Monday morning might be the final time some Bears players ever walk though Giant Center as a Bear. As the 2013-14 season comes to a close, the Bears players took some time to reflect on their season as they cleaned out their lockers. It was a surreal moment for all as Hershey missed the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons.
HERSHEY, PA – Dane Byers waves to the crowd after accepting his award as Hershey Bears team MVP (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
The award ceremony at the end of each regular season is normally a kick off to the playoffs for the Hershey Bears, but this season it’s a bit different. This year the Bears are out of the 2014 playoff race for time in eight seasons. Despite the disappointing end to the season, the Chocolate and White thanked the Giant Center crowd with a win Saturday night.
Syracuse, NY – Jon DiSalvatore celebrates the overtime game winner against his former team only 1:50 into the extra frame. (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
We are in a crucial point of the regular season where every game is a playoff game. At this point it’s undeniable the Hershey Bears are on the outside looking into the Eastern Conference playoff bubble, and are a better hockey team than indicated by their record.
Friday, the Chocolate and White began their weekend with its lone away tilt in Syracuse, New York. Seeking revenge after getting embarrassed in the AHL Showcase, the Bears fell to the Crunch by a 3-2 overtime count in the debuts of Chris Brown and Kris Newbury.
David Leggio, seen here earlier in the season, had 34 saves in Hershey’s shootout loss Friday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
It was an odd Friday night around the American Hockey League to kickoff a three game weekend, and one that was slightly beneficial to the Hershey Bears Hockey Club despite a 2-1 shootout defeat to the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Peter LeBlanc scored Hershey’s lone goal with 1:04 remaining in an end-to-end second period. David Leggio was superb and earned third star honors from stopping 34 of 35 shots through 65 minutes.
HERSHEY, PA – Philipp Grubauer warms up prior to a Bears game earlier this season. He stopped four of five Albany shootout attempts in a 3-2 Hershey win on the Boardwalk (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Every year, thousands of American football fans lose a pocket full of money after making foolish bets on the Super Bowl. Then of course you have that one jerk, who watches three games a season, makes and outrageous bet and picks Seattle to win by a 35 point spread and pockets several figures of cash that night. Only in America.
It’s a question mark whether there are AHL fans who bet on regular season matches, but if that were the case, the Hershey Bears have proven to be a safe bet thus far in 2014. Following a 3-2 shootout win Friday night against the Albany Devils, the Bears improved to a fantastic 14-4-1-0 record in the new year.
HERSHEY, PA – Philipp Grubauer hugs Dustin Gazley after Gazley’s game winning, overtime goal against Wilkes-Barre (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
As many know, we are in a current time stretch where football season has concluded, the countdown to Spring Training is in full throttle, and where fans continuously fall asleep on their sofa attempting to watch the NBA.
But at the American Hockey League level, the Hershey Bears enter a crucial eight week stretch of their schedule which takes them to April. It is a stretch which will truly decide whether playoff hockey will once again return to Hershey for a ninth consecutive season.
Sunday the Bears battled the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the weekend finale, looking for four out of six standings points in the weekend. Dustin Gazley scored 47 second into overtime to down the Penguins in a Giant Center classic.
Julien Brouillette and Peter LeBlanc, both seen here earlier in the season, had goals in Hershey’s win over Adirondack in the Bears first game against the Phamtoms this weekend
Perhaps the Hershey Bears are trying to make a statement to the schedule makers. Three games in 31 hours is very unusual in any league. But when the Bears played Adirondack in Philadelphia, they were going for their seventh straight victory and second in an 18 hour span. In the first game with the Phantoms, the Bears came up with a 5-3 victory Friday night in Glens Falls, beating the Phantoms to keep their winning streak alive.
The Hershey Bears will try and keep their “night of firsts” momentum going tonight, when they face the Syracuse Crunch for a second straight game. The Bears won for the first time on a Friday in the last five Friday games.
Philipp Grubauer got his first start for Hershey, after 16 games with the NHL Washington Capitals. Grubauer recorded 29 saves in Hershey’s 4-1 win over Syracuse. Steve Oleksy also returned to Hershey’s lineup for the first time since March, when he was called up by the Caps.
HERSHEY, PA – Brandon Segal scores his first of two goals on the night for Hershey in their 5-1 win over Rochester (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
It may not have been a 60 minute, complete game effort by the Hershey Bears like Head Coach Mike Haviland has been preaching, but it was awfully close. Brandon Segal tallied two goals and earned first star honors in a convincing 5-1 Saturday night win against the Western Conference Rochester Americans.
HERSHEY, PA – Andrew Hammond is unable to save Stan Galiev’s goal, the first of seven in Hershey’s 7-4 win over Binghamton (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
After an unsuccessful comeback Friday night, the Chocolate and White tried to bounce back against Binghamton on a snowy night in Hershey. With former 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs MVP Michal Neuvirth back between the pipes for the Bears, Hershey was on their a-game, scoring seven goals on 41 shots, winning 7-4 over the Senators.