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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Injured Bears Annihilated in Norfolk, 6-1

Shane Owen looks on as the Admirals pot their sixth goal of the night.

Well…yeah, that was bad.

It didn’t always look so bleak. Steve Pinizzotto put the Bears on the board first. Earlier he had been whistled a boarding call but he made up for it by scoring on his next shift. Unfortunately, the Admirals tied it up before the end of first twenty minutes. And that started the roll of unanswered goals by Norfolk.

The penalties began racking up in the second and third periods with the Bears on the wrong end of the calls. By the end of the second period, it was a 4-1 game in favor of Norfolk. It’s at this point that you really start thinking about all the injuries that are keeping Bears out of the game and wondering how many players might be playing through minor injuries.

Just to add insult to injury (literally), the Admirals came out fast for the final period and scored just 32 seconds in. That goal would mean the end of Jared DeMichiel’s game and Shane Owen was put in goal. Yes, the same Shane Owen that was signed this morning to a pro tryout contract. The intention was to just have him back-up DeMichiel tonight…but plans change. John Walton informs fans that Owen is not expected to be here long which means that either Braden Holtby or Semyon Varlamov is returning from injury soon.

In his clashing bright red pads, Owen stopped nine of ten shots through the remainder of the game. The only goal he let up came a little over halfway through the period. He lost sight of the puck and couldn’t dive across the crease in time. But, obviously, that’s not enough. Bears lose 6-1.

If anything, this game proves that the Bears need to talk a hard look at some goalies to possibly add before clear day. Granted, Holtby should be getting healthy soon, but what happens if we gets injured again? DeMichiel still has some developing to do and Todd Ford isn’t the kind of goalie you want to backstop you through playoffs.

But it’s probably best to deal with that when it comes.

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Boyd Kane Leads Bears to 4-3 Win Over Devils

Joel Rechlicz has another impressive fight against LeBlond. Photo by Kyle Mace

We said earlier that the organization was one goalie injury away from having a serious problem on our hands. In front of a sold out crowd tonight against the Albany Devils, Jared DeMichiel showed that don’t need to completely panic. He was a little shaky at first and gave up a goal when he couldn’t get control of the puck. But after that, he settled down and stood up for some great saves, including a jaw-dropping one on Darcy Zajac in the third period. By the end, he stopped 27 of 30 shots.

After allowing the Devils the early lead, Boyd Kane countered with a goal of his own, bouncing the puck past Mike McKenna. Later on the 5-on-3 power play, the Bears took their first lead of the night on a goal from Francois Bouchard.

Steve Pinizzotto scored to start the second period, also on the power play. The Devils didn’t respond until the waning moments of the second period but they still stood a goal behind.

Kane scored again in the third period. His second goal would prove to be the game-winner as the Devils scored with 18.4 seconds left. Can we talk about Boyd Kane for a second? We all know that Kane is a clutch player, but as of late he has really stepped his game up even more. He’s been racking up the points and some confidence.

The story of the night for many people was the AHL debut of Dmitri Orlov. I think all around, people were impressed. Troy Mann did a great job coaching Orlov. He was doing a great job of keeping up with his teammates and definitely didn’t look like he was new to the team. He even recorded his first AHL point tonight with a secondary assist on Pinizzotto’s power play goal. He was on ice for both of Hershey’s power play goals and none of Albany’s goals. He also finished the game with three shots on goal. I think it’s safe to say that Hershey fans are happy to add this Russian to the team.

The other story of the night is Joel Rechlicz. I said it on Twitter during the game but I need to repeat it: it’s absolutely mind-blowing how long Rechlicz can fight before he tires out. I’ve never seen a player consistently have fights that last over a minute all while throwing some great punches. Tonight, he was speared in the ribs by Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (yes, him again) and they fought, of cour se. All while using only his left arm, Rechlicz took down Leblond and was even yelling at him for more. What a champ.

And that wraps up yet another exciting game against the Devils. Bears win 4-3. Goalie carousel be damned.

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Despite Getting Outshot, Bears beat Marlies 3-2 (SO)

In a rare Wednesday night game, the Bears traveled to Canada to play the Toronto Marlies. Hershey had the overwhelming obstacle of defeating Jonas Gustavsson who is with the Marlies on a conditioning stint. He is definitely an NHL-caliber goaltender and did very well in his first two conditioning games. To beat him, you need to shoot often.

…which is the opposite of what the Bears did at first. However, Hershey did manage to get one past Gustavsson thanks to Andrew Joudrey who was playing in his first game since being out with an upper body injury. Welcome back, Captain! However, the Marlies, not exactly known for their power play skills, tied it up while Patrick McNeill (not O’Neill, as the Ricoh Coliseum guy announced) was in the box. Continuing their onslaught of shots, it was only a matter of time before they found the back of the net again right off an late period offensive zone face-off. By the end of the first period, the Marlies were out-shooting them 15 to 5.

I imagine there were some strong words delivered by the coaches during the first intermission because they Bears came out aggressive for the second period. Braden Holtby continued to be a rock in net, holding back the Marlies from obtaining an even bigger lead. Late in the period, the Bears got their first power play which then turned into a 5-on-3. Boyd Kane had a shot on goal that rebounded back out. A Marlie attempted to interrupt the pass but ended up deflected it right to Kyle Greentree who shot it back door.

It was a tie game doing into a big third period. Penalties were exchanged and the Marlies regained some power, outshooting the Bears by a wide margin once again. But there was no change in the score and so the teams traveled on to overtime. Despite beginning and ending overtime on the power play, the Bears were unable to convert and a shootout was needed to end this game.

When it come down to the shootout, Holtby showed them who was boss. He stopped all five Toronto shooters. Steve Pinizzotto, who had a great game in his home town with friends and family watching, was the only Hershey skater to beat Gustavsson. It was all Hershey needed, however. Bears win 3-2 (SO).

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Bears Win High-Scoring Showdown Against Tigers


Boyd Kane leads the Hershey Bears to victory! Photos by Kyle Mace

If you were looking for goals, this was the game for you!

Two guys returned to the line-up tonight. The first was Braden Holtby, who held down the crease for the game. The second was Patrick McNeill, fresh off his call-up to Washington but returning without playing a game. He scored the first goal of the game just over one minute in. You think he wants to show the Caps what they’re missing?

Bridgeport briefly tied it up on the power play. Holtby tried to clear the puck up the middle but it was intercepted and he couldn’t recover in time. Thankfully, Steve Pinizzotto was there to give the Bears some breathing room. It was a strange goal. He was hit into the Bridgeport goalie but managed to backhand the puck in without even looking as he was falling. Money.

Soon it became 3-1 Bears as Joel Rechlicz (yes, Joel Rechlicz) scored his first goal of the season. Not only his first goal, but his first ever AHL goal and his first goal since his 2007-2008 IHL season (s/t to Tim Leone for that fact). Right after, Rechlicz dropped the gloves with Brett Gallant. It was a brilliant fight, both guys got in some huge punches and the fight lasted for at least a minute. That’s the kind of fight people will be talking about the next day. Before the end of the period, the Sound Tigers got one goal back.

Come second period, Pinizzotto got his second goal of the night on his own rebound. You give him that shot from between the face-off circles twice and he’s not going to miss twice. Mikko Koskinen was yanked in favor of Joel Martin, a smart move since Koskinen was looking shaky all night. The Sound Tigers responded with a goal (imagine that). But Boyd Kane scored a nice goal to cap off the period. Francois Bouchard had just gotten out of the penalty box when he took the puck right up to the goal. He had a shot but Martin stopped it and Kane got the second shot off.

In the third period, the Sound Tigers responded with another power play goal. But Kane was able to get his second goal of the game to make sure the Sound Tigers couldn’t come back and take over the game. Bears win 6-4.

It might have been a fun game for fans with all the offense, but it was not a good showing for the team. Holtby can be forgiven for knocking off some rust tonight but our defense really needs to step it up and help out our goalies. Maybe Dmitri Orlov will bring some help?

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Early Lead Helps Rochester Take Down Hershey, 3-2

You can’t win ’em all. Although, when you’re playing the struggling Rochester Americans, you tend to think you can win it.

It looked like it was going to be really bad at first. By the end of the first period, the Bears were already down 2-0. Rochester scored once on the power play and once even strength to make it look like a rough night for Hershey. It didn’t help when the Amerks scored in the beginning of the next period on a rebound shot past Todd Ford.

At the end of this recap, you’ll find the lines and pairings, as usual. However, those lines didn’t last very long. By the end of the second period, the coaches were already doing some shuffling in order to combat the Amerks early lead.

With the Amerks up 3 goals to none and Boyd Kane going to the penalty box for two minutes, things started looking grim. Thankfully, the Bears refused to give us and started putting some pressure on Rochester, even while down a man. Zach Miskovic unleashed a big shot that Johann Kroll tipped along the way and the Bears ended Tyler Plante’s shutout with a short-handed goal. That is Kroll’s first goal and point of the season.

Things really got exciting when Jay Beagle brought the Bears within one goal of tying it. He approached the goal at an angle that was rapidly getting tighter and tighter. He had such a quick backhand shot that it was hard to tell he even shot at all until you saw the slow motion replay. Plante was just as fooled and suddenly it was 3-2 Rochester.

It was like the Bears got a second wind. They start skating faster and harder and Rochester responded by matching their pace. The two teams battled it out for the rest of the period but Hershey couldn’t complete the comeback. They came very close but had their shots blocked. They even hit iron a couple of times. Amerks win 3-2.

The Bears will be at home for the remainder of the weekend. Make sure you come out and cheer the team back to its winning ways.

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Officiating Called Into Question Again as Bears Lose to the B-Sens 4-3.

Jean Hebert set the tone early with a hooking call on Andre Benoit (BNG) at 1:13 of the first period.  Kyle Greentree got the next two hooking calls but the Bears penalty killers were able to keep the game scoreless.  Shortly after Greentree’s second penalty, the Sens were able to capitalize on a botched play by Todd Ford.  Ford played the puck behind the net, but he was indecisive.  Miscommunication with Sean Collins led to a turnover behind the Bears net.  The puck came out to an undefended Colin Greening in the high slot and  he made Ford pay.  A short time later Dylan Yeo brought the game back to even with a shot through traffic from the point.

The second period saw things start to come apart for the Bears.  Turnovers happened frequently and they left players from the Sens uncovered in scoring positions.  The second period also brought more questionable calls from Hebert.  For most of the period, the Bears PK units were outstanding.  In fact, during the first Steve Pinizzotto penalty, the shorthanded Bears had more chances than the Sens.  In the end, the Sens were able to come up with a PP goal and one other in the period to give them a 3-1 lead headed into the third period.

Nineteen seconds after the start of the third period, the Sens were able to put the puck in the net again.  The goal, however, was waived off due to goaltender interference.  Derek Smith essentially jumped on top of Ford.  The officiating trend continued with seven more penalties called in the period.  This, of course, brought out the colorful chants from the Giant Center crowd.  In the end a road weary, injury depleted Bears team was unable to overcome all the adversity and lost to the Sens.

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Bears Extend Winning Streak With 3-2 Victory in Bingo

Giving Dany Sabourin a well-deserved rest, Braden Holtby led the Bears onto the ice against the Binghamton Senators tonight.

Boyd Kane scored the first goal of the game. He sniped the shot up high and gave Hershey the early lead. Before the end of the period, the Senators tied it up on the power play when Bobby Butler slammed home the rebound.

In the second period, the teams exchanged goals again. Bingo got their first lead of the game when they got the puck close up on the goal crease and beat Holtby. Hershey countered with a power play goal of their own. Brian Willsie gets all the credit on this one as he danced through the defense and placed a perfect backhand shot.

It looked like there was a game-changing penalty when Jim O’Brien of Binghamton was questionably penalized for a hit on Tyler Sloan. O’Brien recieved an elbowing major as well as a game misconduct. But the Senators came up big and killed off the penalty.

Just when it seemed as if not scoring on that power play was going to be their biggest regret, the Bears upped their offense and got moving. Kyle Greentree got the puck right between the face-off circles and scored five-hole on Mike Brodeur with about two and half minutes left in the game.

The Senators couldn’t muster up enough to tie the game again and the Bears won 3-2. They have now won five games in a row, their longest streak of the season!

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Hershey’s Home Stand is Perfect, beat Falcons 4-3


Sheldon Souray celebrates another win with Dany Sabourin. Photo by Kyle Mace

Before I dive into this game recap, I want to congratulate John Walton on calling his 1,000th game. Fans of any team should appreciate Walton and all that he has done for Hershey. It wouldn’t be half as interesting to listen without you, John. It would be an understatement to say that I hope he’s around for 1,000 more.

And now about the game. After getting snowed in last time and having to push the game to tonight, the two teams were going pretty strong right from the start.

The Springfield Falcons had a some notable names in the starting line-up. Mike Commodore was in, playing his first game for the Springfield Falcons. But the bigger name for Hershey fans was the return of Kyle Wilson. The Reeses Cup mascot dropped the puck in a ceremonial face-off and Andrew Gordon and Wilson took it together. It was nice to see two former teammates together again, even if they were wearing different jerseys.

Speaking of Gordon, he was the first Bear to find the back of the net. With a nice pass from Keith Aucoin, Gordon scored short side on David LeNeveu. Sean Collins, who is having a pretty good season, made it a two goal lead with a missile from center point.

The Falcons cut Hershey’s lead in half when they scored ten seconds into their first power play of the night. The second period was fairly quiet but Brian Willsie added some insurance with a power play goal of his own.

The Falcons looked like they were on the cusp of a comeback during the third period when John Moore got Springfield within one goal of tying. Steve Pinizzotto didn’t take too kindly to this and just moments later scored a sweet goal where he danced around the Falcons goaltender.

Kyle Wilson wasn’t willing to accept defeat and scored a goal with 17.8 seconds left in the game after a botched clearing attempt by Sabourin. The Bears were able to stave off any last chances from Springfield and won 4-3.

Hershey took advantage of this four game home stand and gained eight points in the standings. These four wins are crucial ones and have shown just what this time is capable of. Dany Sabourin played great, winning all four games. He has proven that we can rely on him even when we don’t have Braden Holtby with us.

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Bears Sweep Weekend With 5-1 Win vs. Phantoms


Dany Sabourin gets some well-deserved congratulations. Photo by Kyle Mace

It took a whole period for the Hershey Bears to wake up in their game against the Adirondack Phantoms. Maybe they were feeling a little lethargic on their third game in three days. On the other side, the Phantoms were looking even more tired due to all their traveling in the past few days.

The Bears made up for the goal-less first period. Francois Bouchard started the Bears off with a beautiful top shelf snipe against Michael Leighton. A few minutes later, Patrick Wellar scored on a shot from the blue line. Andrew Gordon topped off the period with a goal, the whole time fighting off a Phantom who was watching him closely.

Adirondack ended the shutout with a goal on the power play with Tyler Sloan was in the box for interference.

Thankfully, Sheldon Souray, playing his first game back from his most recent lower body injury, made up for it later. Phantom Stefan Legein absorbed the entire blow of Souray’s first bomb of a shot. As he struggled to get up, the puck returned to Souray and this time no one was willing to block it the second time and he found the back of the net. David de Kastrozza, playing only his second AHL game, got the primary assist and his very first AHL point!

Brian Willsie scored on the power play to make the final score 5-1 Hershey.

Dany Sabourin has taken a lot of criticism for his play this season. As such, I feel more than obligated to give credit where credit is due. Not only did he play three games in three days, not only did he win all three games, he played damn good. He even stopped a penalty shot late in the third period. Throughout the weekend, he stopped 78 of 83 shots. I think the decision to play him all three days is a show of support from the coaches. If anyone deserves a lot of rest tomorrow, it’s Sabourin.

These players deserve a lot of credit. Hopefully they will wrap up the homestand with a win against the Springfield Falcons on Wednesday.

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