Peter LeBlanc Archives · Chocolate Hockey

Hartford Ties Game Late, Blitz Past Bears in Shootout

March 1, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

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.

How ‘Sweep’ It Is: Bears Down Penguins in Consecutive Days

February 16, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

Photo via Official Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’s Facebook Page

Saturday night the Hershey Bears leap frogged the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the standings with a high-scoring 5-4 victory. While Giant Center has been an intimidating building for Bears’ opposition of late, Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township does not have a much kinder reputation.

Sunday the Chocolate and White concluded a home-and-home stretch against their I-81 rivals, and escaped victoriously for the first time this season in the W-B. Ryan Potulny scored a third period game-winning goal en route to a 3-1 win over the Penguins, finishing off a perfect six point weekend sweep for Hershey.

Gazley’s OT Game Winner Drops Wilkes-Barre

February 9, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

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.

Count ‘Em Ten: Bears Throttle Portland, Win Tenth Straight at GC

February 9, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

HERSHEY, PA – Dane Byers celebrates his game winning goal against Portland during Hershey’s 2-1 victory over the Pirates (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

In 2009, the Hershey Bears dropped the Manitoba Moose in six games to win the Calder Cup. Shortly after the cup clinching game, “Count ‘Em Ten” T-shirts were released to the general public to celebrate the franchise’s tenth Calder Cup Championship.

Saturday night, fans gained the right to break out the former catch phrase in honor of not the Bears’ tenth Cup, but their tenth consecutive victory on Giant Center ice. Dane Byers scored a third period game-winning-goal, and the Chocolate and White celebrated a 2-1 over the Portland Pirates.

Hershey Splits Series with Adirondack

February 2, 2014
Chocolate Hockey
Game Recap

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.

A Boardwalk Beat Down: Bears Throttle Devils, 4-1

January 12, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

Riley Gill at a Bears practice earlier in the season (Photo by: Kyle Mace)

The historic Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall hosted the first meeting of the 2013-14 season between the Albany Devils and Hershey Bears. Brandon Segal continued to dismantle opponents on the scoring sheet, Michael Latta channeled his inner Joel Rechlicz and Riley Gill earned his first AHL win during a 4-1 Bears win.

King Me: Power Play Surges, Bears Throttle Monarchs

January 5, 2014
Matt Trust
Game Recap

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.

Sloppy Second Period Rises Syracuse, 3-2

December 27, 2013
Matt Trust
Game Recap

HERSHEY, PA – Cameron Schilling looks on as Syracuse celebrates one of their three goals against Hershey Friday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

Fans packed Giant Center for a rare Friday night game against the Syracuse Crunch. Ryan Potulny made his anticipated season debut with the Chocolate and White and was inserted on an offensive line with Jeff Taffe and Casey Wellman.

A lackadaisical second period for the Chocolate and White set the stage for a 3-2 defeat to the Crunch.

David Leggio Records Shutout, Bears Drown Sharks 4-0

December 22, 2013
Matt Trust
Game Recap

HERSHEY, PA – Josh Brittain celebrates his late first period goal in Hershey’s 4-0 shutout win (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

On Saturday night, missed opportunities haunted the Hershey Bears against the Worcester Sharks leading to their tenth regulation set back of the season. A factor towards the defeat was having only a 1-for-7 success rate on the man-advantage, dropping their ranking to 24th in the 30 team American Hockey League.

The power play struggles continued into the next night against the Sharks, but the end result differed in Hershey’s 4-0 win.

Bruins Spoil Teddy Bear Spectacle in Shootout

December 2, 2013
Matt Trust
Game Recap

HERSHEY, PA – Seth Griffith scores on David Leggio during the shootout Saturday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

The Hershey Bears were in search for home wins in consecutive days for the first time this season on Sunday. The Chocolate and White kicked off December with a 3-2 setback in a skills competion on their Hall of Fame Night, along with the annual Teddy Bear Toss spectacle.

National Hockey League legendary broadcaster Mike “Doc” Emrick again hosted the on-ice, pregame ceremony with inductions of Tim Tookey, Gordon ‘Red’ Henry, Arnie Kullman, Kenneth Hatt and J Bruce McKinney.