In the first game of the 80th AHL season in Hershey Bears hockey history, goaltender Parker Milner would get the call as both Pheonix Copley and Vitek Vanecek were ruled out due to injuries. Milner would have to deal with a Phantoms team looking for revenge after the Bears knocked them out of the playoffs last season.
Tyler Lewington already had a connection to Tom Gilbert when the veteran NHL defenseman arrived in Hershey. Actually, it was better than a connection: it was a pair of Gilbert’s skates.
“I bought a used pair of his skates when I was younger,” said Lewington during the Bears locker cleanout day. “He’s a guy everyone looks to; he’s got a calming factor. If you’re having a bad game or whatever the case may be, he puts you at ease. Off the ice, he was the best. We called him Uncle Gibby.”
Stan Galiev celebrates with Travis Boyd and teammates after Boyd’s overtime winning goal against Providence Sunday night at Giant Center. (All photos: Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
Troy Mann said in his postgame interview following the Hershey Bears’ 3-1 loss in Game 1 that it wasn’t how much your power play scores, but when they score. That turned out to be the turning point of Game 2, as Christian Djoos scored in the late moments of a power play with 2:30 on the clock in the third period to tie the game at two apiece. Travis Boyd completed the comeback less than six minutes into overtime, and the Bears took the second game of their series with the Providence Bruins by a final score of 3-2.
“We faced adversity many times this year, and we gotta go in and win a hockey game. Obviously, it’s not ideal what’s happened here the last couple days, but we’ve had success in [Lehigh Valley] the last three games…so we certainly can go win tomorrow.” Those were the words of Troy Mann following last night’s loss to the Phantoms at Giant Center, and the Bears responded by gutting out a 3-2 win on Sunday evening. Hershey advances to the second round where they will have home ice advantage against the Providence Bruins.
Three hours after the Bears got off the ice at Giant Center in their first practice after winter storm Stella dropped just over a foot of snow on Chocolate Town, the hopped back on with a very special group of kids. The American Special Hockey Association’s York Polar Bears and Hershey Heros teams joined some of the Hershey players for a skate Wednesday afternoon.
Colby Williams has been a very nice surprise for Bears fans early in this young season. The 21-year-old rookie defenseman, who only had one point coming into his fifth game of the season, posted two on Friday night, including his first AHL goal of his career to win the game for the Bears.
