Chocolate Fix 1/25/2012

Photo credit: Mitchell Layton (and hijacked from our sister blog RMNB)

I’d rather not talk about this past weekend, but there were 3 games. Here are recaps from Friday, Saturday and Sunday all resulting in no points. The only good things to come out of this past week was an announcement that the All-Star Classic would be on TV and the Bears continued their tradition of reading in schools.

Keith Aucoin voted a starter at this year’s All-Star Game. [The AHL]

This isn’t the kind of season Zach Miskovic hoped he would have, but he is still making the best of it. [PennLive]

The Old Barn hockey show had Jim Jones, John Walton and Doug Yingst join them this week. [OBHS]

Tomas Kundratek has been a nomad this season. [CSNWash]

Speaking of Kundratek, he’s back in Hershey. [Caps]

And playing in the NHL was a dream come true. [PennLive]

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Bears’ Effort Rewarded with 4-1 Win against Crunch

Bodies flew as the Bears beat the Crunch. Photo by Jim Commentucci / The Post-Standard.

The Bears have had a tough time against the Syracuse Crunch so far this season. They seemed determined that tonight would not see the same fate.

It’s a strange concept to have Graham Mink on the third line but it paid off. Mink was able to muscle the puck away from the Crunch and pass to Matt Pope, who snapped it past Iiro Tarkki. That beautiful goal was Pope’s first as a Hershey Bear.

Later in the period, the Crunch managed to tie it up on the power play. Braden Holtby was screened by Patrick Maroon and possibly his own teammate. Maroon tipped the shot. But the Bears wouldn’t let that get them down! Moments afterwards, Chris Bourque had a breakaway. He was stopped by Tarkki but the Bears maintained possession and Tomas Kundratek scored his first goal as a Bear!

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Hershey Bears Take Part in Movember Campaign

Around this time of year, the weather gets a little colder and people start preparing for the holidays. If you’re a hockey player, it usually means that it’s time to grow a mustache.

For those of you unfamiliar with “Movember,” it’s a campaign encouraging men to grow mustaches (or “Mo’s”) to spread awareness for men’s health. The rules are simple: shave on October 31st and then put the razor away for the month of November. The efforts of the men taking part and rewarded with donations to the Movember cause.

Matt Ford took on the role of Captain of the Hershey Bears Movember team. So far, he is definitely doing his duty as he has racked up the most donations of any member of the team.

Now is your chance to take part in a great cause and back up the players while they make their way through this (itchy) month. It doesn’t matter which player gets your money, so choose a guy and get to donating! Even a few dollars will go a long way. After the jump, check out all the players taking part this year and open up your wallet!

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Thiessen and the Penguins Shut Out the Bears, 4-0


Photo by AFCMedia Photography.

It was the battle of the in-state rivals’ third jerseys tonight. The Bears wore their white skating bear sweaters while the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins wore dark jerseys with more tan than their usual uniforms. But it was more than a story about fashion.

Just 33 seconds in, Patrick Wellar laid out a nice check at the blue line. It was a clean hit but, as often happens in hockey these days, he was immediately jumped. He and Ryan Schnell exchanged some rough stuff but the Bears ended up with a power play.

Unfortunately, the Penguins killed off the penalty and then took the first lead of the game. An innocent pass by Wilkes-Barre in front of Dany Sabourin became a goal when the puck bounced off of an unlucky Patrick McNeill. Before the end of the period, the Penguins scored again on a stuff attempt.

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Hershey Fights for a Cure While Defeating Bingo, 3-2


The Hershey Bears celebrate in their breast cancer awareness jerseys. Photo by Kyle Mace.

The weekend had a rough start for the Bears after they dropped two games on the road. Today was their chance to salvage it with another game against the defending Calder Cup Champs, the Binghamton Senators. They donned special pink and white jerseys that were auctioned off post-game for breast cancer awareness.

Thanks to Graham Mink and the power play unit, the Bears were off to a good start. It was an early penalty against the Senators as Francis Lessard was whistled for hooking. Keith Aucoin dished out a crisp pass right to Mink in his office in front of Mike McKenna.

That was the only goal in the first period but it wasn’t the only excitement. I think we all knew this was coming but old fight buddies, Francis Lessard and Joel Rechlicz, dropped the gloves. As is expected from these guys, the bout was long and a fairly even battle. When the officials finally separated them, Rechlicz ripped off Lessard’s helmet, which had stayed on the entire time. Rechlicz was yelling for more as they were escorted to the penalty boxes. You may remember (as I’m sure Rechlicz does) what Lessard did to Rechlicz’s face last season.

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Bears Allow Falcons Comeback, Lose 4-3 (OT)


Andrew Joudrey (seen here during Springfield’s preseason) faced his former team tonight.

The Bears began another 3-in-3 tonight, once again on the road. They started the weekend with a game against the Springfield Falcons, the new team of former captain, Andrew Joudrey.

The first period moved along quickly as the teams battled away. The Bears were playing well and had several big scoring opportunities. One of those opportunities came when Cody Eakin was robbed with a glove save about halfway through the period. But the first goal of the game wasn’t far off. Boyd Kane wrestled the puck away in the neutral zone and got it to Eakin. Eakin set up Jacob Micflikier on a 2-on-1 opportunity and the Bears took the first lead of the game!

Shortly after that, Garrett Mitchell earned his first career AHL goal and it was a nice one! The Bears were playing with an extra man due to a delayed penalty call against the Falcons. Mitchell was near the net and backhanded a rebound past goaltender Danny Taylor.

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A Night to Forget: Baby Pens defeat Bears, 3-1


Graham Mink and Niko Dimitrakos exchange words after a big hit. Photo by Kyle Mace.

It’s always an interesting game when the in-state rivals play. Tonight, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were in Chocolatetown, ready to put up a fight against Hershey’s point streak.

The drama came in the first period when Sean Collins hit Eric Tangradi. Collins definitely got his arm up high but it was unclear whether it was a hit to the head or to the chest. I saw some of other angles of the hit and I’m still not sure of where the hit landed but I can understand arguments either way. Collins was initially put in the penalty box but, after some discussion, the penalty was called off.

The Bears were unable to get a lot of momentum going during the first period because of all the penalties against them. Thankfully, Braden Holtby was very sharp and made a lot of big saves to keep the Bears in it.

The only goal he gave up in the first period was a deflection by Brian Gibbons during a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton power play. It was the second night in a row that the Bears gave up the first goal.

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Norfolk Spoils Hershey’s Home Opener, 6-5 (OT)


Michel Ouellet scores in overtime to defeat the Bears. Photo by Kyle Mace.

Despite the fact that the Bears had already played three games before tonight, there was a lot of energy and excitement in Giant Center. For once, the Bears were not raising a banner before their home opener but they did celebrate the 10th anniversary of Giant Center. The Bears were wearing commemorative jerseys tonight, honoring Giant Center and the three Calder Cups they’ve won since playing there. It was time to show off the new Bears slogan in front of the Hershey faithful.

The Bears celebrate an early lead.

To start the game, the Admirals did exactly what they didn’t want to do: they went to the penalty box. After having a great night against the Norfolk penalty kill unit last night, the Bears continue to score during the man advantage. Keith Aucoin had a sharp angle shot towards the crease and Graham Mink did what he does best. The puck deflected past Jaroslav Janus and Hershey took the early lead.

But, much like last night, the Admirals responded and tied the game up a few minutes later. They got Braden Holtby moving and Radko Gudas was able to score on the rebound. Then the Admirals gained their first lead of the weekend before the end of the first period when several players crashed the net. Christian Hanson fell on his own goaltender and Gudas scored again with the loose puck. With less than a minute left in the first period, the Bears made up for it by scoring on a Sean Collins shot from the point.

For the second night in a row, the game was tied 2-2 after one period.

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Let the games begin!


Photo via Hershey Bears Facebook Page

There is a fall chill in the Central PA air.  It’s now October.  The Bears have had training camp and the preseason games are over.  Now comes the anticipation as we await the start of the regular season.  For the team it starts tomorrow, but we won’t see them until October 15th.  Currently, there is a large RV show that has taken over the parking lots of the Giant Center and Hersheypark.  This happens every year and it yet another signal of hockey’s impending return.

The final cuts have been made, and the opening roster is set. But this is the AHL.  The roster won’t be the same for long.  When the Caps lose a player to injury, he is temporarily gone.  Those positions are filled in from the Bears.  As an AHL fan, we know that our guys are different.  Instead of being temporarily gone, they are temporarily here.  There are no long term contracts. We hope for the best for them and that their dreams of making it to the NHL come true.  I kind of equate it to parenting.  We want the best for our boys, but while they are under our roof we demand the best from them.  This is Hershey.  When you look up the rafters in Giant Center you will see the names of the greats and 11 Calder Cup banners.  Division and Conference championship banners are not hung.  The Reese’s advertising in section 211 says it all.  “It’s all about the cup!”.  This is Hershey and you will be held to a higher standard.  With that in mind, let’s take a look at who we will be seeing in Hershey to start the season.

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Chocolate Fix 9/21/2011

Chris Bourque photo by Andrew Harnik, The Washington Times

It may not be October yet, but hockey has started.  The Caps opened their preseason last night with several Bears in the line up.  Unfortunately, it was a 2-0 loss to the Preds which means there isn’t much in the way of highlights from Bears.  Here is what I was able to dig up.

Head Coach Bruce Boudreau has some praise for Stanislav Galiev and Jay Beagle. [Caps video]

Beagle was a stand out. [Wash Times]

Sean Collins and others talk about the poor ice conditions. [Wash Times]

Former Bear and current Predator Tyler Sloan talks about the ice. [WaPo]

Collins talks about making the Caps roster. [Wash Examiner]

Patrick Wellar gets his first NHL game. [PennLive]

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