Worcester holds off Hershey Comeback, Win 3-2


Dmitry Orlov’s first AHL goal isn’t enough to stop the Worcester Sharks.

And so the road trip rolls on…

Tonight, the Bears faced the Worcester Sharks. You may remember the last time these two teams met Brian Willsie almost fought Worcester goaltender, Alex Stalock.

Thankfully for Willsie, Stalock wasn’t playing tonight but that didn’t mean that this game would be any easier.

All was well at first. The Bears were putting some good shots on goal and even got the early lead. It was none other than Dmitry Orlov who gave the Bears the lead, scoring his first career AHL goal. It was a hard shot from the face-off circle that goaltender Tyson Sexsmith couldn’t handle. Orlov has been paired with Sheldon Souray for four games now. Between the pure skill, the physicality, and the hard shots, that pairing has to put some fear in the opposing teams. I definitely would not want to be facing down those guys.

However, the Sharks tied it up in the same period. The Sharks were attacking and the Bears couldn’t clear the zone. After a couple of quick shots, Nolan Schaefer tried his best but couldn’t stop the last shot and Worcester scored.

During the second period, the Bears badly outshot the Sharks 16 to 7. Unfortunately, it was the Sharks who came ahead though. The Sharks killed off a Hershey 5-on-3 power play and then scored in the minutes afterwards. It was a bit of a fluky goal as Brandon Mashinter flung the puck towards the goal and it tipped off Schaefer and into the net.

The third period saw the Bears on the wrong side of a 5-on-3. Boyd Kane and Ashton Rome were whistled for penalties and the Worcester didn’t miss the opportunity. With two Bears in the box, the Sharks scored. There was a glimmer of hope later on when Rome dished out a perfect pass to Maxime Lacroix who backhanded it past Sexsmith. It wouldn’t be enough to push the Bears to victory and they lose 3-2.

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Schaefer Shines Despite 3-2 Shootout Loss to Pirates

It took a shootout for the Portland Pirates to defeat the Hershey Bears.

The Bears traveled up North yesterday to play a rare regular season game against the Portland Pirates. Mathieu Perreault gave Hershey the early lead with an absolutely beautiful goal. He skated the puck from one end of the ice to other and blew right through the Portland defense. It was one of those goals that you could watch a replay of over and over again.

His goal stood as the only one through two periods of play.

It was a fairly quiet game except for whenever Sheldon Souray and Tim Conboy were on the ice at the same time. Conboy had a controversial hit on Maxime Lacroix that Souray took offense to and they dropped the gloves. Souray had the takedown. Thankfully, Lacroix was okay.

During the next period, the teams started shoving at the whistle and Conboy and Souray decided to have a rematch. If Conboy was looking for redemption, he didn’t get it because Souray delivered a vicious knockout punch.

The Bears started the third period on the man advantage but the Pirates shut them down. Right after the successful kill, the Pirates tied the game up when Mark Voakes fought through the play and Nolan Schaefer had to face him alone. He tried him best to stone him but was unsuccessful.

The Pirates scored again during a late period power play. Schaefer tried to grab the shot in his glove but he ended up just tipping it and it bounced over him and into the net. Just when it started looking grim, the Bears had a 4-on-3 power play at the very end of the period. It took a couple attempts but Patrick McNeill tied it up with a nice shot down low. Spurred on by this goal, the teams went to overtime. When that didn’t solve anything, we moved on to the shootout.

It was ironic that the game came down to goaltending since the goalies from both teams were playing great games. Unfortunately, David Leggio came out on top today, stopped all four of the Bears shootout attempts. The Pirates scored twice on Schaefer and the Bears lost 3-2.

Guess we’ll have to wait another day for Mark French’s 100th career win…

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Bears hang on to beat Sound Tigers 3-2

In honor of Bridgeport’s 10th anniversary, Rick DiPietro (along with Trent Hunter and Jeremy Colliton) drops the puck for the ceremonial face-off.

Tonight was the final game of February for the Hershey Bears. They took to the road last night after their win against Albany to make it in time to play the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Connecticut.

There was no score after twenty minutes, which isn’t surprising when you see that Bridgeport led the shots on goal six to three. After the second period, the Bears still only had nine shots on goal but they had started making efficient use of them.

It took a power play in the early in the second period to put the Bears on the board. Keith Aucoin set up Kyle Greentree right in between the face-off circles.

Dmitri Orlov continues to impress everyone. When you watch him play, it’s really hard to believe that he hasn’t been with the team all season. The second period was probably his best so far. He gave a nice primary assist to Dmitri Kugryshev, who scored his sixth goal of the season. Orlov also showed off his physicality, got some penalty kill time, and almost scored a goal himself. The coaches and his teammates are showing confidence in him and deservedly so.

The Sound Tigers finally broke the shutout late in the second period with a power play goal from Rhett Rakhshani. Later in the third period, the Bears were whistled for two penalties and the Sound Tigers had a little over a minute and a half to tie it up…which they did.

Thankfully, the Bears regained their lead on a play where David de Kastrozza deserves a lot of credit. It started with him breaking up a pass in the Bears’ zone. He streaked down the ice where he got at least two shots off on goaltender Joel Martin. Eventually the puck bounced out to Maxime Lacroix who was to the side and had an open net to shoot at.

Despite some last minute penalties and great offensive rushes from Bridgeport, the Bears hung on and won 3-2.

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Three Goals in One Minute Push Monsters to Victory


An unhappy Todd Ford takes his spot on the bench after getting pulled.

The Bears were in control of this game for approximately five minutes before the Lake Erie Monsters took over.

It started with a strange penalty against Maxime Lacroix (my personal favorite penalty: “closing hand on puck”). The Bears were running their usual penalty kill when the Monsters got through them and scored the first goal. And then a second goal 18 seconds later. And then a third goal 22 seconds after that. Three goals before Hershey had time to even get one shot on goal.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that Todd Ford was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots. It was up to Jared DeMichel, who had just arrived in town after being called up this morning. During the shootout last night, Braden Holtby tweaked something. He finished that game but is now listed as week-to-week. It’s like we’ve gone back in time.

The first period was completely bleak. Boyd Kane, in the clutch way that only Kane can, refused to go down without a fight and scored on former bear, Jason Bacashihua.

During the second period, the Bears were able to mostly hold the Monsters back, but unfortunately Lake Erie did find the score sheet once again. The game might as well have been only two periods long. The third was the epitome of quiet. No scoring, no penalties, no fun. Some flashes of offense, a hit or two, but really nothing to write home about. We really only needed the first period to decide this one. Bears lose 4-1.

It was good showing for DeMichiel though. He was ready to step up for a game that he wasn’t meant to play. Without him, the Bears may not have been able to close the floodgates and keep Lake Erie from running away with this game.

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Mount up, boys!

Earlier this evening David de Kastrozza and Maxime Lacroix attended a charity event to raise money for the Four Diamonds Foundation.  Also in attendance was former Bear and AHL Hall of Famer Mitch Lamoureux.  The boys were on a team of celebrities who played donkey basketball against the Palmyra School District staff.

The evening started out with 4 teams of students playing against each other in two different games.  The rules weren’t too complicated.  The game was seven minutes long.  To shoot or block you had to be on your donkey.  When passing at least one person had to be on their donkey.  Seems simple enough, right?  In theory, yes.  Some of the donkeys proved to be a little more willing to play along than others.

Then it was time for the celebrity vs. faculty game.  As they were being introduced, the announcer said that neither de Kastrozza nor Lacroix knew that they would be riding donkeys.  They thought they were coming to play a charity basketball game.  I’m thinking that they might have had a couple comments for Lamoureux when they arrived and found out.  When it came time to play, de Kastrozza didn’t seem to have any issues getting on his mount.  Conversely, I’m not sure that Lacroix ever was able to make it on his.  Baskets were hard to come by all night as you can imagine.  The Palmyra faculty had the shot of the night.  They sunk a shot from well outside the three point line.  Remember you had to be ON the donkey to be able to shoot!

In the end, the Palmyra faculty won the game.  Of course the big winner of the night was the Four Diamonds Fund.  The total raised wasn’t known at the time of this writing, but any money raised is going to a good cause.

After the game I was able to catch up to Lacroix and de Kastrozza and ask them about the experience.

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Despite Early Lead, Bears Lose to Moose 5-4 (SO)


Kevin Connauton ends the shootout in the seventh round. Photo by Kyle Mace

It’s always an interesting game with the Manitoba Moose and the Hershey Bears meet.

Dmitry Kugryshev took control of the game early by blasting the puck past a moving goaltender. He sprawled to make the save, but Kugryshev was one step ahead of him. There was some pushing and shoving but the first period ended without scandal.

The second period held the majority of the action for this game. Kyle Greentree added a brief insurance goal after Hershey broke up a Manitoba play in their own zone and took off. The Moose briefly cut Hershey’s lead in half but Keith Aucoin got a shot in close on goaltender Eddie Lack to regain the two-goal lead.

After going through a scoring drought for most of December and January, Francois Bouchard seems to have his touch back. He had perfect placement to bang home a rebound less than a minute after Aucoin scored.

By the end of the period though, it was 4-3 Hershey when Manitoba fought back. They even scored with just 3.3 seconds left in the period to send the Bears to the locker room shaking their heads.

Things started getting chippy in the third period. Both Greentree and Andrew Gordon ended up on the wrong side of some hits in the corner. Each continued to play but they definitely looked rattled for a little bit. The Hershey crowd was already fuming after neither hit was penalized and it didn’t help that the Moose then tied it up after Aucoin was called for mouthing off to the referee.

The game went to overtime but the score didn’t change. It took seven rounds in the shoot out before either team could score. The coaches cycled through their players but the goalies stopped every one. That is until Kevin Connauton finally beat Todd Ford in the bottom of the seventh round. Moose win 5-4.

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Hershey’s Weak Finish Results in SO Loss to Lake Erie


Braden Holtby looks in disbelief at the replay. Photo by Kyle M.

A sold-out crowd gathered in Giant Center tonight to watch the Bears take on the Lake Erie Monsters. It was the only time we will see the Monsters in Hershey this season.

The game started off perfectly. Hershey scored the first goal early in the first period, as they often do. Lake Erie had two men in the box and Hershey had a 5-on-3 power play for thirty seconds. After getting roughed up, Keith Aucoin made the Monsters pay by scoring on the man advantage.

A few minutes into the second period, Ashton Rome recorded his sixth goal of the season. Tyler Sloan had a nice role in the play, joining the rush as a winger. Along with Maxime Lacroix, they got the puck to the goal. John Grahame made the initial save but Rome buried the rebound.

Perhaps getting a little too comfortable, the scoring ended there for Hershey. Meanwhile, Lake Erie started to kick it in gear. They cut Hershey’s lead in half before the end of the second period. Holtby couldn’t see the rebound and Lake Erie got their first goal of the night. With about a minute to go in the game, Lake Erie pulled their goalie. With an extra man, the Monsters got a lot of traffic in front of the Hershey goal and tied it up with just 40 seconds left in the game.

Overtime didn’t solve anything and so it went to the shootout. Unfortunately, the Monsters scored twice and Hershey could only score once.

Despite the loss, Braden Holtby was fantastic in net. It would have been a whole different game without him. He was there to make all the huge saves that the Bears needed him to make. I’m sure a shootout was not how the Bears wanted to end this game, especially with an early game in Binghamton tomorrow. Nevertheless, the Bears watch the game slip through their fingers and lose 3-2.

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Bears shut out Senators 4-0 on Teddy Bear Toss night


Maxime Lacroix’s goal triggers the attack of flying stuffed animals. Photo by Kyle M.

Tonight was annual Teddy Bear Toss. After the first Hershey goal, fans were instructed to throw their teddy bears onto the ice where they would then be collected and donated to Children’s Miracle Network. The Bears were playing like a team possessed for the beginning of the first period. No one wants to get shut out on Teddy Bear Toss night.

I guess technically the credit for unleashing the waterfall of teddy bears will go to Maxime Lacroix. A closer look may show that it bounced off of a Binghamton Senators player and past Robin Lehner. May I just say, fantastic job with the teddy bears, Hershey fans. It was announced that 7,199 teddy bears were thrown and they are all going to a good home.

But, back to the game! Francois Bouchard scored the first goal actually last touched by a Bear to put the team up 2-0 by the end of the first period.

Steve Pinizzotto had a spectacular pass for Jay Beagle to score a shorthanded goal. Credit to John Walton for this stat: the Bears have scored three shorthanded goals to date. The first goal was Keith Aucoin‘s and the other two belong to Beagle. Money.

At the end of the period, Pinizzotto would drop the gloves against Andre Benoit. Benoit may have started the fight but I don’t think he was ready for the impact of Pinizzotto’s fists. However, the highlight fight would probably go to Lawrence Nycholat taking on Bobby Butler in the third period. Strange pairing but Nycholat gets the win and the knockout punch. The joy of the fight was downgraded by the sight of Nycholat going down the tunnel. He never returned to the game. Get well soon!

To wrap up the game, Ashton Rome made it 4-0 Hershey after beating Lehner low. That would be the final goal of the game as Braden Holtby pitched a 26-save shutout. That’s two Saturdays in a row that Holtby has shut out the opposing team. And so, Hershey earns a perfect record for the weekend as they chalk up their 13th and 14th wins of the season. Woo!

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Pinizzotto and the Bears outlast Albany Devils, 3-2


Dany Sabourin rushes to make a save against the Albany Devils. Photo by the Albany Devils.

It was a quiet first period. In fact, it was a fairly quiet game against the Albany Devils.

The first goal of the game came exactly five minutes into the second period. Thankfully, Jay Beagle was able to counter with a goal just 31 seconds later, with an assist by Maxime Lacroix. The assist was Lacroix’s first AHL point of the season.

Trading back-and-forth goals, the Devils scored on the power play to regain their lead. But wait! How comfortable is Dmitri Kugryshev looking these days? He scored his second goal of the season to tie the game at two a piece before the end of the second period.

The hero of the night? Steve Pinizzotto. Showing the clutch guy he can be, he capitalized on an Albany turnover and scored the game-winning goal, unassisted, to give Hershey their first lead of the night. Thankfully, they only needed the lead once to maintain it and won 3-2.

So it may not have been the most exciting game but a win is a win. And wins are what Hershey needs.

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Bears dominate Crunch with a 5-1 victory

After Wednesday’s loss to the Worcester Sharks, Mark French was mad. The coaches held a closed door meeting that had us a little afraid for the players. We obviously don’t know what was said but it made tonight’s game against the Syracuse Crunch all that more important. Hershey needed to make a statement.

The first period was pretty even. Syracuse would draw first blood when Patrick Maroon scored his first goal as a member of the Crunch. It would be their only goal of the night. Andrew Gordon tied the game during a 5-on-3 power play before the end of the period.

The second period was key for the Bears. Hershey spent the majority of the period dominating the offensive zone, so much so that Syracuse opted for a goaltender change. This switch was most likely an attempt to wake up the rest of the team and not so much a reflection of Timo Pielmeier’s performance. Before the switch, Mathieu Perreault found the back of the net thanks to an assist from Gordon. Andrew Joudrey added a one-timer from Steve Pinizzotto that eluded Pielmeier.

For the rest of the game, the Bears tried to minimize Syracuse’s scoring chances as much as possible. Gordon scored his second goal of the night and 14th goal of the season. After killing off a penalty, Hershey regrouped and Kyle Greentree scored Hershey’s fifth and final goal of the night.

It’s easy to assume that Dany Sabourin was chosen to start in tonight’s game due to his previous success in Syracuse. Sabourin recorded his first win of the season in this building. He also shutout the Crunch in the last meeting between these two teams. After tonight’s game, he remains undefeated in Syracuse as Hershey wins 4-1.

There you go. A full 60 minute effort proves what Hershey is capable of. Let’s hope that meeting was the kick the Bears needed to turn this season around for good.

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