Hershey Bears Archives · Page 25 of 62

How ‘Sweep’ It Is: Bears Down Penguins in Consecutive Days

February 16, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

Photo via Official Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’s Facebook Page

Saturday night the Hershey Bears leap frogged the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the standings with a high-scoring 5-4 victory. While Giant Center has been an intimidating building for Bears’ opposition of late, Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township does not have a much kinder reputation.

Sunday the Chocolate and White concluded a home-and-home stretch against their I-81 rivals, and escaped victoriously for the first time this season in the W-B. Ryan Potulny scored a third period game-winning goal en route to a 3-1 win over the Penguins, finishing off a perfect six point weekend sweep for Hershey.

Bears Hold Off Wilkes-Barre in 5-4 Win

February 16, 2014
Kyle Mace
Game Recap

HERSHEY, PA – Casey Wellman is joined by Ryan Potulny and Nate Schmidt after Wellman’s first period goal (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

They are getting closer to the top. The Hershey Bears hung on for a 12th consecutive home victory Saturday night, beating their arch rivals the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins 5-4, in front of a sell out crowd of 10,890 at Giant Center. The victory moved the Bears past the Penguins in the standings and into second place in the AHL East, just four points behind first place Binghamton.

Betting on Bears: Hershey Tops Albany 3-2 on Boardwalk

February 14, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

HERSHEY, PA – Philipp Grubauer warms up prior to a Bears game earlier this season. He stopped four of five Albany shootout attempts in a 3-2 Hershey win on the Boardwalk (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

Every year, thousands of American football fans lose a pocket full of money after making foolish bets on the Super Bowl. Then of course you have that one jerk, who watches three games a season, makes and outrageous bet and picks Seattle to win by a 35 point spread and pockets several figures of cash that night. Only in America.

It’s a question mark whether there are AHL fans who bet on regular season matches, but if that were the case, the Hershey Bears have proven to be a safe bet thus far in 2014. Following a 3-2 shootout win Friday night against the Albany Devils, the Bears improved to a fantastic 14-4-1-0 record in the new year.

Gazley’s OT Game Winner Drops Wilkes-Barre

February 9, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

HERSHEY, PA – Philipp Grubauer hugs Dustin Gazley after Gazley’s game winning, overtime goal against Wilkes-Barre (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

As many know, we are in a current time stretch where football season has concluded, the countdown to Spring Training is in full throttle, and where fans continuously fall asleep on their sofa attempting to watch the NBA.

But at the American Hockey League level, the Hershey Bears enter a crucial eight week stretch of their schedule which takes them to April. It is a stretch which will truly decide whether playoff hockey will once again return to Hershey for a ninth consecutive season.

Sunday the Bears battled the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the weekend finale, looking for four out of six standings points in the weekend. Dustin Gazley scored 47 second into overtime to down the Penguins in a Giant Center classic.

Count ‘Em Ten: Bears Throttle Portland, Win Tenth Straight at GC

February 9, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

HERSHEY, PA – Dane Byers celebrates his game winning goal against Portland during Hershey’s 2-1 victory over the Pirates (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

In 2009, the Hershey Bears dropped the Manitoba Moose in six games to win the Calder Cup. Shortly after the cup clinching game, “Count ‘Em Ten” T-shirts were released to the general public to celebrate the franchise’s tenth Calder Cup Championship.

Saturday night, fans gained the right to break out the former catch phrase in honor of not the Bears’ tenth Cup, but their tenth consecutive victory on Giant Center ice. Dane Byers scored a third period game-winning-goal, and the Chocolate and White celebrated a 2-1 over the Portland Pirates.

Chay Genoway, Nate Schmidt, and Patrick Wellar Visit Chocolate World

February 6, 2014
Kyle Mace
Feature, Photos, Video

On a cold January day, three Hershey Bears walked into Hershey’s Chocolate World for an experience they will never forget. Chay Genoway, Nate Schmidt, and Patrick Wellar enjoyed a day of chocolate, chocolate, and hairnets. The three defensemen rode the world famous Great American Chocolate Tour Ride before creating their own Hershey’s chocolate bar. Luckily, there were cameras to capture the moments of hilarity.

Patrick Wellar would design Chay Genoway’s chocolate bar wrapper, Genoway designing Nate Schmidt’s wrapper, and Schmidt designing Wellar’s.

Joel Rechlicz Drops the Mitts with Zack Stortini, Makes Epic Faces

February 5, 2014
Kyle Mace
Photos

HERSHEY, PA – Joel Rechlicz looks towards the Norfolk Admirals bench after his fight Sunday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

Joel Rechlicz is arguably the most popular Hershey Bear in recent memory. He might not be the top scoring player, but Recker contributes to the team by motivating the Chocolate and White on the ice and in the locker room. Rechlicz is also one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, signing autographs for each and every fan after games, interacting with all like he’s known them for years. This explains why fans go insane when he drops the mittens and has a go against one of Hershey’s opponents.

Hershey Bears Wear Groundhog’s Day Jerseys

February 2, 2014
Kyle Mace
News, Photos

HERSHEY, PA – Ryan Potulny sports the Hershey Bears’ Groundhog’s Day jerseys Sunday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

Every February 2nd in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, a groundhog named Phil pops out of a hole to determine the weather for the next six weeks. If it’s sunny, then Phil is “scared” back into his hole for 6 more weeks of winter. If it’s cloudy, an early arrival of spring will arrive upon our country. The tradition is as crazy as the jerseys that trainer Dan “Beaker” Stuck designed.

Hershey Splits Series with Adirondack

February 2, 2014
Chocolate Hockey
Game Recap

Julien Brouillette and Peter LeBlanc, both seen here earlier in the season, had goals in Hershey’s win over Adirondack in the Bears first game against the Phamtoms this weekend

Perhaps the Hershey Bears are trying to make a statement to the schedule makers. Three games in 31 hours is very unusual in any league. But when the Bears played Adirondack in Philadelphia, they were going for their seventh straight victory and second in an 18 hour span. In the first game with the Phantoms, the Bears came up with a 5-3 victory Friday night in Glens Falls, beating the Phantoms to keep their winning streak alive.

Philipp Grubauer, Bears Stymie Penguins 2-0

January 26, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

HERSHEY, PA – Michael Latta and Dustin Gazley watch Jeff Taffe’s goal in the second period of Hershey’s 2-0 win (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

If you were to compare the weekend schedules of the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, it’s easy to predict the Bears might have had an edge entering Sunday.

The Chocolate and White kicked off the weekend with a home-and-home series beginning in Syracuse on Friday. Back-to-back wins over the Crunch including a Saturday 3-2 win at Giant Center built towards the hype of Sunday’s contest against Wilkes-Barre.