A Night to Forget: Baby Pens defeat Bears, 3-1


Graham Mink and Niko Dimitrakos exchange words after a big hit. Photo by Kyle Mace.

It’s always an interesting game when the in-state rivals play. Tonight, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were in Chocolatetown, ready to put up a fight against Hershey’s point streak.

The drama came in the first period when Sean Collins hit Eric Tangradi. Collins definitely got his arm up high but it was unclear whether it was a hit to the head or to the chest. I saw some of other angles of the hit and I’m still not sure of where the hit landed but I can understand arguments either way. Collins was initially put in the penalty box but, after some discussion, the penalty was called off.

The Bears were unable to get a lot of momentum going during the first period because of all the penalties against them. Thankfully, Braden Holtby was very sharp and made a lot of big saves to keep the Bears in it.

The only goal he gave up in the first period was a deflection by Brian Gibbons during a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton power play. It was the second night in a row that the Bears gave up the first goal.

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Norfolk Spoils Hershey’s Home Opener, 6-5 (OT)


Michel Ouellet scores in overtime to defeat the Bears. Photo by Kyle Mace.

Despite the fact that the Bears had already played three games before tonight, there was a lot of energy and excitement in Giant Center. For once, the Bears were not raising a banner before their home opener but they did celebrate the 10th anniversary of Giant Center. The Bears were wearing commemorative jerseys tonight, honoring Giant Center and the three Calder Cups they’ve won since playing there. It was time to show off the new Bears slogan in front of the Hershey faithful.

The Bears celebrate an early lead.

To start the game, the Admirals did exactly what they didn’t want to do: they went to the penalty box. After having a great night against the Norfolk penalty kill unit last night, the Bears continue to score during the man advantage. Keith Aucoin had a sharp angle shot towards the crease and Graham Mink did what he does best. The puck deflected past Jaroslav Janus and Hershey took the early lead.

But, much like last night, the Admirals responded and tied the game up a few minutes later. They got Braden Holtby moving and Radko Gudas was able to score on the rebound. Then the Admirals gained their first lead of the weekend before the end of the first period when several players crashed the net. Christian Hanson fell on his own goaltender and Gudas scored again with the loose puck. With less than a minute left in the first period, the Bears made up for it by scoring on a Sean Collins shot from the point.

For the second night in a row, the game was tied 2-2 after one period.

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Let the games begin!


Photo via Hershey Bears Facebook Page

There is a fall chill in the Central PA air.  It’s now October.  The Bears have had training camp and the preseason games are over.  Now comes the anticipation as we await the start of the regular season.  For the team it starts tomorrow, but we won’t see them until October 15th.  Currently, there is a large RV show that has taken over the parking lots of the Giant Center and Hersheypark.  This happens every year and it yet another signal of hockey’s impending return.

The final cuts have been made, and the opening roster is set. But this is the AHL.  The roster won’t be the same for long.  When the Caps lose a player to injury, he is temporarily gone.  Those positions are filled in from the Bears.  As an AHL fan, we know that our guys are different.  Instead of being temporarily gone, they are temporarily here.  There are no long term contracts. We hope for the best for them and that their dreams of making it to the NHL come true.  I kind of equate it to parenting.  We want the best for our boys, but while they are under our roof we demand the best from them.  This is Hershey.  When you look up the rafters in Giant Center you will see the names of the greats and 11 Calder Cup banners.  Division and Conference championship banners are not hung.  The Reese’s advertising in section 211 says it all.  “It’s all about the cup!”.  This is Hershey and you will be held to a higher standard.  With that in mind, let’s take a look at who we will be seeing in Hershey to start the season.

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Hershey Falls 2-1 to Pens in Second Pre-Season Game


Wilkes-Barre celebrates one of their 2 goals as they come back to beat Hershey (Kyle Mace)

It’s getting closer. With the start of the regular season less than a week away, the Hershey Bears play the second of their three pre-season games Saturday night at Giant Center. And although the results don’t count in the standing, the Bears dropped their second straight to Wilkes-Barre Scranton, 2-1.

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Checkers Tie the Series up with 3-2 Win against Bears

Braden Holtby stands a Charlotte Checker up. Photo by Checkers SmugMug.

Tonight’s game against the Charlotte Checkers was the first chance for the Bears to really take control of this series but we all knew that it would be a battle.

The first period was pretty uneventful in terms of offense. The Bears made sure that they were in control of this game, keeping possession of the puck for most of the periods. During the first period, the Checkers only managed four official shots on goal versus Hershey’s ten shots on goal.

Unfortunately, all that effort didn’t matter when Zach Miskovic was whistled for tripping at the beginning of the second period. Charlotte scored on the power play with a shot from the face-off circle. It looked like Braden Holtby was screened by both a Checker and a Bear.

Just over halfway through the period, Mathieu Perreault tied the game up with an interesting goal. Perreault was right on the goal line when he took a shot. It somehow managed to squeak past Mike Murphy who was flush against the goalpost. It may have even bounced off of Murphy.

Charlotte’s power play proved to be deadly again in the third period as former Bear Oskar Osala scored during the man advantage. It was originally awarded to Dalpe, who was right on top of Holtby. But it was changed to Osala after it was decided that Dalpe didn’t touch it before it crossed the line.

With the game winding down, the Checkers ensured that they would finish the game with a win. Nick Dodge, who scored a goal last night, gave Charlotte a two-goal lead. But Perreault responded with his second goal of the night. He was able to bang home a rebound and bring it back within one goal.

But the Bears couldn’t complete the comeback with such little time left in the game. With Mike Murphy looking his best at the other end of the ice, Hershey lost 3-2.

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Bears Remain Winless Against the Pens at Home

The Baby Pens celebrate one of many goals against the Bears tonight. Photo by Kyle Mace

For your average teams, a game with two teams who already have secured seeds in the playoffs would be just another game to get through.

Someone should tell the Bears and Penguins this, although I don’t think they’d hear you over the sound of their hatred for each other.

It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that this game would be just as physical as yesterday’s, if not moreso. Just about five minutes in, Ashton Rome had a big hit on Zach Sill. Sill had a few words for Rome and then they dropped the gloves. It was definitely dominated by Rome though, who brought the crowd to their feet after delivering some huge blows.

It didn’t take long for Patrick Wellar and Jesse Boulerice to follow suit and fight near center ice. Wellar had the advantage early but Boulerice got the takedown.

Despite several power plays, the Bears just could not find the back of the net. This is mostly the result of John Curry’s stunning saves. Just when it seemed like the period would end scoreless, the Penguins kicked it up a notch during the final minute of play. The Bears botched several attempts to clear the zone and all of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s offense got Braden Holtby moving. 1-0 Penguins.

The second period started off a little quieter but it only took thirty seconds for Hershey to be in a 3-0 hole. Brett Sterling was positioned right in front of Holtby and chipped the puck past Holtby. It was a good shot and there wasn’t much he could do about it.

The next goal stung a bit more. The Penguins were on a power play with Souray in the box. Holtby came out of his crease a little to make a save but the rebound came right out to Nick Petersen. Holtby was too far out and Petersen practically had an empty net.

With all the momentum on their side, the Penguins kept it going. Bryan Lerg fired a fast shot from the above the face-off circle that went right past Hershey.

In one period, the game went from about equal to domination by the Penguins. The Bears did a better job during the third period of holding the Penguins back.

It took 58 minutes for the Bears to finally break the shutout. Andrew Gordon was easily the best player on the ice for the Bears tonight. He was robbed on several occasions but he was eventually able to beat Curry.

Just 31 seconds later, Maxime Lacroix, who also had several good chances throughout the game, closed in on the net and cut the Penguins’ lead in half.

It was good to see these guys rewarded for their play in a game that some guys had mailed in. Unfortunately, it was too little too late as the Bears lost 4-2. They remain winless against the Penguins on home ice.

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Penalties Prove Decisive in 3-2 SO Loss against Norfolk

Johan Harju scores the game-winner in the shootout against Schaefer. Photo by Kyle Mace

It was a big day for the special teams as the Hershey Bears took on the rival Norfolk Admirals.

Patrick McNeill scored during a first period power play. He was skating between the face-off circles when he stopped the puck with his foot. He kicked it in front of him and shot a sweet wrister past Dustin Tokarski.

During the second period, the Admirals countered with a power play goal of their own. They got Nolan Schaefer moving and he couldn’t cross the crease in time to stop a shot from Alex Berry. Tie game after two periods.

As it always seems to with these teams, it came down to a big third period. The Admirals took their first lead of the game almost halfway through the period while (you guessed it) on the power play. It was speedy play and a fast pass to the middle where James Wright tipped it past Schaefer.

But Kyle Greentree was ready to respond! Just a minute later, Greentree gave Hershey a second wind by scoring five-hole on Tokarski. And get this: it wasn’t on the power play!

I’m sure that after seven games in nine nights, overtime during the seventh game was not deserved. Nevertheless, the Bears found themselves in sudden death, fighting for that extra point. Sean Collins was whistled for a delay of game late in overtime and the Bears killed it off to move the game to the shootout.

The Admirals only scored once, but that was all they needed. Tokarski stopped all five Hershey skaters. Bears lose 3-2 (SO).

Tokarski is just unreal. We all keep waiting for him to show signs that he’s human but he’s the epitome of a “hot goalie” right now. Nevertheless, the Bears should be proud of the way they played tonight. It was a fantastic all-around effort and they definitely have a well-deserved rest coming up this week. See you Friday.

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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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