Center photo: 7641 Sports.
Three former Hershey Bears were drafted by the newly formed Las Vegas Golden Knights Wednesday night in the NHL Expansion Draft. Cody Eakin, Deryk Engelland, and Nate Schmidt.
No matter what happens the rest of the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, at least one team will have a Hershey Bears connection in the finals. With the New York Islanders win tonight, each of the four teams in the Eastern Conference have some sort of Hershey Bears ties.
With the Hershey Bears season coming to a close, most Bears fans will be putting all of their focus on the NHL playoffs. One of those teams left in the NHL playoffs are the Washington Capitals, the Bears affiliate. Monday night the Capitals will face off against the New York Rangers in game two of their series, but you could see some recalls before that. Those recalls are called “Black Aces,” named after holding the “Dead Man’s Hand” (two black aces) in a game of poker. So who could some of those “Black Aces” be?
Dany Sabourin sees a shot enter his net. All photos by Kyle Mace.
The quest for the 12th Calder Cup began tonight. Even though the Bears are viewed as the underdogs in the series, we know that they’re not going down without a fight (literally and figuratively).
It wasn’t a strong start for the Bears. After twenty minutes, they only had three shots on goal and were down one goal. It could’ve been worse, however. Dany Sabourin was back and doing his best to keep his team in it. The Penguin goal came from Colin McDonald just ten seconds into their first power play of the night.
While many fans were heading to Fire Alley to watch the game last night, the Bears were up North, preparing to face off against the Binghamton Senators.
The Senators were the first on the board with a tally from Stephane DaCosta just over five minutes into the game. But Mike Carman tied it up by redirecting a feed from Bourque. Tomas Kundratek followed that up with a power play goal to give the Bears the lead going into the second period.
Ryan Potulny and Tomas Kundratek celebrate Potulny’s 26th goal of the season (All photos by Kyle Mace)
After pulling off a third period come back last night, the Bears did it again tonight, but this time needed extra time to do it. Garrett Mitchell was the hero of the game, scoring in the shootout to give Hershey a 3-2 win.
Cody Eakin, Boyd Kane, and Chris Bourque celebrate Eakin’s game-tying goal (All photos by Kyle Mace)
It was a hard hitting comeback in more ways than one. The last time the Charlotte Checkers visited Giant Center, they eliminated the Bears from the playoffs. This time the Bears played the third period, like their playoff lives depended on it, scoring two goals and getting the victory over the Charlotte, 2-1.
Tomas Kundratek scored twice against the Devils tonight. All Photos by Kyle Mace.
Another holiday, another specialty jersey design. Donning white and green St. Patrick’s Day jerseys, the Bears took to the ice for the first of back-to-back games against the Albany Devils.
For the second night in a row, Tomas Kundratek potted the first goal of the night. His shot may have taken a bounce as it eluded Albany goaltender, Keith Kinkaid. It was the only goal of the period.
Joel Rechlicz fights Oliver Lauridsen in Hershey’s 6-3 win (All photos by Kyle Mace)
After a tough road trip up to St. John’s, the Bears were looking to bounce back with a three in three this weekend. Friday night was the first of that three in three as the Bears face offed against the Adirondack Phantoms. It was like any other Bears-Phantoms game: penalties and goals. This time the Bears came out on top, 6-3.
Yesterday’s AHL Clear Day deadline has come and gone. From now til the end of the season, these will be the players in the Bears lineup. Exceptions of course for call-ups and injuries. Take a look at who made the list after the jump.