Chris Bourque joins Keith Aucoin (center) and Graham Mink after Aucoin’s goal (All photos by Kyle Mace)
After losing to their arch rivals on Saturday, the Hershey Bears needed a bounce back win on Sunday. The Bears responded with a 6-3 victory over the Norfolk Admirals to move into a three way tie for first place in the AHL Eastern Division.
Photo from Scott Stuccio’s twitter feed.
Tonight’s game actually got off to a little bit of an early start with puck drop at 6:59. The Bears came out strong, but ended up surrendering 3 penalties in the period. Fortunately the penalty kill units were stong as usual. On the one power play that the Bears had they were able to maintain good possession in the offensive zone. Graham Mink and Jacob Micflikier did a good job getting in the way of the Whale goaltender. There were some quality chances in front of the net. In the end, the Bears had more shots on goal an looked like the better team for the period.
USS Arizona Memorial picture courtesy of Wikipedia.
I begin today by remembering those that died as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor on this date 70 years ago.I am thankful for you and all the other veterans of this country every day.
There was a lot that happened with SHoE over the past week. The Bears won all three games last weekend to vault them into first place in the division. Check out the wrap-ups here, here and here. On of the games was broadcast by ABC 27 and we had behind the scenes coverage. And of course we can’t forget that the home game on Saturday was Teddy Bear Toss night. Did you see the pictures? In the midst of all that, the Hershey-Derry Township Historical Society hosted a dinner called “A Night at the Old Barn”. We were there to cover it and we also had an interview with Mike “Doc” Emrick where Emrick talks about the Old Barn, the Bears and his thoughts on the Caps/Bruce Boudreau. Whew! And that was just our coverage of the week. Now on to the others…
Keith Aucoin scores a short-handed goal against Bridgeport. All photos by Kyle Mace.
The Bears had a fantastic start to this weekend but the final game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers still loomed over them.
The Bears enjoyed their own Teddy Bear Toss last night and tonight it was Bridgeport’s turn. The stuffed animals were unleashed late in the first period when Trevor Frischmon’s wristshot got past Braden Holtby.
All Photos by Kyle Mace.
The Bears wrapped up a long weekend with a game in Connecticut against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. After the jump, see Kyle’s fantastic photos of the Bears preparing for a Sunday matinee game in their snazzy third jerseys. Guys like Braden Holtby, Joel Rechlicz, and Keith Aucoin served as subjects for the photo shoot.
Bodies flew as the Bears beat the Crunch. Photo by Jim Commentucci / The Post-Standard.
The Bears have had a tough time against the Syracuse Crunch so far this season. They seemed determined that tonight would not see the same fate.
It’s a strange concept to have Graham Mink on the third line but it paid off. Mink was able to muscle the puck away from the Crunch and pass to Matt Pope, who snapped it past Iiro Tarkki. That beautiful goal was Pope’s first as a Hershey Bear.
Later in the period, the Crunch managed to tie it up on the power play. Braden Holtby was screened by Patrick Maroon and possibly his own teammate. Maroon tipped the shot. But the Bears wouldn’t let that get them down! Moments afterwards, Chris Bourque had a breakaway. He was stopped by Tarkki but the Bears maintained possession and Tomas Kundratek scored his first goal as a Bear!
Lake Erie celebrates their 5-4 win over Hershey Saturday night (All photos by Kyle Mace)
How do you start a recap after a game like this? After 76 penalty minutes, 9 goals, many mini line brawls, and a goal that you could argue should not have counted, the Lake Erie Monsters came out on top, 5-4, over the Hershey Bears.
Holtby gets the win tonight in Wilkes-Barre. Photo by Anthony Fabrikant/AFC Media.
The Bears broke their losing skid just in time to face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on the road. With a nice day off to feast, it was back to business for Hershey tonight.
Ryan Potulny, in just his second game back from injury, scored on the power play to give the Bears the first lead. Julien Brouillette started the play by crashing through the defense and getting a shot on goal. Potulny closed in on the rebound to pot his first goal of the season. This goal was followed by two fights and you knew it would be another crazy night.
Tenacity and determination lifted the Bears past Providence. Photo by Kyle Mace.
With each game, the Bears’ losing streak gets more and more disheartening. Tonight was a chance to turn things around and play a full game against the Providence Bruins.
The Bears tend to have strong starts and tonight was no exception. Just 18 seconds after puck drop, the first line combined for the first goal of the night. Chris Bourque scored his tenth goal of the season from the right face-off circle past Anton Khudobin.
The Bruins tied it up halfway through the period. David Warsofsky beat Dany Sabourin, who appeared pretty frustrated with letting that one in. The Bears answered with a goal of their own. Brett Flemming scored with a quick goal off the face-off.
Tomas Kundratek joins the Bears. Photo from hersheybears.com
The Old Barn Hockey Show is back with a new edition. [OBHS]
The Maryland Sports Blog came up to Hershey and takes a look at the Caps prospects. [TMSB]