The South Carolina Stingrays, ECHL affiliate of the Hershey Bears and Washington Capitals, are moving on to the Kelly Cup Finals after eliminating the Manchester Monarchs in a decisive Game 7 Wednesday night. The Stingrays will play the Colorado Eagles for the ECHL championship.
Kelly Zajac, seen here with Hershey prior to a game in 2017, had the third goal for South Carolina Saturday night.
The South Carolina Stingrays, the ECHL affiliate of the Hershey Bears, are just one win away from the Kelly Cup Finals after defeating the Manchester Monarchs 3-1 on Saturday. The win gives them a 3-2 edge in the series, with Game Six on Monday night.
Domenic Monardo, seen here during a game in 2016, had an assist in South Carolina’s 2-1 victory Friday night.
The South Carolina Stingrays tied their series with Manchester Friday night as they picked up a 2-1 win behind goals from Andrew Cherniwchan and Rob Flick, along with Parker Milner making 33 saves on 34 shots. The win puts South Carolina, the only remaining team in affiliation with the Washington Capitals playing playoff hockey, two wins away from heading back to the Kelly Cup Finals.
HERSHEY, PA – Bears players celebrate Tim Kennedy’s first period goal Saturday night against the Manchester Monarchs. Hershey would win the game 6-3, a day before clinching a playoff spot (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
It wasn’t a question of if, but when. After missing the post season last year, the Hershey Bears clinched a playoff spot on Sunday afternoon. The Bears battled back to beat Bridgeport 4-3, while Springfield lost, assuring the Bears of a postseason spot.
Casey Wellman, seen here earlier in the season, had two points during Hershey’s loss Saturday night to Worcester (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
There are 11 games remaining in the regular season for the Hershey Bears, who are now five points out of the 8th and final playoff spot. That’s not an impossible obstacle to overcome, but the Bears current slump is making the road to the playoffs even harder. Hershey dropped two of three this weekend with back-to-back losses in Worcester on Saturday and in Manchester on Sunday afternoon.
HERSHEY, PA – Dustin Gazley celebrates his first goal as a Bear during Sunday night’s game against Manchester (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
The Hershey Bears aimed to close out the weekend with back-to-back wins at home. Their foe for the night was the Manchester Monarchs, who entered standing at second best in the Eastern Conference. It was nothing short of a 60 minute effort for the good guys in White, as the Bears beat down the Monarchs by a 6-3 count.
HERSHEY, PA – Jon DiSalvatore celebrates his first goal during Hershey’s 4-2 win over Manchester, and clinching them a playoff spot in the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
It came all the way down to the wire, but it game 76 of the 2012-13 regular season, the Hershey Bears clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the eighth consecutive season. During first intermission of the Bears-Monarchs game Sunday evening, news broke at Giant Center that the Providence Bruins defeated the Norfolk Admirals by a 4-3 count. The regulation loss eliminated Norfolk from playoff contention leaving just Hershey and Connecticut fighting for the eighth seed.
With the Connecticut Whale wrapping up their season the night before, they could only watch and hope for a Bears regulation loss. However with the final window of opportunity wide open for Hershey, they put forth an impressive 4-2 over the Manchester Monarchs to punch their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Professional hockey games consist of a 60 minute regulation length. Some duels can be loss from the get-go, while other matches are decided by late game heroics. The Hershey Bears in dire need of a victory faced the Manchester Monarchs in New Hampshire. The New England states continue to deny the Bears of fortune in a 4-3 loss to the Monarchs.
The game was decided early with a crucial, first period scoring assembly which included three Manchester goals in a 1:49 span.
HERSHEY, PA – Boyd Kane skates during warm-ups of the 2013 AHL Outdoor Classic. Kane scored his 500th AHL point tonight during Hershey’s 6-4 loss to Manchester (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Saturday night, American Hockey League history was made with Boyd Kane’s 500th career AHL point against the Manchester Monarchs. Kane became the 85th player in league history to reach the milestone. However, the memorable moment was soon spoiled, as Manchester came back to answer Hershey’s early scoring onslaught with a scoring parade of their own. The Monarchs tallied three goals in both the second and third period to down Hershey, 6-4.
HERSHEY, PA – Barry Almeida skates past the bench after his goal during Hershey’s 2-1 win over Manchester (Tim Stough – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
The Hershey Bears battled the Manchester Monarchs at home for the first game in February. With playoff races weeks away from beginning and the Bears currently on the outside looking into the top eight teams in the conference, they looked for a bounce back effort against the the Monarchs. Martin Jones made 42 saves for Manchester, but the Bears squeaked past the Monarchs, 2-1.