We are in the midst of a long road trip. So far, it has been met with mixed results. The Bears started off the trip with a bad loss to the Bruins. The next night they came back with a win over the Monarchs. Along came Sunday and a shootout loss to the Sound Tigers.
And even more bad news from the weekend, Christian Hanson is out for hand surgery. [PennLive]
Braden Holtby gets his first NHL game of this season. Photo by Mitchell Layton/NHLI via Getty Images.
The Bears came off a 3 games in 3 nights weekend with 5 out of 6 available points. The beat Syracuse on Friday, lost in a shootout on Saturday to The Whale, and firmly beat the baby Pens at home on Sunday. We also have a new feature. Every Monday, Kyle will bring you a photo recap from the previous week. It’s called Snapshots. If you missed it, go take a look.
Braden Holtby and Joel Rechlicz each got a game with the Caps this week. Does Dale Hunter know what he’s doing? [HBHB]
Injuries in the Caps require call-ups from the Bears. Fox Sports take a look at the Caps injuries and how call-ups like Dmitry Orlov and Cody Eakin have performed. [Fox]
Garrett Mitchell and the Bears 4th line have been hot over the last couple weeks. Plus, he also loves being in Central PA. [LDN]
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.
Graham Mink collides with a Norfolk Admiral. Photo by John Wright.
It’s almost time for the All-Star break but first the Hershey Bears have to play back-to-back games against the Norfolk Admirals.
The Hershey Bears have picked up many rivals throughout the years. It’s not much of a secret that these teams always play a tough game against each other. The first period saw seven combined penalties and no score.
Photo credit: Mitchell Layton (and hijacked from our sister blog RMNB)
I’d rather not talk about this past weekend, but there were 3 games. Here are recaps from Friday, Saturday and Sunday all resulting in no points. The only good things to come out of this past week was an announcement that the All-Star Classic would be on TV and the Bears continued their tradition of reading in schools.
Keith Aucoin voted a starter at this year’s All-Star Game. [The AHL]
This isn’t the kind of season Zach Miskovic hoped he would have, but he is still making the best of it. [PennLive]
The Old Barn hockey show had Jim Jones, John Walton and Doug Yingst join them this week. [OBHS]
Tomas Kundratek has been a nomad this season. [CSNWash]
Speaking of Kundratek, he’s back in Hershey. [Caps]
And playing in the NHL was a dream come true. [PennLive]
Ryan Potulny and Jacob Micflikier celebrate a comeback. All Photos by Kyle Mace.
You know it will be an interesting night when Darth Vader drops the puck for the ceremonial face-off. Indeed it was Star Wars night as the Bears took on the Senators in Binghamton.
Things started off strong for the Bears. Graham Mink earned the first goal of the game only 29 seconds into the game. Later in the period, the Senators tied it up with a shot from the face-off circle that eluded Dany Sabourin.
The Bears responded quickly, however. Matt Ford was right in front of the net to shoot a rebound past a sprawling Robin Lehner. That lead lasted until the Senators got a late power play. Binghamton not only scored on that power play, but also scored two more times in the remaining minute of the period. It had quickly gone from a Bears lead to all Binghamton momentum.
Bourque celebrates his short-handed goal against the Phantoms. All photos by Kyle Mace.
It’s hard to follow a huge game like the Outdoor Classic, but with the same teams playing, it makes for an interesting rematch. Speaking of the Outdoor Classic, have you checked out Kyle’s recap and amazing photos?
Unlike last night, the Phantoms scored the first goal of the game. Andrew Rowe scored by banking a shot off of Danny Richmond. Not a whole lot Richmond or Dany Sabourin could have done.
The Bears tied it up late in the same period with a patented Chris Bourque short-handed goal. It was a big goal for his 20th of the season.
All photos by Kyle Mace
The Hershey Bears held their morning skate for the 2012 Outdoor Classic this morning. I was there to see it and to bring you photos of the action. It includes Braden Holtby, Patrick Wellar, and Keith Aucoin playing catch on the field ice.
Braden Holtby shut out the WBS Penguins. Photo by Anthony Fabrikant / AFC Media.
The Bears are great at having strong starts, but they usually struggle to get those strong starts when they play the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Tonight, they broke through.
It was defensemen who started the show. First, Matt Ford was stopped on a wraparound attempt but Tomas Kundratek stuffed home the rebound. A few minutes later, Julien Brouillette extended the lead when he scored on a screened Brad Thiessen.
To top off the first period, Patrick McNeill scored short-side during a power play to make it 3-0 after twenty minutes. Not only were all three goals from defensemen, but they were also the fifth goal of the season for each player.
Chris Bourque joins Keith Aucoin (center) and Graham Mink after Aucoin’s goal (All photos by Kyle Mace)
After losing to their arch rivals on Saturday, the Hershey Bears needed a bounce back win on Sunday. The Bears responded with a 6-3 victory over the Norfolk Admirals to move into a three way tie for first place in the AHL Eastern Division.