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Preparing for Orlov’s First Full North American Season

Dmitry Orlov looks on during this summer’s Caps Development Camp. Photo by Kyle Mace

With a pretty full defense corps in Washington this season, Dmitry Orlov will likely be spending most of his time in Hershey. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his sights set on playing for the Capitals. In the meantime, we get to spend the season watching another young defenseman develop and mature into an NHL-caliber star.

“Even if I go back to Hershey, I would really like to try myself in Washington this year and I am going to do everything I can to achieve that,” he said to Russian Machine Never Breaks during this year’s Caps Development Camp. He also spoke in the interview about his attempts to overcome the language barrier this season through the use of Rosetta Stone, a language-learning software.

His hard work did not go unnoticed by Bruce Boudreau, who noted Orlov’s improved fitness and dedication during camp. His hard hitting caused a bit of a stir during the first scrimmage of this summer’s development camp when he injured the knee of fellow prospect, Taylor Stefishen.

Last season, in the nineteen regular season games he played, Orlov scored two goals and tallied seven assists. But most of his impressive qualities lie outside of his offensive play. At only 19 years of age, he showed more defensive stability than players with many more years of experience. Frequently paired with NHL veteran, Sheldon Souray, Orlov proved that he was comfortable and capable of elevating his game to match his partner.

Our friends at RMNB also translated a recent interview Orlov had with Sports.ru. In the article, he shows no fear over playing in North America and seems to have set high goals for himself this season. Back in March, Orlov signed a three-year contract with the Capitals and fans and coaches alike are eager to see him complete his first full season in North America. “I will be proving that I deserve to play in the NHL,” he told Sports.ru. “I didn’t sign a three-year contract for nothing. I don’t give up. I will fight for it.”

Some fans believe that Orlov will be in Washington as the seventh defenseman. Others think he would benefit from some more time in the AHL. But we know one thing: if he’s in Hershey this season, fans can expect more nice plays and hard hits from the now 20-year-old Russian cannonball and maybe even keep a lookout for a couple call-ups to Washington.

Chocolate Fix 5/25/2011

Photo credit to giantcenter.com

To start things off for your pre-memorial day weekend Chocolate Fix, Giant Foods LLC has retained the naming rights to the Giant Center for another 10 years. [PennLive]

The ECHL Alaska Aces defeated the Kalamazoo Wings to win the Kelly Cup.  The Aces are coached by former Bear, Brent Thompson. [Mlive]

Nick Bootland who was a teammate of Thompson’s when they played together for the Bears is the coach of the Kalamazoo Wings. [Mlive]

Looking to the future, Japers Rink has been following the Memorial Cup in detail.  Go there to read about the future Bears/Caps. [Japers]

If you still need to talk hockey as the weather gets warm, you can join the discussion over on pennlive.com. [PennLive]

Sheldon Souray’s future still has yet to be determined. Could he be back? [EdmontonJournal]

And so ends another short summer edition of Chocolate Fix.  If anyone has any particular off-season stories that they want to read, please let us know.  We will do what we can to fulfill requests.

Bears Battle to beat Charlotte Checkers, 4-2

Brian Willsie celebrates his game-winning goal against the Checkers. Photo by Kyle Mace

There’s not much to say about tonight’s game. Everyone involved knew that it was a big one. It would have been scary going down to Charlotte down two games. But thankfully it didn’t go that way.

The Bears spent the entire first period playing sloppy hockey leading to tons of incomplete passes. Perhaps trying to keep up Charlotte’s speed, the players seemed to be constantly rushing with the puck instead of slowing down and making plays. The Bears’ power play failed to impress tonight, especially during the first period. They had trouble keeping the puck in the zone and couldn’t muster many shots on goal until later in the game.

But sometimes even sloppy hockey pays off. A little over halfway through the period, the Bears collapsed on Justin Pogge and Patrick McNeill scored.

When they came out for the second period, the team seemed calmer and maybe a touch more confident. Dmitry Orlov made a great play to keep the puck in the zone and passed to Andrew Kozek who extended the Bears’ lead with a shot from between the face-off dots.

The Checkers answered quickly though and scored less than a minute later. The Checkers gained a bit of momentum from this goal and the Bears had to adjust quickly. Thankfully, Brian Willsie was there to give some insurance. After a sliding Checker blocked the inital shot, he took a second whack at it and scored. It would end up being the game-winning goal.

The Checkers were able to make it a one goal difference later on the power play. A bear was in the box for yet another Charlotte power play. Zac Dalpe scored his second goal of the night on a shot that I don’t think Braden Holtby saw. He was definitely screened, possible by his own teammate.

The Bears had a big penalty kill a few minutes later while Boyd Kane was in the box for slashing. The penalty kill unit got control of the puck and moved back towards Pogge. The players seemed a bit tired, passing to each other but it finally ended up on Sheldon Souray‘s stick. Souray wound up and unleashed that signature shot that flew past Pogge and into the net

The third period saw no score change but there were some close calls. Things got a little scary with a minute left in the game. Pogge was on the bench and Charlotte had their last chance at making a comeback. Two Checkers jabbed at the puck and Holtby couldn’t stop them. The goal was waved off though because of two matching penalties that were assessed to Souray and Dalpe.

After successfully stopping any final attempts by the Checkers, the Bears won 4-2 and tied the series at one game each. Now the battle moves south to North Carolina.

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Bears Accomplish Rare Win against Penguins, 2-1

Andrew Kozek and his linemates shine in a game against the in-state rivals.

Looking at the standings, tonight’s game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins did not appear to hold a lot of value. Neither team would lose or gain anything in the rankings. However, for the Bears, this was a big game for them mentally. They don’t have a good record against the dreaded Penguins and a road win against them right before playoffs could go a long way.

Overall, the Bears had a fantastic first period effort against the Penguins. However, it seemed like the Penguins were giving them some help. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took a couple of unnecessary penalties and seemed to be getting frustrated. The Bears didn’t score on any power plays but it did help to maintain control of the game.

Hershey did score an even-strength goal though thanks to Andrew Kozek. I could watch this goal all day. WBS’s Andrew Hutchinson was skating with the puck and not paying too much attention to Kozek. As soon as he lifted his stick, Kozek swiped the puck from under him and snapped the puck past Brad Thiessen.

But we’re not done talking about Kozek yet! During the second period, he scored his second goal of the night with another beauty. He pushed the puck through and danced past the defense. Ashton Rome helped to provide a slight screen and suddenly Hershey had a two goal lead.

The Penguins finally broke the shutout during a power play about halfway through the period. Mathieu Perreault was in the box for hooking. After a few failed attempts, Brett Sterling took a rebound and shot it past Braden Holtby. To give some credit to Holtby, it looked like there was a lot of action in front of him.

Some drama came late in the period when Dmitry Orlov hooked Brett Sterling and Sterling was awarded a penalty shot. Holtby successfully stopped it but then Keith Aucoin was given a ten minute misconduct, probably for arguing with the referee.

As expected, physicality dominated this game. Sheldon Souray and Ryan Craig were the first to drop the gloves. Souray stood his ground and delivered a huge punch to Craig, knocking him to the ice. It was over as fast as it started. Steve Pinizzotto decided to follow his example and took on Joey Mormina. Technically, it was listed as roughing but it was still pretty vicious. Pinizzotto took down a bloodied Mormina, but he received an extra roughing penalty for starting the incident.

But those two incidents would pale in comparison to the third period drama. Pinizzotto fell to the ice after a run in with Keven Veilleux. Veilleux paused long enough to recognize that Pinizzotto was flat on the ice and still pulled back and took a full swing at Pinner. Holtby, who was the closest to the play, bolted out of his crease to come to Pinizzotto’s defense.

Veilleux received a match penalty for slashing. I’m a little confused as to why it was a slashing call but nevertheless, the match penalty part works for me. John Walton said that a match penalty carries an automatic one game suspension so Veilleux will not play tomorrow against the Bears in Hershey. I’m hopeful we’ll see some more supplementary discipline for that absolutely classless move by Veilleux. Pinizzotto appeared to be okay as he skated during the ensuing power play.

There wouldn’t be any more scoring and not too much excitement after that incident. The Bears hang on and win 2-1!

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Bears Score 4 Unanswered Goals to Beat Admirals, 5-4

The difference between tonight’s first period and last night’s first period could not be any bigger. Just about the only similarity was that they were still on the road and playing the Norfolk Admirals .

It started off fine. Dustin Tokarski went to chase a puck down from behind the net. Instead, the puck bounced off the back boards and out to Kyle Greentree who scored on the completely empty net.

From there, it went downhill. Norfolk didn’t allow this fluke goal to mess up their game. They responded with a 4-on-4 goal (Brian Fahey was in the box for cross-checking and Blair Jones joined him for diving). After that, Andrew Gordon was whistled for tripping and the Admirals only took eleven seconds on the power play to score.

With Sheldon Souray in the box, Norfolk scored a second power play that seemed to especially tick off Braden Holtby. After the goal, he turned and shoved the net towards the back wall. It’s hard to tell if it was just general frustration but some fans in attendance said that the net was already off it’s pegs. Holtby knew it and was angry that the goal counted. It took a while to get the net fixed but there Bears were still down two goals.

Before you could blink, the Admirals then scored an even strength goal with less than a minute left in the first period. The Bears were sent to the locker room with a lot of goals to discuss.

As rough as the first period was, the second period made up for just about all of it. Francois Bouchard continues to show the coaching staff that he doesn’t belong on the fourth line. He scored his second goal this weekend. Just about 30 seconds after that, Greentree got his second goal of the night on a gorgeous pass from Keith Aucoin. They both came roaring towards the net and Aucoin placed his pass perfectly so that Greentree could flip it past Tokarski.

With all the momentum in their favor, the Bears actually tied the game up before the second period was even half over. It was Patrick McNeill who got the goal when he skated just past the blue line and got a big shot past the Norfolk goaltender. Amazingly, it was a 4-4 game.

Norfolk really took a blow when Tokarski got injured. Gordon was in front of the net and accidentally hit Tokarski with his stick. Tokarski immediately fell to the ice and the skated to the bench during a stoppage in play. Jaroslav Janus took over.

Janus gave up his first goal towards the end of the second period. For Hershey fans, I can just describe as your typical “Andrew Gordon” goal. Another great play by Aucoin to Gordon who was in Janus’ face. After being down 4-1, suddenly the Bears were up 5-4.

Neither side scored during the third period, although there were some close calls. During the final moments when Norfolk had pulled Janus, they came very close to tying the game but Hershey escaped with another big win. Bears win 5-4.

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Bears Make April Fools of Admirals with 6-3 Victory

Andrew Gordon celebrates Sheldon Souray’s goal against the Norfolk Admirals.

It’s officially April. We all know that means it’s almost time for playoffs, but first we have to wrap up the final five games of the season. And it would be pretty nice for the Bears to lock up second place in the East Division.

Step one? Take down the Norfolk Admirals.

As far as first periods go, tonight’s was a pretty nice one. Well, except for the whole two 5-on-3s. It seemed as if the Bears were only capable of being penalized in pairs. Nevertheless, the penalty kill unit did it’s job and held off the Norfolk power play. Despite the penalties and Norfolk leading in shots, the Bears were the ones leading after twenty minutes.

The first goal came from Andrew Gordon. Right after killing the first power play, Gordon had a pretty shot with no one between him and goaltender Dustin Tokarski. Francois Bouchard followed that with a goal of his own. Perhaps not appreciating his recent demotion to the fourth line, he took his assist from Andrew Kozek and didn’t miss. Dmitry Orlov also got an assist on that goal.

The second twenty minutes started off just as nice. Sheldon Souray, who returned to the line-up for the first time since getting injured back in mid-March, was making his presence known all night. Early in the second period, he demonstrated his NHL talent as he danced around a Norfolk defender and unleashed the a big shot on Tokarski. 3-0 Bears.

Braden Holtby was called on to make a save on a penalty shot. He was ready but perhaps shooter Stefano Giliati wasn’t as his shot appeared to miss the goal. After that, it take Hershey long to get goal #4. After closing in on the Norfolk crease, Mathieu Perreault‘s shot deflected off on Norfolk’s Radko Gudas and past an unsuspecting Tokarski.

Finally fed up, the Admirals responded with a goal of their own. Holtby might have been screened but nevertheless, his shutout bid was gone. For Norfolk, the ninth time was a charm. With Andrew Carroll in the box and the Admirals on their ninth power play, they finally figured out how to work the man advantage and got another goal back to make it 4-2 after two periods.

The third period saw a Hershey power play early on. For once, it was the Bears with the 5-on-3 power play. It took a couple of shots but Keith Aucoin finally put one away to increase Hershey’s lead. Bouchard appeared to score again but it was waved off because of a penalty to the Bears. It wouldn’t be just one penalty, it would be two. Yes, another 5-on-3. No sweat, Hershey killed it. Again.

However, Souray was sent to the box late in the period and Norfolk did score then. Steve Pinizzotto made sure that it didn’t matter though and topped off the game with an empty net goal.

I would like to give a standing ovation to our penalty kill unit. To face thirteen penalties and only allow two goals is phenomenal. I don’t think I need to tell you that this would have been an entirely different game if they hadn’t played so well. Thanks to them, Bears win 6-3.

In the long run, this game could prove important in helping Hershey mentally. They have had issues battling the Admirals, especially with Tokarski in goal. Tonight they proved that they are capable of big games. I can’t imagine Norfolk will make it an easy game when these teams battle again tomorrow.

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Bears beat the Whale for French’s 100th Coaching Win

The Bears celebrate Brian Willsie’s goal, which proved to be the game-winner.

Break out the Brass Bonanza! The Hershey Bears came to town to play their first game against the Connecticut Whale (though they did play them earlier in the season when they were still the Hartford Wolfpack).

Kyle Greentree scored the first goal of the night with a nice shot from between the face-off circles. New addition, Andrew Kozek (who was playing in his first game as a Bear) had the primary assist to register his first point as a Bear.

The Bears extended their lead during the second period when Connecticut had an iffy line change. Greentree dished a long pass to Brian Willsie who was waiting up ice. Once he got the puck, Willsie raced towards the net, took aim, and scored. 2-0 Bears.

The Whale finally broke the shutout during the third period when Kris Newbury darted through the zone and right up to the net. There wasn’t much Nolan Schaefer could do to stop it. Connecticut couldn’t muster up any more goals and Bears win 2-1!

You know what that means? We finally get to congratulate Coach Mark French on his 100th AHL coaching victory! He is the fastest coach in AHL history to reach the 100 win plateau. We can’t even begin to say how much French has done for the Bears. We know the team is in great hands with him. Now the race begins to 200 wins!

Just a heads up to our readers: we will not be covering the game tomorrow night against the Adirondack Phantoms. Instead, we’ll be in Virginia with our Russian Machine Never Breaks brothers at the RMNB Party 2: Electric Boogaloo. If you’re free, head down to Arlington and have fun while donating money to the Brian St. Louis Family Fund.

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Worcester holds off Hershey Comeback, Win 3-2


Dmitry Orlov’s first AHL goal isn’t enough to stop the Worcester Sharks.

And so the road trip rolls on…

Tonight, the Bears faced the Worcester Sharks. You may remember the last time these two teams met Brian Willsie almost fought Worcester goaltender, Alex Stalock.

Thankfully for Willsie, Stalock wasn’t playing tonight but that didn’t mean that this game would be any easier.

All was well at first. The Bears were putting some good shots on goal and even got the early lead. It was none other than Dmitry Orlov who gave the Bears the lead, scoring his first career AHL goal. It was a hard shot from the face-off circle that goaltender Tyson Sexsmith couldn’t handle. Orlov has been paired with Sheldon Souray for four games now. Between the pure skill, the physicality, and the hard shots, that pairing has to put some fear in the opposing teams. I definitely would not want to be facing down those guys.

However, the Sharks tied it up in the same period. The Sharks were attacking and the Bears couldn’t clear the zone. After a couple of quick shots, Nolan Schaefer tried his best but couldn’t stop the last shot and Worcester scored.

During the second period, the Bears badly outshot the Sharks 16 to 7. Unfortunately, it was the Sharks who came ahead though. The Sharks killed off a Hershey 5-on-3 power play and then scored in the minutes afterwards. It was a bit of a fluky goal as Brandon Mashinter flung the puck towards the goal and it tipped off Schaefer and into the net.

The third period saw the Bears on the wrong side of a 5-on-3. Boyd Kane and Ashton Rome were whistled for penalties and the Worcester didn’t miss the opportunity. With two Bears in the box, the Sharks scored. There was a glimmer of hope later on when Rome dished out a perfect pass to Maxime Lacroix who backhanded it past Sexsmith. It wouldn’t be enough to push the Bears to victory and they lose 3-2.

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Chocolate Fix 3/9/2011

Sheldon Souray takes on Vladimir Mihalik.  Photo by Kyle Mace

This one is out a little early today since I will be on my way to DC to catch the Oilers/Caps game.  I’m hoping that Alex Giroux will be in the lineup again.

Old Barn Hockey Show

  • Part 1: John Walton was on the road, so Frank was joined by Mitch and Brock for the Bears update.
  • Part 2: Bryan Helmer joins the guys to talk about his hockey carreer.
  • Part 3: NHL talk with a focus on Philly’s recent woes.

Erika attended Dmitry Orlov’s debut in Hershey. [Rink Rebel]

It’s not new anymore, but welcome Nolan Schaefer to the team. [SHoE]

Former Bear captain Bryan Helmer signed an extension with the Barons. [Times Union]

Daren Machesney fans might be able to catch him in Reading soon. [Eagle]

John from On Frozen Blog caught up with Dmitry Orlov and asked him about his first week in North America. [OFB]

Another former Bear, Alexandre Giroux, made his debut with the Edmonton Oilers this week. [Edmonton Journal]

Kyle from SHoE caught Sheldon Souray’s fight in 100 pictures. [RMNB]

GM from Hershey Bears Hockey Blog give us his thoughts on last weekend. [HBHB]

Clara over at Going Five-Hole takes a look at Braden Holtby. [GFH]

Welcome, Andrew Kozek… [PennLive]

… but we won’t see Kozek play for a couple games.  Chris Durno also suspended 3 games for his hit on Keith Aucoin. Durno will miss the game against Hershey on Sunday. On ice justice will have to wait. [AHL]

The Dinger Family Zoo offers up a weekly wrap-up in picture form. [DFZ]

New England Hockey Journal’s Dan Hickling talked to David de Kastrozza about making Hershey’s Clear Day roster. [NEHJ]

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