Eastern Division; however the Bears have a game in hand.

Without many whistles, the first period moved along quickly.  The Bears had 3 power plays during the period.  Sloppy passing and stick handling caused them to squander the first two opportunities.  The third Bears power play of the period started out the same way.  The first unit was ineffective against the Phantoms penalty killers.  With time running short on the power play the second unit was sent out.  Dmitri Kugryshev was able to keep the puck in on the right boards then get a pass to Zach Miskovic near the center point.  Miskovic fired a shot through traffic that found the back of the net.  The period ended with 10 total shots on goal (Bears 8, Phantoms 2)

The second period started much like the first, but Brian Willsie quickly changed that.  After Phantoms turnover Steve Pinizzotto took the puck below the right faceoff circle and sent a pass to Willsie in the high slot.  Leighton never got over in time and Willsie was able to bury the shot in the back of the net.  Willsie later gave Patrick Wellar an assist.  Wellar took a deflected shot to the mouth late in the second period and immediately left the ice with blood evident.  Willsie skated over, found Wellar’s tooth and made sure the tooth made it back to its rightful owner.

The Bears took a couple penalties in the front half of the third period.  Unlike the first two periods, the Phantoms were able to get some quality chances on those power plays.  In the first two stanzas, I found myself forgetting that the Bears were actually killing a penalty.   Fortunately Danny Sabourin and the penalty killers were able to keep the Phantoms off the score sheet.  At 17:36 Keith Aucoin took a slashing minor to make the last couple minutes of the game a little more interesting.  With about 1:20 left, Michael Leighton was pulled to add an extra skater.  In the end it didn’t make a difference.  The Bears killed off the penalty, and Pinizzotto added an empty netter to finish off the game.

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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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Hershey Takes Down Offensive-Powered Norfolk, 3-1


Steve Pinizzotto’s empty net goal is icing on the cake in the Bears victory over the Admirals. Photo by Kyle Mace

There’s nothing like a good power play goal to get the game rolling. Hershey did just that when the Norfolk Admirals were whistled for a tripping call. Zach Miskovic was able to tip Patrick McNeill‘s shot past Dustin Tokarski on the power play to give Hershey the first lead of the night. The score stayed the same until the second period when Norfolk’s Chris Durno tied it up.

During the second period, Ashton Rome was jumped by Norfolk’s Vladimir Mihalik. At 6 foot 8, Mihalik has the clear size advantage. They were shoving back and forth beforehand but it wasn’t until Rome had his back turned that Mihalik attacked. Rome wrestled back and they both fell to ice. The crowd expressed its disapproval as both were assessed two minute roughing penalties.

While skating 4-on-4, Brian Willsie got tangled up with an Admiral player. The call could have gone either way, but it’s definitely hard to agree with two minors (tripping and roughing) against Willsie for the play. The Bears then had to play four minutes down a man. However, they rose to the occasion and did a great job keeping Norfolk back. And it remained all tied up after two periods.

And that’s how two high-scoring teams ended up starting the third period with a score of 1-1. Keith Aucoin brought the game back under Hershey’s control with a completely innocent shot. He was at the back wall and lightly tapped the puck to be back in front of the net. It some how caromed off of Tokarski himself and found its way into the net.

Steve Pinizzotto topped it off with an empty net goal and Hershey beat the Norfolk Admirals 3-1. It’s a big two points against a very strong team. It’s a game like this that gives a team a lot of confidence.

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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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Breakaway goals help Phantoms defeat Bears 3-1

Tonight was a big night for the Bears. In the midst of injuries and call-ups, Keith Aucoin returned after missing 16 games due to a knee injury. Additionally, Patrick McNeill made his season debut after having shoulder surgery during the offseason. They were facing the struggling Adirondack Phantoms, who were looking for only their fifth win of the season.

The game started off on the right foot with a power play goal by Brian Willsie. Aucoin got the primary assist and looked to be back in his element.

During the first period, Sheldon Souray chased after a puck with Matt Clackson and fell funny on his leg. He had to be helped off the ice and never returned to the game. Ironically, the last injury Souray had also involved Clackson after he injured his hand in the now infamous fight.

It was during the second period that the wheels started to fall off. After losing Souray in the first period, Dylan Yeo then made the fateful trip down the tunnel. He too never returned to the game.

After getting called for one penalty too many, the Phantoms scored their first goal of the night on the power play. Exactly one and a half minutes later, Phantom Shane Harper capitalized on a blue line turnover and scored his first ever AHL goal on a breakaway. I hate to admit it but it was a really nice goal.

Despite a handful of power plays in the third period, the Bears could not find the back of the net. Adirondack’s Denis Hamel scored his second goal of the night on a breakaway after Dany Sabourin was, once again, left out to dry. It’s worth noting that Hamel’s goal was his 300th career goal, which is pretty impressive. Phantoms take this one 3-1.

And so Hershey finishes their four-game road trip with two wins and two losses. They return home tomorrow to play the Providence Bruins at Giant Center.

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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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Second period pushes Bears to 4-3 win over Wolf Pack


Hartford goalie Cameron Talbot looks back at a puck in his net. Photo by Kyle M.

Hershey chalks up a win the last game they will ever play against the Hartford Wolf Pack before they become the Connecticut Whale.

With Hershey controlling the tempo of this game, it was another game where Semyon Varlamov did not see a lot of shots. He stopped 19 of 22 and at least one of those goals there was really nothing he could do. He looked more comfortable in his crease, even after getting plowed down by Chad Kolarik in the first period.

A strong start to the second period helped push Hershey to an early lead. Mathieu Perreault showed off his speed by breaking up a pass at the blue line before darting off to get an unassisted goal just 17 seconds into the second period. Just over a minute later, Brian Fahey had a bomb of a shot from the right point.

Minutes later, Fahey and Sean Collins took two quick penalties and suddenly the Wolf Pack had their first goal. However, the Bears remained calm and Perreault picked up his fourth goal of the season halfway through the period. Brian Willsie would wrap up the period with a power play goal to make 4-1 Hershey after 40 minutes.

After that period, Hershey was done scoring but Hartford wasn’t. They scored two more goals halfway through the third period before Hershey’s defense could corral them. Willsie’s goal became the game winner as Hershey defeated Hartford 4-3.

So it’s adios Wolf Pack. Hello Whale. We’ll see you in March.

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Power play can’t save Bears from 4-3 Penguins win


Semyon Varlamov lets in a Penguins goal. Photo by Kyle M.

You know, considering the injury bug has attacked this team, this game was not that bad.

Actually, it was pretty bad for Semyon Varlamov. For a guy who carried his NHL team through two postseasons, you expect him to do better than stopping 19 of 23 shots. Period.

Andrew Gordon had a good night, scoring two of Hershey’s three goals. Lawrence Nycholat recorded the other tally, Hershey’s first goal of the night. Despite Gordon’s late goal, the Bears couldn’t overcome Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lead and the Penguins won the game 4-3.

The crowd was full of energy and in playoff form. Games against the Penguins always bring out of the emotions. A perfect example of the emotions came after Mathieu Perreault was jumped in the corner by Chris Collins, who only got a interference penalty (see the pictures below). Thankfully, he was alright and didn’t miss a shift.

Hershey is 0-for-2 so far this weekend. Let’s hope tomorrow salvages this stretch.

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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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