The Hershey Bears annual Team Autograph Night has become one of the best nights of the season for many Bears fans. Sunday night, following the Bears victory over Manchester, hundreds of fans lined up to get autographs and pictures with their favorite Bears players. Not only did the fans get to go on the ice and get autographs, the experience gives them a chance to interact with the players as well.
Sunday night was affiliate night at the Hershey Bears game and it was mascots and cheerleaders galore for fans to enjoy. Right now, the Chocolate and White only have the famous Coco the Bear, who recently got a make over of his own, but does the 76-year-old franchise need cheerleaders?
HERSHEY, PA – Dustin Gazley celebrates his first goal as a Bear during Sunday night’s game against Manchester (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
The Hershey Bears aimed to close out the weekend with back-to-back wins at home. Their foe for the night was the Manchester Monarchs, who entered standing at second best in the Eastern Conference. It was nothing short of a 60 minute effort for the good guys in White, as the Bears beat down the Monarchs by a 6-3 count.
Photo via @connorcarrick
After being eliminated from the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship, Connor Carrick returned to Hershey to rejoin the Bears. What should have had Connor returning before 10:00 pm on Friday turned into one heck of a trip, having him return right before the Bears win Saturday night.
We are five days into the new year, but we still have sometime to look back on 2013. Today, I took 26 of my favorite shots from the year and looked back on them. Above, probably my favorite photo from the year; Tom Wilson celebrating his first professional goal. The image captures Wilson’s excitement of getting the goal at a professional level for the first time, plus the excitement of the Bears faithful as Wilson scored the goal ahead goal in Game 4 of the first round series between Hershey and the Providence Bruins.
HERSHEY, PA – Brandon Segal scores his first of two goals on the night for Hershey in their 5-1 win over Rochester (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
It may not have been a 60 minute, complete game effort by the Hershey Bears like Head Coach Mike Haviland has been preaching, but it was awfully close. Brandon Segal tallied two goals and earned first star honors in a convincing 5-1 Saturday night win against the Western Conference Rochester Americans.
Riley Gill, seen here during the Kelly Cup Finals, made his first start for Hershey Friday night
Riley Gill was summoned from the Reading Royals earlier in the week, and he received the nod to start his club’s three games in three nights stretch against the Adirondack Phantoms.
HERSHEY, PA – David Leggio celebrate’s Hershey’s shootout win over Wilkes-Barre Saturday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
The Hershey Bears entered Saturday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins again looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses against Binghamton and Syracuse. Although inconsistency has been a concern this season, the Bears entered play possessing a 9-5-0-1 record in each game following a loss. On the flip side, however, Hershey’s record stands at a disappointing 3-7-1-2 when following a win.
Saturday the Bears’ ended a 3-in-3 game stretch with a thrilling 2-1 shootout victory over their I-81 Rivals. It was a game Hershey rightfully so deserved to win in regulation, but settled for a shootout win due to an outstanding performance by Pens’ goaltender Eric Hartzell.
HERSHEY, PA – Cameron Schilling looks on as Syracuse celebrates one of their three goals against Hershey Friday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Fans packed Giant Center for a rare Friday night game against the Syracuse Crunch. Ryan Potulny made his anticipated season debut with the Chocolate and White and was inserted on an offensive line with Jeff Taffe and Casey Wellman.
A lackadaisical second period for the Chocolate and White set the stage for a 3-2 defeat to the Crunch.
Nicolas Deschamps, seen here during the 2012-13 season, had Hershey’s loan goal Thursday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Fresh off the Christmas holiday, the Hershey Bears returned to work against the Binghamton Senators on what is traditionally known as “Boxing Day” to our neighboring country to the north. The Senators entered eyeing their 20th home ice win against Hershey in team history and looked to pull into a first place East Division tie with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
David Leggio once again received the starting nod for the Chocolate and White in net. It was Leggio’s 11th start in the last 12 Bears games this season dating back to November 27.
It was a tale of two athletic goaltenders between Leggio for Hershey and Nathan Lawson for Binghamton. Lawson’s miraculous second period after a strong Hershey push lead to the tables turning towards a 4-1 Senators win.