Bears Come Out On Top, Beating Moose 5-1


The Bears celebrate a solid win against their rivals from the North. Photo by Kyle Mace

There wasn’t a whole lot of offense for the entire first period between the Hershey Bears and the Manitoba Moose. In fact, it took just under 13 minutes for the Moose to even register their first shot on goal. Maybe the teams were feeling a bit lethargic after a seven-round shootout the night before. Even the stands were a little quieter than usual due to the empty seats for those preparing for that big football game tonight.

Hershey got their first power play of the night right at the start of the second period. Brian Willsie had a beautiful wrister from the face-off circle during the man advantage to finally get a number up on that scoreboard. The Bears had just killed off a Joel Rechlicz penalty when a shot from Bill Sweatt beat Todd Ford. Tie game after two periods.

I have to wonder what was said in the Hershey locker room during the second intermission. In previous games against Manitoba, the Moose were able to keep up with any offense the Bears threw at them. But this time the Bears kicked it up for the third period.

Boyd Kane led the effort with a goal from the bottom of the face-off circle. Props to Ashton Rome for that perfect pass from the behind the goal to set Kane up. A few minutes later, Zach Miskovic had a blast from the point that eluded goaltender Tyler Weiman. Miskovic now has a career high in goals for the season and it’s just over the halfway mark!

The real dagger for Manitoba occurred when Hershey scored two goals in twenty seconds. Kyle Greentree had the first goal with a nice shot short side of the power play. The second game from Rome when he banged home a rebound off of Sean Collins‘ shot.

Ford wasn’t pressured too much and received a lot of help from the Hershey defenders. They were blocking shots all over the place and ensuring that the Moose never got the chance to get back into the game. Bears win 5-1.

Read More

Another Perfect Night for Bears Penalty Killers

The Bears came to tonight’s game looking to grab a couple more points from a struggling Adirondack team.  The Phantoms have recently been playing better than they had at the start of the season.  Before tonight they had not lost in regulation in the last six games.  Both teams played a tight game.  In the end the Bears were able to prevail and take two more standings points home with them.  Those were points that they ended up needing since Norfolk also won tonight.  The Bears are still trailing Norfolk by one point for third place in the Eastern Division; however the Bears have a game in hand.

Without many whistles, the first period moved along quickly.  The Bears had 3 power plays during the period.  Sloppy passing and stick handling caused them to squander the first two opportunities.  The third Bears power play of the period started out the same way.  The first unit was ineffective against the Phantoms penalty killers.  With time running short on the power play the second unit was sent out.  Dmitri Kugryshev was able to keep the puck in on the right boards then get a pass to Zach Miskovic near the center point.  Miskovic fired a shot through traffic that found the back of the net.  The period ended with 10 total shots on goal (Bears 8, Phantoms 2)

The second period started much like the first, but Brian Willsie quickly changed that.  After Phantoms turnover Steve Pinizzotto took the puck below the right faceoff circle and sent a pass to Willsie in the high slot.  Leighton never got over in time and Willsie was able to bury the shot in the back of the net.  Willsie later gave Patrick Wellar an assist.  Wellar took a deflected shot to the mouth late in the second period and immediately left the ice with blood evident.  Willsie skated over, found Wellar’s tooth and made sure the tooth made it back to its rightful owner.

The Bears took a couple penalties in the front half of the third period.  Unlike the first two periods, the Phantoms were able to get some quality chances on those power plays.  In the first two stanzas, I found myself forgetting that the Bears were actually killing a penalty.   Fortunately Danny Sabourin and the penalty killers were able to keep the Phantoms off the score sheet.  At 17:36 Keith Aucoin took a slashing minor to make the last couple minutes of the game a little more interesting.  With about 1:20 left, Michael Leighton was pulled to add an extra skater.  In the end it didn’t make a difference.  The Bears killed off the penalty, and Pinizzotto added an empty netter to finish off the game.

Read More

SHOE’s Voting Guide for the 2011 AHL All-Star Classic

Hi, I’m Brian. First, let me start by saying I am thrilled to be part of the Sweetest Hockey On Earth team! I will be bringing you coverage of the back-to-back Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears from a local (and rink-side) perspective. Please take a moment to go to the About Us page to read more about me.

As for the 2011 AHL All-Star game, the Captains for this season’s game have already been named.  Heading up the Eastern Conference will be Mark Wotton and from the West it will be Alexandre Giroux.  They both are not only veterans of the league, but between the two of them, they have been named to several All-Star teams.  More interesting to you Hershey fans, is that both of these team captains are former Calder-Cup winning Bears players!

Read More

Holtby Blocks Norfolk in 2-0 Hershey Victory


Kyle Greentree sneaks the puck past Dustin Tokarski to give Hershey the lead. Photo by Kyle.

It’s very curious to me that when the two best offensive teams in the league play each other, the game ends up being a low-scoring event. The Norfolk Admirals are the league leaders in goal scoring but only managed to score one goal the first time they played Hershey this season.

Ironically, that was the last time Braden Holtby let in a goal. Tonight was his fourth shutout of the season. Thanks to Tim Leone for help with this stat: Holtby has now played 173 minutes and 37 seconds without letting in a goal, including two complete shutouts. While Dany Sabourin may be struggling to find his groove, Holtby is holding down the fort.

Despite winning both games against the Admirals, the Bears themselves have not been able to score as much as usual either. Kyle Greentree scored the eventual game-winner during the first period. The Bears were on the power play and Greentree shot the puck towards the goal. I think Dustin Tokarski was more concerned with Andrew Gordon‘s placement on the doorstep than with Greentree’s shot, which then hit Tokarski and deflected in.

Zach Miskovic added a little insurance during the second period. Keith Aucoin had an absolutely beautiful cross-ice pass to Miskovic who then one-timed it into the net. John Walton noted that the goal was Miskovic’s fifth of the season, but his third in the past week. It’s good to see him finding a style that works for him and feeling comfortable joining the offense. As proven in the past week, he can be quite the offensive threat.

I found it interesting that the Norfolk Admirals opted not to pull Tokarski until there was under half a minute left in the game. Interesting strategy for a team that was down two goals and about to get shut out.

Nevertheless, Hershey gains another valuable two points and downs Norfolk 2-0.

Read More

Hershey Takes Down Offensive-Powered Norfolk, 3-1


Steve Pinizzotto’s empty net goal is icing on the cake in the Bears victory over the Admirals. Photo by Kyle Mace

There’s nothing like a good power play goal to get the game rolling. Hershey did just that when the Norfolk Admirals were whistled for a tripping call. Zach Miskovic was able to tip Patrick McNeill‘s shot past Dustin Tokarski on the power play to give Hershey the first lead of the night. The score stayed the same until the second period when Norfolk’s Chris Durno tied it up.

During the second period, Ashton Rome was jumped by Norfolk’s Vladimir Mihalik. At 6 foot 8, Mihalik has the clear size advantage. They were shoving back and forth beforehand but it wasn’t until Rome had his back turned that Mihalik attacked. Rome wrestled back and they both fell to ice. The crowd expressed its disapproval as both were assessed two minute roughing penalties.

While skating 4-on-4, Brian Willsie got tangled up with an Admiral player. The call could have gone either way, but it’s definitely hard to agree with two minors (tripping and roughing) against Willsie for the play. The Bears then had to play four minutes down a man. However, they rose to the occasion and did a great job keeping Norfolk back. And it remained all tied up after two periods.

And that’s how two high-scoring teams ended up starting the third period with a score of 1-1. Keith Aucoin brought the game back under Hershey’s control with a completely innocent shot. He was at the back wall and lightly tapped the puck to be back in front of the net. It some how caromed off of Tokarski himself and found its way into the net.

Steve Pinizzotto topped it off with an empty net goal and Hershey beat the Norfolk Admirals 3-1. It’s a big two points against a very strong team. It’s a game like this that gives a team a lot of confidence.

Read More

Bears continue losing skid after 2-1 loss to P-Bruins


The Providence Bruins celebrate Kirk MacDonald’s goal. Photo by Kyle M.

As far as I’m concerned, tonight’s game against the Providence Bruins lasted twenty minutes.

The first two periods yielded zero goals. Despite power plays for both sides and a number of decent scoring chances, the score was still zero-zero after forty minutes. The goal post seemed to be the third goaltender on the ice tonight.

We did get a fight though! Joel Rechlicz took on Sean Zimmerman. It was Rechlicz’s second fight of season (the first gave him the terrifying double black eyes). There were some pretty good punches thrown and I’d give the win to Rechlicz, although Zimmerman got the take down.

The teams made up for the lack of scoring by getting three goals in about five minutes during the final period. The Bruins scored first on a shot that may have deflected off a Bear before flying past Braden Holtby. Quickly after, the Bruins got an insurance goal during a delayed penalty call against Hershey.

The only scoring highlight for Hershey came when Andrew Joudrey tipped a Zach Miskovic shot to beat Nolan Schaefer. Schaefer, for the record, was phenomenal tonight. He is a big reason for the 2-1 win for Providence

So the Bears have started a losing streak just like their big brothers, the Caps. Hopefully they’ll break out of it tomorrow against the Charlotte Checkers (yes, them again).

Read More

Depleted Hershey line-up loses 5-3 to Charlotte


Patrick Wellar pushes Jacob Micflikier to the ice. Photo by Checkers SmugMug.

After Friday’s game against the Charlotte Checkers, we were happy for the win but still hoping to see some players return to bolster the line-up. Instead, we lost Phil Oreskovic and, more importantly, leading scorer Andrew Gordon. Oreskovic didn’t play after getting injured in the last game. Gordon was called up to Washington before the game and joined the Capitals in New York for their game aginst the Rangers tonight. Returning from his one game suspension, Steve Pinizzotto took over Gordon’s spot on the top line.

The Charlotte Checkers put the Bears in an early hole today. Three quick goals within the first nine minutes made it 3-0 in favor of the Checkers before you could blink. The only shining moment of the first period was Jay Beagle‘s short-handed goal that finally put Hershey on the board. That goal was Beagle’s fourth short-handed goal of the season. I can’t talk about this enough. He now has more short-handed goals than even strength goals.

During the second period, the Bears were able to cut Charlotte’s lead down to one on the power play. Sheldon Souray scored his first ever goal as a Bear on a blistering one-timer. I’m sure you’d expect nothing less from Souray.

Mark French decided to stick with Braden Holtby in goal. After letting in three goals on six shots, Holtby was able to steady himself and shut the door for…almost the rest of the game. It started to really go downhill when the Checkers scored on a 5-on-3 during the third period. They got another goal when Holtby decided to play with the puck outside of his crease with a lot of traffic around him. One of the reasons we love Holtby is his aggressive style and his puck handling. But today he was making a lot of questionable decisions outside of his crease and eventually it caught up with him. He went to play the puck and turned it over to the Checkers who scored on the practically empty net.

That was pretty much the dagger for the Bears. The game did end on a high note though as Lawrence Nycholat scored his fourth goal of season in the final minutes of the game. But Hershey seemed to accept their 5-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers. Hey, Keith Aucoin, how is your knee feeling?

Read More

Injured Bears stay strong to defeat Checkers 2-1 (SO)


Captains Bryan Rodney and Andrew Joudrey take a ceremonial face-off before the game. Photo by Checkers SmugMug

The team dressed to play against the Charlotte Checkers tonight only sort of resembled the Hershey Bears. Missing big players because of injuries, suspension, a call-up, we watching the bare bones of the Bears. More on that later.

Charlotte made an interesting choice off the bat by choosing Justin Pogge to start instead of Mike Murphy. Murphy, this season, has all but had Hershey’s number. The only game Hershey had won against the Checkers was the game Pogge started and then subsequently was pulled during. The first period had the appearance of history repeating itself. At first, Pogge was shaky, juggling the puck and giving up big rebounds. On Hershey’s first shot of the game, Andrew Gordon potted his 16th goal of the season, breaking his brief scoring “slump.”

Despite Hershey leading the shots 17 to 5 at the end of the first period, it was a tie game. The Charlotte goal came after Braden Holtby made a great poke check save. Unfortunately, Jerome Samson was there to cash in on the rebound while Holtby was sprawled on the ice.

Even with the Checkers stepping their game up in the waning minutes, the second and third periods saw no scoring change. This was only the third time that the Bears had gone to overtime and only the second time they’d gone to the shootout.

Pogge deserves all the credit he can get for tonight’s game. Hershey threw 49 shots at him and he stopped all but one. Holtby got the win tonight though, stopping all four shots he saw in the shootout. After Holtby stoned Chris Terry in the shootout and clinched the victory, he skated furiously out of his crease and proceeded to celebrate as if he scored a goal. Kinda like this. Should we count this as another Holtbyism? Sure, why not!

In an interesting twist by that genius, Mark French, Lawrence Nycholat scored the game-winning goal. Yes, you read that correctly. Brian Willsie also scored in the shootout to help secure the 2-1 win. I don’t think people were expecting the broken down Bears to put up almost 50 shots in one game. If they keep up this kind of effort, the team is bound to start seeing more success, especially with a healthy line-up.

Read More

Worcester takes Thanksgiving Eve 3-2 victory


Brian Willsie has to be held back after Alex Stalock leaves the crease to give him a good shove after the whistle. Photo by Kyle M.

We were all hoping to cut into our turkeys tomorrow and be thankful for a Bears victory to start the holiday. Unfortunately, we’ll just have to be thankful that it’s only the beginning of the season.

The first period started off a little awkward. The Worcester Sharks opened scoring with a rebound goal that beat Dany Sabourin. Just over a minute later, Tommy Wingels scored Worcester’s second goal on a breakaway that left Zach Miskovic and Sheldon Souray in the dust on the blue line. By the end of period, Hershey seemed to finally develop a sense of control and tempo that unfortunately did not foreshadow a comeback, but instead a good attempt at a comeback.

The second period continued the offensive flow that the Bears found in the first period. Mathieu Perreault broke the shutout to put Hershey on the board. Unfortunately, Worcester counted with another goal to make it 3-1 by the end of the second period.

Starting the third period on the power play, the Bears needed to use this man advantage. Souray had a huge missile of a shot (though when doesn’t he?) that Jay Beagle was able to convert on to bring Hershey back within a one goal difference. Even with a couple of power plays in the third, Hershey couldn’t convert to tie the game. Sharks take this one 3-2.

Hershey outshot Worcester for most, if not all, of the game. The final shot count was 21-43 in favor of Hershey. Those shots tell the story of Hershey’s fierce attempt at evening the score and also the story of goaltender Alex Stalock’s skills.

We’ll wrap this recap up on a positive note: To all our American readers, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. To those of you who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving…Happy Fourth Thursday of November.

Read More

Second period pushes Bears to 4-3 win over Wolf Pack


Hartford goalie Cameron Talbot looks back at a puck in his net. Photo by Kyle M.

Hershey chalks up a win the last game they will ever play against the Hartford Wolf Pack before they become the Connecticut Whale.

With Hershey controlling the tempo of this game, it was another game where Semyon Varlamov did not see a lot of shots. He stopped 19 of 22 and at least one of those goals there was really nothing he could do. He looked more comfortable in his crease, even after getting plowed down by Chad Kolarik in the first period.

A strong start to the second period helped push Hershey to an early lead. Mathieu Perreault showed off his speed by breaking up a pass at the blue line before darting off to get an unassisted goal just 17 seconds into the second period. Just over a minute later, Brian Fahey had a bomb of a shot from the right point.

Minutes later, Fahey and Sean Collins took two quick penalties and suddenly the Wolf Pack had their first goal. However, the Bears remained calm and Perreault picked up his fourth goal of the season halfway through the period. Brian Willsie would wrap up the period with a power play goal to make 4-1 Hershey after 40 minutes.

After that period, Hershey was done scoring but Hartford wasn’t. They scored two more goals halfway through the third period before Hershey’s defense could corral them. Willsie’s goal became the game winner as Hershey defeated Hartford 4-3.

So it’s adios Wolf Pack. Hello Whale. We’ll see you in March.

Read More
Back To Top
Search