‘Shorties’ Help Hershey Close Out 2011

Bears fans celebrate Chris Bourque’s shorthanded goal (All photos by Kyle Mace)

Due to the holiday, tonight is the first ever “photo recap.” 11 photos from tonight’s game, recapping all of the events in the 3-2 SO win for Hershey. And like they say “A picture is worth 1,000 words” (so that means tonight’s post is 11,000 words.) From all of us here at Sweetest Hockey on Earth (and our big sister blog Russian Machine Never Breaks) we wish you a happy, healthy, and hockey filled 2012!

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Defensemen Help Bears Trounce WBS Penguins, 6-0.

Braden Holtby shut out the WBS Penguins. Photo by Anthony Fabrikant / AFC Media.

The Bears are great at having strong starts, but they usually struggle to get those strong starts when they play the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Tonight, they broke through.

It was defensemen who started the show. First, Matt Ford was stopped on a wraparound attempt but Tomas Kundratek stuffed home the rebound. A few minutes later, Julien Brouillette extended the lead when he scored on a screened Brad Thiessen.

To top off the first period, Patrick McNeill scored short-side during a power play to make it 3-0 after twenty minutes. Not only were all three goals from defensemen, but they were also the fifth goal of the season for each player.

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Special Teams Lead Bears to 4-3 Victory Over Admirals

The Bears battled the Admirals in Norfolk tonight. Photo by John Wright.

Another weekend, another road game to kick it off. Tonight was the fourth meeting between the Hershey Bears and the Norfolk Admirals. It was also Norfolk’s annual “Toy Toss.”

The Bears earned the first goal of the game. After killing off a penalty, the Bears got a turn with the man advantage and had a 3-on-1 play. Matt Ford tapped his own rebound past Dustin Tokarski to get the early lead.

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Potulny and the Bears defeat WBS Penguins, 3-2 (SO)

Holtby gets the win tonight in Wilkes-Barre. Photo by Anthony Fabrikant/AFC Media.

The Bears broke their losing skid just in time to face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on the road. With a nice day off to feast, it was back to business for Hershey tonight.

Ryan Potulny, in just his second game back from injury, scored on the power play to give the Bears the first lead. Julien Brouillette started the play by crashing through the defense and getting a shot on goal. Potulny closed in on the rebound to pot his first goal of the season. This goal was followed by two fights and you knew it would be another crazy night.

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Hershey Bears Take Part in Movember Campaign

Around this time of year, the weather gets a little colder and people start preparing for the holidays. If you’re a hockey player, it usually means that it’s time to grow a mustache.

For those of you unfamiliar with “Movember,” it’s a campaign encouraging men to grow mustaches (or “Mo’s”) to spread awareness for men’s health. The rules are simple: shave on October 31st and then put the razor away for the month of November. The efforts of the men taking part and rewarded with donations to the Movember cause.

Matt Ford took on the role of Captain of the Hershey Bears Movember team. So far, he is definitely doing his duty as he has racked up the most donations of any member of the team.

Now is your chance to take part in a great cause and back up the players while they make their way through this (itchy) month. It doesn’t matter which player gets your money, so choose a guy and get to donating! Even a few dollars will go a long way. After the jump, check out all the players taking part this year and open up your wallet!

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Hershey Rebounds with 3-0 Shutout against Bingo


The Bears (including D.J King #15) celebrate a goal against Bingo. Photo by Kyle Mace.

In a rare midweek game, the Hershey Bears took to the ice to battle the Binghamton Senators and hopefully make up for being shut out last Friday. It also marked D.J. King‘s first game as a Hershey Bear.

The Bears scored ten seconds into their first power play of night. Keith Aucoin dished to Graham Mink who scored from his office in front of the net. Later, Mattias Sjogren would show off his ability to pressure opponents into turnovers. His shot then hit the skate of a Senator and Garrett Mitchell scored on the rebound. All in all, the first period brought a well-rounded effort from the Bears.

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Bears Allow Falcons Comeback, Lose 4-3 (OT)


Andrew Joudrey (seen here during Springfield’s preseason) faced his former team tonight.

The Bears began another 3-in-3 tonight, once again on the road. They started the weekend with a game against the Springfield Falcons, the new team of former captain, Andrew Joudrey.

The first period moved along quickly as the teams battled away. The Bears were playing well and had several big scoring opportunities. One of those opportunities came when Cody Eakin was robbed with a glove save about halfway through the period. But the first goal of the game wasn’t far off. Boyd Kane wrestled the puck away in the neutral zone and got it to Eakin. Eakin set up Jacob Micflikier on a 2-on-1 opportunity and the Bears took the first lead of the game!

Shortly after that, Garrett Mitchell earned his first career AHL goal and it was a nice one! The Bears were playing with an extra man due to a delayed penalty call against the Falcons. Mitchell was near the net and backhanded a rebound past goaltender Danny Taylor.

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A Night to Forget: Baby Pens defeat Bears, 3-1


Graham Mink and Niko Dimitrakos exchange words after a big hit. Photo by Kyle Mace.

It’s always an interesting game when the in-state rivals play. Tonight, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were in Chocolatetown, ready to put up a fight against Hershey’s point streak.

The drama came in the first period when Sean Collins hit Eric Tangradi. Collins definitely got his arm up high but it was unclear whether it was a hit to the head or to the chest. I saw some of other angles of the hit and I’m still not sure of where the hit landed but I can understand arguments either way. Collins was initially put in the penalty box but, after some discussion, the penalty was called off.

The Bears were unable to get a lot of momentum going during the first period because of all the penalties against them. Thankfully, Braden Holtby was very sharp and made a lot of big saves to keep the Bears in it.

The only goal he gave up in the first period was a deflection by Brian Gibbons during a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton power play. It was the second night in a row that the Bears gave up the first goal.

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Bears Start Weekend with 4-1 Win against Albany

Tonight began the first three games in three days of the season for the Bears. Stage one: take on the Albany Devils on the road.

For the first time this season, the Bears gave up the first goal of the game. Steve Zalewski scored on a breakaway. Patrick Wellar tried to catch up to him but couldn’t make it in time. Braden Holtby tried his best to stand Zalewski up but the shot went high and into the net.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the Bears to counter with a goal of their own. Keith Aucoin took an Albany turnover and set up Matt Ford, who was all alone in front of the goal. Tie game.

If the Bears can continue to dominate on the man advantage, opponents should be afraid. It’s no secret that Chris Bourque has the magic touch for the power play. Tonight, he put a shot on goal during Hershey’s first power play. That shot took a funny bounce off of Cody Eakin and Jeff Frazee had no chance of stopping it. 2-1 after twenty minutes.

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