The Washington Capitals have traded Martin Erat and Bears forward John Mitchell to the Phoenix Coyotes for forward Chris Brown and defenseman Rostislav Klesla. The trade came Tuesday night after a long day of trades in the NHL.
Dane Byers, seen here earlier in the season, had two goals in Hershey’s 6-5 loss (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
“12 Rounds” may be an epic movie starring entertainer John Cena, but in a way the action film’s title describes the annual rivalry between the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Both teams battled in round 12 on Tuesday night to end the 2013-14 regular season portion of the I-81 rivalry. The back and forth game ended in a victory for the Baby Penguins, beating Hershey 6-5.
HERSHEY, PA – Philipp Grubauer warms up prior to a Bears game earlier this season. He stopped four of five Albany shootout attempts in a 3-2 Hershey win on the Boardwalk (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Every year, thousands of American football fans lose a pocket full of money after making foolish bets on the Super Bowl. Then of course you have that one jerk, who watches three games a season, makes and outrageous bet and picks Seattle to win by a 35 point spread and pockets several figures of cash that night. Only in America.
It’s a question mark whether there are AHL fans who bet on regular season matches, but if that were the case, the Hershey Bears have proven to be a safe bet thus far in 2014. Following a 3-2 shootout win Friday night against the Albany Devils, the Bears improved to a fantastic 14-4-1-0 record in the new year.
HERSHEY, PA – Michael Latta celebrates his first goal of the night with Matt Watkins in Hershey’s 3-2 win (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
We can all appreciate a sports season that is evenly split between two calendar years. It provides every team with a chance to start fresh and turn the page if it’s felt necessary.
In 2013, the Hershey Bears struggled to stay above the .500 mark in the AHL standings, had a power play unit ranked near the league’s worst and floated near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
But into the final Saturday of 2014’s opening month, the Bears suddenly hit a power surge bringing them to 20 wins at the 40 game mark. A sudden six game Giant Center win streak and a climb in the special teams rankings has helped Hershey to their recent success. Entering Saturday’s contest against Syracuse, the Chocolate and White had the best point percentage (.750%) in their previous ten games compared to all other Eastern Conference teams.
An impressive angle on Friday’s win in New York was winning by a three goal margin despite going 0-for-5 on the improving power play unit. In the next night’s rematch, the power play was blanked once more, but Michael Latta’s two goals lifted Hershey to a thrilling 3-2 win.
Michael Latta throws a punch at Chris Bruton (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Saturday night’s game between Hershey and Bridgeport was a very scrappy one for the two teams. Both Dane Byers and Michael Latta dropped the mitts late in the first period and both had pretty good bouts. Byers also laid a huge hit on Bridgeport’s Aaron Ness, sparking his scrap with Mike Halmo. Latta would have a go with Chris Bruton just a few moments after that. Below the jump, check out video of the fights from the two.
HERSHEY, PA – Brandon Segal is joined by Nate Schmidt and Dustin Gazley to celebrate goal in the third period against Bridgeport (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
It may not show in the standings just yet, but at the halfway point of the AHL season, the Hershey Bears have developed some valuable momentum. Saturday night at Giant Center, the Bears pulled out a 5-3 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The victory gave the Bears their fifth win in the last seven games.
Chay Genoway, seen here earlier in the season, had Hershey’s first goal of Friday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
After losing to Syracuse Friday night, the Bears look to win the weekend by putting together back to back victories over the next two days at Giant Center. It starts tonight against a team with one of the worst records in the AHL, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
Riley Gill at a Bears practice earlier in the season (Photo by: Kyle Mace)
The historic Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall hosted the first meeting of the 2013-14 season between the Albany Devils and Hershey Bears. Brandon Segal continued to dismantle opponents on the scoring sheet, Michael Latta channeled his inner Joel Rechlicz and Riley Gill earned his first AHL win during a 4-1 Bears win.
HERSHEY, PA – Ryan Stoa celebrates his first period goal with teammates during Hershey’s 5-3 win (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
The Hershey Bears debuted on Giant Center ice for the only time this weekend with a Saturday night match against the Springfield Falcons. Bears Play-by-Play voice Scott Stuccio tweeted hours before puck drop, “Bears undoubtedly will be ready to go for this one. Springfield (25-6-1-3) is the AHL’s top team (.771 points %).”
Hershey dropped a 4-2 tilt in Binghamton, NY the night before. However, Stuccio also tweeted Saturday afternoon that the Senators appeared to have too many men on the ice during their second period, game-winning goal.
Just as Stuccio warned, the Bears were ready to play and grinned out a 5-3 win over the top team in the American Hockey League.
HERSHEY, PA – Michael Latta, seen here earlier in the season, will rejoin Hershey after a stint with Washington (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
The Bears will get one of their top players back in the lineup for Saturday’s game against Springfield. Michael Latta will return to Hershey from the Washington Capitals. Latta had recorded seven points in just 12 games with the Bears and is coming off of injury with the Capitals.