Ford leads Bears to 2-1 SO Victory Against Monarchs

The Hershey Bears traveled to Manchester to play the Monarchs for a rare mid-week game. Coincidentally, the goalie match-up was the exact same as when the teams played in Hershey back on Halloween. Todd Ford had his first start and win of the season and Jeff Zatkoff was pulled after allowing four goals on five shots.

I can only think of one word to describe this game: calm. Not too many penalties, not too many goals, not too many scrums. Last time the two teams met, Hershey blew Manchester out of the water with an 8-3 win. This time it was much closer.

By the start of the third period, the teams were even at 1-1. Hershey scored first. Keith Aucoin, falling down, passed to Boyd Kane. Kane’s shot rebounded to Patrick McNeill who slid it past Zatkoff. The second period saw the Monarchs tie it up on a rebound shot of their own.

The third period saw no end result and so we pushed on to overtime.

It got a little scary when Bud Holloway, who had already scored once, had a shot in between the face-off circles when he was hooked by Kane. But the Bears killed that off and it came down to the shootout.

Through four rounds, neither team was able to score and it was looking like we might have another extended shootout. But Kane, back against the wall, came up big and scored in the bottom of the fifth round. Bears win, 2-1!

Read More

Bears Top Devils 5-3 in Atlantic City Showdown

Okay, first off: nobody panic. Just because Braden Holtby and Dany Sabourin are out with knee injuries does not mean we need to panic (more on that to come).

Tonight’s game against the Albany Devils was already circled on our calendars. Instead of being played in Albany, the game took place in Atlantic City at Boardwalk Hall, home of the now-defunct Boardwalk Bullies. But with the added obstacle of being backstopped by two ECHL goalies, this game got a whole lot more interesting.

The Bears stumbled a bit right out the gate when Albany took the early lead. However, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond was called for a roughing penalty late in the period and Andrew Gordon made him pay. He tied it up right off the draw for the ensuing power play. Tie game after one.

Continuing to exchange back-and-forth goals, the Devils regained their lead when they scored on a rebound shot. Thankfully, Hershey’s power play was there to tie it up once again, this time with a shot from Francois Bouchard. It would be Brian Willsie‘s 20th goal of the season that gave the Bears their first lead of the game going into the final period.

Just like the first period, the Devils got the early goal in third. But Willsie didn’t take too kindly to this and countered with his second goal of the night on the (you guessed it) power play! Able to hold down their lead, the Bears wrapped it up with an empty net goal courtesy of Boyd Kane. Bears win 5-3.

Todd Ford wasn’t called on to make too many saves but he was pretty solid, especially against some monster shots, including a breakaway attempt. Thanks in part to him, the Bears extend their winning streak to seven straight games. Like I said, don’t panic.

Read More

Hershey’s Home Stand is Perfect, beat Falcons 4-3


Sheldon Souray celebrates another win with Dany Sabourin. Photo by Kyle Mace

Before I dive into this game recap, I want to congratulate John Walton on calling his 1,000th game. Fans of any team should appreciate Walton and all that he has done for Hershey. It wouldn’t be half as interesting to listen without you, John. It would be an understatement to say that I hope he’s around for 1,000 more.

And now about the game. After getting snowed in last time and having to push the game to tonight, the two teams were going pretty strong right from the start.

The Springfield Falcons had a some notable names in the starting line-up. Mike Commodore was in, playing his first game for the Springfield Falcons. But the bigger name for Hershey fans was the return of Kyle Wilson. The Reeses Cup mascot dropped the puck in a ceremonial face-off and Andrew Gordon and Wilson took it together. It was nice to see two former teammates together again, even if they were wearing different jerseys.

Speaking of Gordon, he was the first Bear to find the back of the net. With a nice pass from Keith Aucoin, Gordon scored short side on David LeNeveu. Sean Collins, who is having a pretty good season, made it a two goal lead with a missile from center point.

The Falcons cut Hershey’s lead in half when they scored ten seconds into their first power play of the night. The second period was fairly quiet but Brian Willsie added some insurance with a power play goal of his own.

The Falcons looked like they were on the cusp of a comeback during the third period when John Moore got Springfield within one goal of tying. Steve Pinizzotto didn’t take too kindly to this and just moments later scored a sweet goal where he danced around the Falcons goaltender.

Kyle Wilson wasn’t willing to accept defeat and scored a goal with 17.8 seconds left in the game after a botched clearing attempt by Sabourin. The Bears were able to stave off any last chances from Springfield and won 4-3.

Hershey took advantage of this four game home stand and gained eight points in the standings. These four wins are crucial ones and have shown just what this time is capable of. Dany Sabourin played great, winning all four games. He has proven that we can rely on him even when we don’t have Braden Holtby with us.

Read More

“Pittsburgh Hangover” Crunch beat Bears 4-2


The Crunch celebrate a goal against Dany Sabourin. Photo by Kyle M.

Fresh off their statement win against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Pittsburgh, the Bears traveled back to Hershey to take on a struggling Syracuse Crunch team.

It seemed like a lot of Syracuse’s goals and scoring chances came when there was a turnover by a Hershey defenseman. The Crunch did a good job of keeping the pressure up and making Hershey pay for mistakes like that. They got their first goal when John Mitchell beat out Johann Kroll and took the puck from him right in front of the goal. Trevor Smith was left alone and converted on a bounce from the back wall to give Syracuse another goal.

Kyle Greentree scored Hershey’s first goal of the night when Syracuse was already up 2-0. He had a nice shot on the power play to cut the lead in half. Unfortunately, Syracuse repaid the favor the next period by scoring on a power play of their own. Add on another Syracuse goal towards the end of second period and suddenly Hershey was down 4-1.

Dany Sabourin has an iffy record in front of the home crowd. It’s nights like this that it’s almost become expected of him when he starts in Hershey. After Syracuse scored their fourth goal, he was pulled. Braden Holtby was able to shut the door the rest of the way.

Keith Aucoin gave the Bears a bigger chance at a comeback when he scored in the third period. His deflection of a Sean Collins shot was able to elude the Syracause goaltender. Sadly, it wouldn’t be enough to power the comeback. Mark French even opted to play with four forwards and one defenseman in the final few minutes of the game, hoping for some last minute offensive magic.

Overall, the Bears threw 47 shots at Timo Pielmeier. Read that again: 47 shots. And only two went in. It should come as no surprise when I tell you that Pielmeier was awarded the number one star of the game.

Call it a hot goalie, call it fatigue, whatever you’d like but the four-game winning streak had to end there. The Bears wrap up 2010 with a loss. The start of the new year means it is time a strong second half to push Hershey to playoffs and help defend the championship. Happy New Year!

Read More

Breakaway goals help Phantoms defeat Bears 3-1

Tonight was a big night for the Bears. In the midst of injuries and call-ups, Keith Aucoin returned after missing 16 games due to a knee injury. Additionally, Patrick McNeill made his season debut after having shoulder surgery during the offseason. They were facing the struggling Adirondack Phantoms, who were looking for only their fifth win of the season.

The game started off on the right foot with a power play goal by Brian Willsie. Aucoin got the primary assist and looked to be back in his element.

During the first period, Sheldon Souray chased after a puck with Matt Clackson and fell funny on his leg. He had to be helped off the ice and never returned to the game. Ironically, the last injury Souray had also involved Clackson after he injured his hand in the now infamous fight.

It was during the second period that the wheels started to fall off. After losing Souray in the first period, Dylan Yeo then made the fateful trip down the tunnel. He too never returned to the game.

After getting called for one penalty too many, the Phantoms scored their first goal of the night on the power play. Exactly one and a half minutes later, Phantom Shane Harper capitalized on a blue line turnover and scored his first ever AHL goal on a breakaway. I hate to admit it but it was a really nice goal.

Despite a handful of power plays in the third period, the Bears could not find the back of the net. Adirondack’s Denis Hamel scored his second goal of the night on a breakaway after Dany Sabourin was, once again, left out to dry. It’s worth noting that Hamel’s goal was his 300th career goal, which is pretty impressive. Phantoms take this one 3-1.

And so Hershey finishes their four-game road trip with two wins and two losses. They return home tomorrow to play the Providence Bruins at Giant Center.

Read More

Depleted Hershey line-up loses 5-3 to Charlotte


Patrick Wellar pushes Jacob Micflikier to the ice. Photo by Checkers SmugMug.

After Friday’s game against the Charlotte Checkers, we were happy for the win but still hoping to see some players return to bolster the line-up. Instead, we lost Phil Oreskovic and, more importantly, leading scorer Andrew Gordon. Oreskovic didn’t play after getting injured in the last game. Gordon was called up to Washington before the game and joined the Capitals in New York for their game aginst the Rangers tonight. Returning from his one game suspension, Steve Pinizzotto took over Gordon’s spot on the top line.

The Charlotte Checkers put the Bears in an early hole today. Three quick goals within the first nine minutes made it 3-0 in favor of the Checkers before you could blink. The only shining moment of the first period was Jay Beagle‘s short-handed goal that finally put Hershey on the board. That goal was Beagle’s fourth short-handed goal of the season. I can’t talk about this enough. He now has more short-handed goals than even strength goals.

During the second period, the Bears were able to cut Charlotte’s lead down to one on the power play. Sheldon Souray scored his first ever goal as a Bear on a blistering one-timer. I’m sure you’d expect nothing less from Souray.

Mark French decided to stick with Braden Holtby in goal. After letting in three goals on six shots, Holtby was able to steady himself and shut the door for…almost the rest of the game. It started to really go downhill when the Checkers scored on a 5-on-3 during the third period. They got another goal when Holtby decided to play with the puck outside of his crease with a lot of traffic around him. One of the reasons we love Holtby is his aggressive style and his puck handling. But today he was making a lot of questionable decisions outside of his crease and eventually it caught up with him. He went to play the puck and turned it over to the Checkers who scored on the practically empty net.

That was pretty much the dagger for the Bears. The game did end on a high note though as Lawrence Nycholat scored his fourth goal of season in the final minutes of the game. But Hershey seemed to accept their 5-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers. Hey, Keith Aucoin, how is your knee feeling?

Read More

Bears hold back Devils’ comeback to win 3-2


Jay Beagle takes a faceoff against Tim Sestito. Photo by the Albany Devils.

As the players have often noted, it’s important to start a game strong. That’s just what the Bears did against the Albany Devils. Despite only leading by one goal after twenty minutes, Hershey was in control. The first period was characterized by a offensive effort that left Dany Sabourin mostly twiddling his thumbs on the other side of the ice. It was just the icing on the cake that Andrew Joudrey scored his fourth goal of the season on a rebound shot.

The Bears started the second period down a man. Patrick Wellar was in the box for holding but that didn’t stop Hershey. Jay Beagle led the effort to score a breakaway short-handed goal just thirty seconds into the second period. That’s Beagle’s sixth goal of the season and his third short-handed goal. Clutch. But wait! We’re not through! Steve Pinizzotto decides to try that play himself and scores a second short-handed breakaway goal only 25 seconds after Beagle. 3-0 Bears.

It looked like Hershey had this game in the bag. The Devils sit at the bottom of the league in power play goals. Even allowing two short-handed goals, you wouldn’t think it tonight. Hershey allowed the Devils to score two power play goals, putting them in prime position for a comeback. And that’s how the Bears found themselves needing to shut down the Devils for the third period.

Thankfully, the Bears clung to their lead and Pinizzotto was rewarded with the game-winning goal. He now has the game winner for both games against Albany. Bears win 3-2 and remain undefeated against Albany this season.

Read More
Back To Top
Search