Simon Despres celebrates his game winning OT goal (All Photos by Kyle Mace. Click to enlarge.)
The fourth installment of the the 12 part I-81 rivalry for the 2011-12 season was in Chocolate town Friday. The Bears were looking to tie up the season series at two apiece. But for the Chocolate and White, that didn’t happen. Going back and forth all night long, Hershey got the early edge, but they couldn’t hold on and lose 5-4 in overtime.
The Bears (including D.J King #15) celebrate a goal against Bingo. Photo by Kyle Mace.
In a rare midweek game, the Hershey Bears took to the ice to battle the Binghamton Senators and hopefully make up for being shut out last Friday. It also marked D.J. King‘s first game as a Hershey Bear.
The Bears scored ten seconds into their first power play of night. Keith Aucoin dished to Graham Mink who scored from his office in front of the net. Later, Mattias Sjogren would show off his ability to pressure opponents into turnovers. His shot then hit the skate of a Senator and Garrett Mitchell scored on the rebound. All in all, the first period brought a well-rounded effort from the Bears.
Chris Bourque and Cody Eakin model their Halloween costumes this year.
It’s that time of year again – the time when people are expected to wear a costume and take part in general tomfoolery. When else do you get to see Cody Eakin as Ron Weasley and Chris Bourque as Justin Bieber?
Thanks to the magic of Twitter, we were able to get a look a few of the Hershey Bears’ costumes this Halloween. Hockey players – so like us. After the jump, check out a few other costumes from the Hershey boys.
We wish our readers and a safe and happy Halloween! If you have any hockey-related costumes or pumpkin carvings, leave a comment and let us know!
The Hershey Bears celebrate in their breast cancer awareness jerseys. Photo by Kyle Mace.
The weekend had a rough start for the Bears after they dropped two games on the road. Today was their chance to salvage it with another game against the defending Calder Cup Champs, the Binghamton Senators. They donned special pink and white jerseys that were auctioned off post-game for breast cancer awareness.
Thanks to Graham Mink and the power play unit, the Bears were off to a good start. It was an early penalty against the Senators as Francis Lessard was whistled for hooking. Keith Aucoin dished out a crisp pass right to Mink in his office in front of Mike McKenna.
That was the only goal in the first period but it wasn’t the only excitement. I think we all knew this was coming but old fight buddies, Francis Lessard and Joel Rechlicz, dropped the gloves. As is expected from these guys, the bout was long and a fairly even battle. When the officials finally separated them, Rechlicz ripped off Lessard’s helmet, which had stayed on the entire time. Rechlicz was yelling for more as they were escorted to the penalty boxes. You may remember (as I’m sure Rechlicz does) what Lessard did to Rechlicz’s face last season.
Keith Aucoin with is beads for his bracelet (Photo via @CristinaMink on Twitter)
The Hershey Bears wives continue their support of breast cancer awareness, and “Love for Lokomotiv” with three different bracelets. The sale of the bracelets will support breast cancer awareness and the foundation for the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team who died in the tragic plane crash the past summer. The rubber bracelets will be on sale during Sunday night’s Bears game and the bracelets made by the players will be auctioned off in a silent auction with bids starting at $25.
If you are unable to make it to the game, please check out Love for Lokomotiv’s website to get your own bracelet. Below the jump includes photos from Kim Bourque (Chris) and Cristina Mink (Graham) that they took through out this past week of the boys making their bracelets and the rubber ones they will be selling.
Andrew Joudrey (seen here during Springfield’s preseason) faced his former team tonight.
The Bears began another 3-in-3 tonight, once again on the road. They started the weekend with a game against the Springfield Falcons, the new team of former captain, Andrew Joudrey.
The first period moved along quickly as the teams battled away. The Bears were playing well and had several big scoring opportunities. One of those opportunities came when Cody Eakin was robbed with a glove save about halfway through the period. But the first goal of the game wasn’t far off. Boyd Kane wrestled the puck away in the neutral zone and got it to Eakin. Eakin set up Jacob Micflikier on a 2-on-1 opportunity and the Bears took the first lead of the game!
Shortly after that, Garrett Mitchell earned his first career AHL goal and it was a nice one! The Bears were playing with an extra man due to a delayed penalty call against the Falcons. Mitchell was near the net and backhanded a rebound past goaltender Danny Taylor.
Photo by Kyle Mace.
A night after taking a beating from the Pens, the Bears looked to turn things around. And the looked to do it with Dany Sabourin in the net. Sabourin hasn’t played a game in over a week since he’s been riding the pine in Washington with Michal Neuvirth hurt. Sabourin’s first couple touches looked like he had a little rust. After that there was no doubt that he was fully in the game.
In the first half of the opening period, the Bears had some trouble making it cleanly through the neutral zone. This was causing poor entries into the offensive zone and little time spent there. It looked a little like it was going to be another night like last night. As the period wore on, things started to get better. The crunch still had the shot advantage, however Dmitry Orlov was the one that opened up the scoring. From that point forward the momentum started to turn in the Bears favor. They increased the pressure in the Crunch zone and with 3.1 seconds left to go in the first period Jacob Micflikier upped the lead to 2-0.
Tonight began the first three games in three days of the season for the Bears. Stage one: take on the Albany Devils on the road.
For the first time this season, the Bears gave up the first goal of the game. Steve Zalewski scored on a breakaway. Patrick Wellar tried to catch up to him but couldn’t make it in time. Braden Holtby tried his best to stand Zalewski up but the shot went high and into the net.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the Bears to counter with a goal of their own. Keith Aucoin took an Albany turnover and set up Matt Ford, who was all alone in front of the goal. Tie game.
If the Bears can continue to dominate on the man advantage, opponents should be afraid. It’s no secret that Chris Bourque has the magic touch for the power play. Tonight, he put a shot on goal during Hershey’s first power play. That shot took a funny bounce off of Cody Eakin and Jeff Frazee had no chance of stopping it. 2-1 after twenty minutes.
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.
Michel Ouellet scores in overtime to defeat the Bears. Photo by Kyle Mace.
Despite the fact that the Bears had already played three games before tonight, there was a lot of energy and excitement in Giant Center. For once, the Bears were not raising a banner before their home opener but they did celebrate the 10th anniversary of Giant Center. The Bears were wearing commemorative jerseys tonight, honoring Giant Center and the three Calder Cups they’ve won since playing there. It was time to show off the new Bears slogan in front of the Hershey faithful.
The Bears celebrate an early lead.
To start the game, the Admirals did exactly what they didn’t want to do: they went to the penalty box. After having a great night against the Norfolk penalty kill unit last night, the Bears continue to score during the man advantage. Keith Aucoin had a sharp angle shot towards the crease and Graham Mink did what he does best. The puck deflected past Jaroslav Janus and Hershey took the early lead.
But, much like last night, the Admirals responded and tied the game up a few minutes later. They got Braden Holtby moving and Radko Gudas was able to score on the rebound. Then the Admirals gained their first lead of the weekend before the end of the first period when several players crashed the net. Christian Hanson fell on his own goaltender and Gudas scored again with the loose puck. With less than a minute left in the first period, the Bears made up for it by scoring on a Sean Collins shot from the point.
For the second night in a row, the game was tied 2-2 after one period.