With opening night less than 24 hours away, the Bears have released their new commerical for this season titled "NO REST," the new slogan for this season. The video features Graham Mink, Braden Holtby, Boyd Kane, Keith Aucoin, and many…
Seen here last season, Keith Aucoin and Mike Angelidis face off. Photo by John Wright.
It was a battle of the undefeated teams tonight and someone had to go home with a loss. The Bears and the Admirals always have interesting games when they play each other and tonight was no exception. This could take a while to recap, so let’s get to the goals.
Just about four minutes in, Chris Bourque was hit up high with a stick. He exacted revenge by scoring during the ensuing power play with a big shot from the point. A teammate provided the screen and Dustin Tokarski couldn’t do much to stop it. About halfway through the period, Brett Flemming earned his first AHL goal with a shot that was very similar to Bourque’s. Once again, there was a lot of bodies in front of Tokarski and a powerful shot sailed right past him.
The first half of the period was all Hershey but the second half was all Norfolk. J.T. Wyman was right in front of Dany Sabourin and flipped the puck past him during a delayed penalty call against the Bears. Soon after, Boyd Kane went to the box for tripping and the Admirals tied the game up with a power play goal. Tyler Johnson easily made his way through the Hershey defense and scored with no one between him and Sabourin.
Four goals after one period but we were just getting started.
(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.
Photo via Hershey Bears Facebook Page
There is a fall chill in the Central PA air. It’s now October. The Bears have had training camp and the preseason games are over. Now comes the anticipation as we await the start of the regular season. For the team it starts tomorrow, but we won’t see them until October 15th. Currently, there is a large RV show that has taken over the parking lots of the Giant Center and Hersheypark. This happens every year and it yet another signal of hockey’s impending return.
The final cuts have been made, and the opening roster is set. But this is the AHL. The roster won’t be the same for long. When the Caps lose a player to injury, he is temporarily gone. Those positions are filled in from the Bears. As an AHL fan, we know that our guys are different. Instead of being temporarily gone, they are temporarily here. There are no long term contracts. We hope for the best for them and that their dreams of making it to the NHL come true. I kind of equate it to parenting. We want the best for our boys, but while they are under our roof we demand the best from them. This is Hershey. When you look up the rafters in Giant Center you will see the names of the greats and 11 Calder Cup banners. Division and Conference championship banners are not hung. The Reese’s advertising in section 211 says it all. “It’s all about the cup!”. This is Hershey and you will be held to a higher standard. With that in mind, let’s take a look at who we will be seeing in Hershey to start the season.
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.
To get you pumped for tonight’s first home pre-season game, Brian and Kyle have shared their best photos from the first week of Training Camp. Are you ready for some hockey?
Cody Eakin shows off his skills during Capitals Development Camp. Photo by Kyle Mace Cody Eakin achieved great success during his time in the Western Hockey League. This was made very clear when he was traded halfway through to the…
Photo by Chris Knight, Patriot News And now the hockey duldrums continue. Development camp is over. Free-agent deals and trades have slowed down to a crawl. We are left with nothing but a long hot wait until the training camps…
Mike Murphy and Braden Holtby shake hands after Game 6. Photo by Kyle Mace
With the Bears facing possible elimination tonight, everyone was nervous.
They only got more nervous when the Charlotte Checkers scored just 35 seconds into the first period. The Bears failed to clear the zone and the Checkers took advantage. Braden Holtby stopped the first shot but a rebound bounced past him. But the Bears held off the Checkers for the rest of period and did a good job of not letting that early goal rattle them.
The Bears also escaped the second period without letting the Checkers score any more goals. I say escape because they were playing Russian roulette with how many penalties they were taking. The penalty kill unit stood up Charlotte and the game moved on with no scoring change.
The good news was that Hershey only needed one goal to tie it up. The bad news? It was time for the third period, which is (as we learned in Game 5 on Friday) notoriously an all Charlotte period.
Time was the enemy and just when things started looking grim, the Bears finally broke the shutout and tied the game! Keith Aucoin won the face-off and Brian Fahey took a shot from the top of the right face-off circle to bring the crowd to its feet.
The final few minutes of regulation ticked away and the already nerve-wracking game became more nerve-wracking by moving on to sudden death overtime for the first time this series.
Checkers celebrate moving on. Photo by Kyle
It wasn’t Hershey’s year this year. As sad as it is, Hershey fans have been spoiled by their team. Eleven Calder Cup Championships will help the organization hold its head high even though we will not be watching Bears hockey in May for once. We have some of the best fans in the world, a fact proven by the round of applause the crowded Giant Center gave their team even after losing.
Until next season…