Your 2011-2012 Hershey Bears (All photos by Kyle Mace)
The home opener for the Hershey Bears was last night, and if you missed the game because you were watching the Washington Capitals win their first game in regulation and start the season 4-0 for the first time since 1997-98, here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.
The Hershey Bears have out-scored their opponents 13-9 in their first three games on the season. Two of those goals belong to Capitals' 2009 third-round pick, Cody Eakin, who is playing in his first-full season in the AHL. The 20-year-old…
(Photo courtesy Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins Facebook Page)
Well, the Bears are off to a pretty good start! Six goals in two games, and each one has been scored by a different player. Did I mention they are now 2-0? The Bears beat their archrival, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins by a score of 3-2 tonight, and it looks like this scoring won’t be stopping anytime soon.
Christian Hanson, pictured here at training camp, scored his first goal as a Bear tonight. (Photo by Kyle Mace)
It has been three straight years the Bears have played on a banner raising (and dropping) night for the Calder Cup champions in the AHL, but this is the first in those three years that it has not been their own. With the return of Chris Bourque and Graham Mink, and the additions of Christian Hanson and Ryan Potulny, the Bears look to win a Cup this season, and they showed that them meant business as they beat the Senators, 3-2.
Photos by Kyle Mace
There were two rare sights at Giant Center Monday night. First, a hockey game. Can you remember the last Monday hockey game in Chocolate Town? And a crowd that would have been sparce for even a Bears warm-up during the regular season. But it a was a Monday night, and it was a pre-season game. That being said, this game could be one of the best games, pre or regular season, we might see all year. A penalty shot, an Ovechkin-like goal, and an OT winner were part of this battle against the defending Calder Cup champs.
Wilkes-Barre celebrates one of their 2 goals as they come back to beat Hershey (Kyle Mace)
It’s getting closer. With the start of the regular season less than a week away, the Hershey Bears play the second of their three pre-season games Saturday night at Giant Center. And although the results don’t count in the standing, the Bears dropped their second straight to Wilkes-Barre Scranton, 2-1.
Get ready to bundle up, Bears fans! After months of speculating, Flyers President and C.O.O. of Comcast-Spectacor, Peter Luukko, “officially” announced the Winter Classic between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, but also had a special announcement as well. On January 6th, Citizen Bank Park will be home to the Adirondack Phantoms, who will host the Hershey Bears in the first ever outdoor game for both teams.
During the offseason, the Hershey Bears had a lot of turnover. Gone are fan-favorites like Andrew Gordon, Steve Pinizzotto, and Andrew Joudrey. Now, Bears fans must say goodbye to long-time radio play-by-play man John Walton.
Early Tuesday, the veteran AHL broadcaster was named the new voice of the Washington Capitals, replacing Steve Kolbe who called his 1,000th career regular season game for the team on November 11, 2010. Walton will be the Caps Director of Broadcasting, with additional responsibilities for the radio network and Caps social media.
There are only four more home games until the NHL trade deadline on 2/28 (Photo by Kyle Mace)
All good things have to come to an end, right? Despite accumulating only three goals and eight assists in 22 games with the Bears, interest in banished Oilers’ defenseman Sheldon Souray has rapidly picked up over the weekend. First, there was a blog post on ESPN, where Pierre LeBrun suggested that the Rangers were interested in a veteran presence on their blue line:
Rangers interested in defensemen: The Rangers’ power play has consistently struggled (23rd), so a veteran point man such as Kaberle, Bryan McCabe or Sheldon Souray would likely interest the Blueshirts. Each would also provide a veteran presence on a really young Rangers blue line.
Then tonight, TSN took that one step further:
Now that 2010 has officially come a close, we here at SHOE thought we would present our Top 11 Hershey Bear moments of the 2010 calandar year. Why eleven? Well… think about it.