Perreault and the Bears send Senators packing, 8-3


Mathieu Perreault leads the Bears to victory on a night Barry Brust and the Binghamton Senators do not want to look back on. Photo by Kyle M.

How to even begin writing about this game…

It was all Andrew Gordon at first. He opened scoring only 70 seconds into the game. Seven minutes later, he added another goal to become the first Bear to reach double digits in goals this season. Brian Willsie scored his first goal a 25 seconds later and Steve Pinizzotto added to the tally a minute after that. Kyle Greentree scored before another Willsie goal to wrap up the first period. That’s right, 6-0 after the first period.

Binghamton managed to regain some of their dignity and come back with three goals during the rest of the game. Lawrence Nycholat had the final say with the last goal of the game to make it 8-3 Bears.

But let’s talk about Mathieu Perreault. He fell one assist short of tying the Hershey record for most assists in one game. Per Tim Leone, the current record is seven assists, set by Mitch Lamoureux on November 21, 1987 against Baltimore. the AHL Twitter announced that Perreault’s six assist night was the first since Rochester’s Chris Taylor on Oct 21, 2005.

The Bears were definitely playing well but it’s important to remember that the Binghamton Senators are having some serious goalie issues at the moment. Both Robin Lehner and Mike Brodeur are injured. A lot of people were questioning why the coaches weren’t pulling Barry Brust after goal four and on. Zane Kalembra was sitting on the bench and they probably weren’t in a hurry to put him in the game. He has never played an AHL game and only played one ECHL in his career. He was signed that morning as an emergency back-up. However, Brust actually did a good job after the first period. Maybe he realized that he was going to be in this game for the long run.

I know you’re all dying to hear how Semyon Varlamov did. When he was sent to Hershey, I’m thinking they were hoping to see him challenged more than he was tonight. He didn’t really have to deal with a lot of shots until the second period when Binghamton had a couple power plays, including a 5-on-3. He let in three goals, two while Hershey was on the penalty kill. He was pretty solid but probably wants at least one of those goals back. It’s understandable since he’s shaking off a lot of rust. He looked great when he stopped a shorthanded breakaway shot during the third period. Overall, he made 21 for 24 saves.

Hershey will rest for a few days. Their next game is Friday against the Senators again, but this time in Binghamton. The Senators are probably hoping they have more healthy goaltenders by then.

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Sabourin rebounds, shuts out Crunch, 3-0


Brian Willsie skates away with the puck. Photo by Lauren Long / The Post-Standard.

Clearly Syracuse is Dany Sabourin‘s favorite city.

At the end of October, Sabourin recorded his first win of the season in an overtime victory against the Syracuse Crunch. And tonight, he gets the first shutout for any Hershey goaltender this season. He wasn’t really challenged for the first two periods, seeing only 13 shots after 40 minutes. By the third period, Syracuse realized they were in trouble and starting firing more. He was even able to stop a brief 5-on-3 penalty kill near the end of the game. Kind of funny how yesterday we were calling him out for throwing the game away and today he proves how good he can be.

Speaking of back and forth playing…the Bears have won every other game for the past seven games. Coincidence or are the Bears just good at rebounding from losses?

The game was scoreless after the first period. Ashton Rome finally broke the scoring drought with his fourth goal of the season. He had a fantastic assist from Dmitri Kugryshev. Andrew Gordon now leads the team with eight goals after he scored on the power play. Brian Willsie added on another insurance goal during the third period, assists going to Mathieu Perreault and Gordon.

Semyon Varlamov is scheduled to start in goal tomorrow, giving Sabourin time to rest and bask in his shutout glory. Let’s hope for a little consistency from the Bears and hope that they record back-to-back wins for the first time since October 29th.

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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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Bears return to their winning ways, 5-1 victory


Ashton Rome celebrates a goal with the crowd.(Photo by Kyle Mace)

This is more like the Hershey team we know and love. Backed by Braden Holtby, the Bears dominated from start to finish. And no matter how hard the Adirondack Phantoms tried to push them off their game, it couldn’t be done.

While the entire team seemed to parading to the penalty box, The Phantom’s Zac Rinaldo led the team with 3 minor penalties and one fighting major. He was in just one of three fights that happened within three minutes of each other. Matt Clackson spent the entire night looking for someone to fight him and finally found a partner in Sheldon Souray. I’m betting after the beatdown Souray gave him, he’s regretting that decision. Trevor Bruess paired off with Rinaldo and Ashton Rome squared off with Kevin Marshall.

Speaking of Rome, he led the team tonight with two goals. They were his first and second goals of the season. Brian Willsie started off the scoring (as he has done in three games now). In between Rome’s two goals, Steve Pinizzotto had a nifty goal with a nice move on Backlund. With just under five minutes left in the game, Holtby’s shutout bid ended, making Kyle Greentree‘s goal the game winner.

This game was nothing short of entertaining. Between all the goals and all the fights, if you were watching, you had to be glued to you seat. These teams really don’t like each other, no matter if the Phantoms are playing in Philadelphia or Adirondack. And the best part? They play each other again tomorrow!

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Hershey can’t complete the comeback, lose 3-2


Several players examine their shiny, new rings.

How does that saying go? If you don’t have anything nice to say…

It wasn’t the way Hershey intended for the game to go. I guess it’s only fitting that Rochester ruined Hershey’s home opener after Hershey ruined theirs. Perhaps inspired by the memories of last season, the Bears played with energy and came out strong…for the first five minutes. Then they seemed to lose all of their passion and energy until the last five minutes. Alright, let’s try and look at the positives:

Brian Willsie had a good night. He scored the first goal of the night and got an assist on Andrew Gordon’s goal. Outside the score sheet, he was pulling some fancy moves around the Rochester defense. It’s hard to really analyze how Dany Sabourin did in his first game as a Hershey Bear. He only faced 15 shots and stopped 12 of them. However, it’s hard to fault him when he was screened the entire night. Hershey’s defenders need to be better about clearing the goal crease.

Hershey put together another fantastic ceremony to celebrate the organization’s 11th Calder Cup Championship. Personally, I loved the video they played before introducing the 2010-2011 team. The video panned around a virtual Giant Center filled with players and moments from the past season.

One by one, the players were announced and the members of last year’s team received their rings. They all huddled together, studying every facet of their new bling.

The big news of the night involved Hershey legend, Mitch Lamoureux, who is going to be inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame. The announcement warranted a standing ovation from the jam-packed Giant Center. Congratulations to Mitch!

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Hershey is Binghamton’s Worst Nightmare, 7-1


The Bouchard-Perreault-Willsie line combined for a total of nine points.

Wow…where to even begin?? To say that Hershey dominated this game would be an understatement. Offense was the name of this game. Nine different Hershey players finished the game with at least a +2 rating. It was probably a good sign when the first goal of the night came just over two minutes into the game and a mere 12 seconds into the first power play of the night. Then the goals just came rolling in. Chances are, if you blinked, you missed a goal.

…unless it was the third period. Then you problably blinked and missed someone getting their face punched in. Joel Rechlicz, Sheldon Souray, and Patrick Wellar did a pretty good job of punishing people tonight. The three of them combined for a total of 28 penalty minutes.

It’s already been established that the Greentree-Aucoin-Gordon line works well together. But I’m more interested in seeing what the Bouchard-Willsie-Perreault line cab di. It’s probable that Brian Willsie would like to see it more too. His suitcase might be a little harder to pack up after the game when he tries to fit in those four points he got tonight.

I think the Senators are still shaking their heads after tonight. Hershey’s job tonight is to enjoy the moment, but also remember that tomorrow that they must defend the cup in front of their home crowd. The guys from last year’s squad are likely to be dreaming of their new bling tonight.

See what did I tell you?

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Bears Start the Season With One Point After Losing 3-4 in the Shootout


Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins celebrate getting a goal past Braden Holtby. Photo by Kyle Mace

The first game of the season results in the first shootout of the season. It probably wasn’t the way Hershey wanted to start the season, but one point is better than none. Braden Holtby, while still making some terrific saves, has some tape he will be reviewing tonight on the bus.

The first period was a crazy one. Both teams exchanged two goals each in first ten minutes. The first goal of the game came from Kyle Greentree, who scored 15 seconds into the first powerplay of the night. After allowing two goals from the Penguins, Steve Pinizzotto tied it at 2 for the final goal of the period. The Bears wouldn’t post another goal until Keith Aucoin scored to tie the game 3-3 only 48 seconds into the third period. It would be enough to merit Hershey a point, but it wouldn’t be enough to claim the game. The Penguins came out victorious after the dreaded shootout.

Thanks to Wilkes-Barre’s season opener ceremony, overtime, and the shootout, the game went a little late tonight. Hopefully the boys will still be able to get a good night’s rest as they take on Rochester Americans tomorrow at 5 pm.

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