Screenshot via abc27 sports
Friday night in the Eastern Conference finals of the OHL playoffs, the London Knights and Plymouth Whalers faced off in a game that London would win and eliminate the Whalers. On that Whalers team was Washington Capitals prospect, Tom Wilson.
After the loss, Wilson and teammate Connor Carrick were informed they were going to Chocolate town USA to join the Bears in their run at Calder Cup number 12.
HERSHEY, PA – Jon DiSalvatore, seen here earlier in the season, scored the GWOTG during Hershey’s 5-4 victory over the Providence Bruins (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals is in the history books with another stunning Hershey Bears victory. With the hockey game tied at 4-4 after 60 minutes, Jon DiSalvatore played the role of hero for Hershey and heart breaker for Providence. DiSalvatore scored only 3:05 into extra time to give his club a surprising 2-0 series lead over the top seeded Providence Bruins.
In the best of five, first round series, the Chocolate and White are just one win away from advancing to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2010.
HERSHEY, PA – Steve Oleksy waves to the crowd after making a surprise appearance to accept his Top Bears Defenseman award Sunday night (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
On a night when the Chocolate and White punched their ticket to the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs, the players also accepted their awards for their accomplishments in a Bears uniform this season.
HERSHEY, PA – Jon DiSalvatore smiles during the awards ceremony. DiSalvatore scored the game winning goal in Hershey’s game 1 win over Providence (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
The battle of the Bears and the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs kicked off Friday with a tremendous 5-2 win over the Providence Bruins. Continuing from late regular season success, the power play unit tallied a trio of goals including two on both ends of a 5-on-3 advantage.
In the best of five series, Hershey quickly jumps to a 1-0 lead and has stolen home ice advantage from the AHL regular season champions.
Enjoy a little video that we put together with highlights of the regular season, just in time to get pumped for the playoff push. Let's go Bears!
Photo by Tim Stough
The Calder Cup Playoffs are finally here and the Hershey Bears Hockey Club for the eighth consecutive year will participate in the postseason dance. Beginning on April 26th, the Bears will kick off the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs with a first round, best of five series in Providence, Rhode Island.
Providence finished with the top record in the American Hockey League, capped a 50 win season and ended the campaign on nine game winning streak. Since hosting the annual AHL All-Star Classic in late January, the entire Bruins roster soon became stars of the league.
HERSHEY, PA – Jon DiSalvatore celebrates his first goal during Hershey’s 4-2 win over Manchester, and clinching them a playoff spot in the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
It came all the way down to the wire, but it game 76 of the 2012-13 regular season, the Hershey Bears clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the eighth consecutive season. During first intermission of the Bears-Monarchs game Sunday evening, news broke at Giant Center that the Providence Bruins defeated the Norfolk Admirals by a 4-3 count. The regulation loss eliminated Norfolk from playoff contention leaving just Hershey and Connecticut fighting for the eighth seed.
With the Connecticut Whale wrapping up their season the night before, they could only watch and hope for a Bears regulation loss. However with the final window of opportunity wide open for Hershey, they put forth an impressive 4-2 over the Manchester Monarchs to punch their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Hershey Bears entered Binghamton on Saturday with an opportunity to clinch playoff berth with a win and out of town help. The out of town assistance was provided, but the Bears fell short in a 4-2 decision against the B-Sens. Out of town, both the Norfolk Admirals and Connecticut Whale lost in regulation to open the door for Hershey.
An hour south of Binghamton, the Manchester Monarchs won their battle against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to clinch the Eastern Conference’s seventh playoff position.
There is currently a three-way tie in points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Tied with 79 points each are the Connecticut Whale, Norfolk Admirals and Hershey Bears. The Whale rapped up their regular season with a 5-1 loss to the Portland Pirates. Both the Bears and Admirals have one game remaining and will finish the season Sunday.
With only one spot remaining and the regular season concluding Sunday evening, here are the playoff scenarios:
HERSHEY, PA- Philipp Grubauer, seen here earlier in the season, again earns first star honors against the Adirondack Phantoms in a 2-1 regulation win (Kyle Mace- Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
It’s the home stretch of the 2012-13 regular season and the Hershey Bears entered Friday on the outside looking into the playoff picture. With the Norfolk Admirals, Connecticut Whale and Manchester Monarchs also in action, a pair of out of town losses combined with a Bears win could up rise Hershey back into playoff potential.
With a Connecticut 3-2 loss later followed by a Norfolk 6-1 road defeat, a bright light of opportunity shined on Hershey to make a rising dash in the standings. Rather than melting under the pressure of a must-win game, NHL Trade Deadline addition Michael Latta scored a late-game third period goal to give the Bears a 2-1 win over the Adirondack Phantoms.
Welcome to a special edition of the Eastern Conference Playoff Picture. For the past seven weeks, we have tracked the Hershey Bears’ position in the conference standings and where they stack against fellow Eastern foes. Now with only three games remaining in the 2012-13 regular season, the Bears have their backs against the wall as they look to snatch a playoff seed.