Yesterday’s AHL Clear Day deadline has come and gone. From now til the end of the season, these will be the players in the Bears lineup. Exceptions of course for call-ups and injuries. Take a look at who made the list after the jump.
Photo by Kyle Mace
Today is the day we find out who will be on the roster for the remainder of the season. For those of you unfamiliar with AHL Clear Day, here is the explanation directly from the AHL.
Only those players listed on a team’s Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the AHL regular season and in the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension.
Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts after Clear Day, but only once their respective junior or college seasons are complete.
Those listed in the 22 available spots are the ones that will be able to play. If there is an injury or one of the players on the roster is called up to Washington, that spot will be filled in by a non-roster player. Those players are traditionally called the “Black Aces”. They stay in Hershey and practice with the team.
So who makes the cut?
Keith Aucoin celebrates goal with the Caps. Photo hijacked from our sister blog, RMNB.
Happy Leap Day! Hopefully the Bears can use this extra day of the year to get a much needed win over division leading Norfolk. As always, you can follow our tweets of the action on Twitter. As for what happened this week, well there isn’t much to brag about. The Bears lost to Rochester, Lake Erie, and Norfolk. They now sit in 3rd place in the East Division a full 8 points behind Norfolk. They do have one game in hand against Norfolk. Since the playoffs this year are determined by conference standings (with the 3 division leaders automatically in) we should look at the conference as well. Currently, the Bears are in 5th place. Norfolk leads the conference and the Bears are 9 points ahead of the 9th place team. There’s still a lot of hockey to be played and the Bears have room to move either way. Hopefully it’s up. Look for more about the standings and AHL Clear Day in the coming days.
Now on to this week’s highlights.
Photo by Jim Commentucci / The Post-Standard.
It’s no secret that a big part of tonight’s game was Andrew Gordon facing off against his former team. But when the Hershey Bears play the Syracuse Crunch, you have to put friendships to the side.
Speaking of Andrew Gordon, he had a primary assist on the first goal of the game. Rick Schofield fired a one-timer that blazed past Braden Holtby to give the Crunch the lead. But Cody Eakin tied it up before the end of the period. He ended Hershey’s power play woes with a great shot against Antero Niitymaki.
Jersey to be worn by the Bears this weekend for “Chocolate Covered February”
It was another eventful week here in Chocolatetown. Last Thursday we saw a trade that bid farewell to Danny Richmond (and the Richmond Factor) as well as Matt Ford. In turn, we welcomed Mike Carmen and Kevin Marshall. We also saw the AHL points leader, Keith Aucoin, get a call to Washington on the same day. The following day saw Carmen and Marshall suit to to play in Wilkes-Barre. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a favorable result. The struggle for Hershey continued on Saturday, but Sunday the sun was shinning as the boys finally broke the baby Pens winning streak in Giant Center.
Cody Eakin looks at the ice as he skates off after Hershey’s 4-1 loss. (All photos by Kyle Mace)
After a tough loss in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Bears looked to bounce back against the Connecticut Whale. That was not the case tonight as the Bears could only score one goal tonight, three less than the Whale, who scored four and got the two points in the standings, beating Hershey 4-1.
Photo by Anthony Fabrikant/AFC Media.
It may have been the All-Star Break but the Bears were very busy over the past week. With some new guys adjusting to Hershey’s style of play and the league point leader on recall, it’s time for some of the guys to step up to the plate. No better time than against the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
With minimal whistles, the first period flew by. There were no penalties and only a few icing calls; the first major break didn’t come until just about fifteen minutes in. Garrett Mitchell potted his third goal of the season after Patrick Wellar shot bounced off Andrew Carroll, who was in front of Brad Thiessen. Mitchell took the rebound and gave the Bears the first goal of the game.
Bon Voyage, Matt and Danny. Photos by Kyle Mace. It was announced this afternoon that the Caps made a set of trades. Matt Ford was sent to Philadelphia in exchange for 22-year-old defenseman Kevin Marshall of the Adirondack Phantoms. Marshall recorded…