Former Hershey Bears Eric Fehr and Steve Oleksy have won the Stanely Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Fehr was a member of the 2005-06 Calder Cup team and is the 128th player in history to win the Stanley Cup and…
HERSHEY, PA – Steve Oleksy looks at the play during his return to Giant Center Sunday night against Hershey (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
One year ago, Steve Oleksy scored a goal for the Hershey Bears, setting off the flight of thousands of teddy bears onto the ice at Giant Center. A year later, the 29-year-old blueliner found himself on the other side of the goal.
“Being part of [the teddy bear toss] before you kind of expect it,” Oleksy said after the game. “That shows the support Hershey gives to the Bears here. It’s a little different being on the other bench as the teddy bears rain.”
Via @Siena812
Our good pal Siena in Wilkes-Barre tweeted us a photo from Friday night’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. Albany Devils game, and it’s one that hurts.
Photo: Kyle Mace
The Hershey Bears captain for the second half of the 2014-15 season has jumped ship for a new organization. Steve Oleksy, after three seasons in the Washington Capitals organization, the defenseman has joined forces with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Another Hershey Bears season has come to a close and the team is now parting ways. After a disappointing ending against the Hartford Wolf Pack, players took a moment to speak to the media on breakdown day about their thoughts on the season and accomplishments from this past year.
After spending parts of two seasons in Washington, defenseman Steve Oleksy started the season out with the Hershey Bears, this time wearing an alternate captains patch. The 29-year-old played a key part in Hershey’s strong defensive corps, earning him a call up to Washington in a game in February against the LA Kings where he logged 12 minutes of ice time against the Kings in a Capitals loss.
Oleksy would return to have that ‘A’ changed to a ‘C’ as he was named the 42nd captain in Bears history after injury forced Dane Byers out for the rest of the season. Oleksy with four goals and 15 points (4-11-15) in the regular season and three assists in the post season. Oleksy is set to go on the free agency market as an unrestricted free agent this summer.
HERSHEY, PA – Pheonix Copley fights Kevin Poulin of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Saturday night during the Hershey Bears game against Bridgeport (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
All heck broke lose Saturday night at Giant Center with 4:20 remaining in the second period against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. It all started with goaltender interference on Pheonix Copley that went uncalled, knocking the stick out of his hands. He made a glove save to put play to a halt, where a scrum quickly escalated.
HERSHEY, PA – Hershey Bears forward Joel Broda laughs at Coco the Bear as the lay in a pile of teddy bears on Teddy Bear Toss Night (Kyle Mace – Chocolate Hockey)
An annual tradition at Giant Center is the teddy bear toss. Each year Bears fans bring teddy bears to Hershey to toss on the ice after the Bears first goal. This year the Bears looked to set a new AHL record by beating their own record of 12,890 plush toys from last season.
It took only 39 seconds for Steve Oleksy to score and let the stuffed animals fly. 17,295 went flying onto the ice at Giant Center for multiple regional organizations. Due to the fact so many Bears were thrown, the whole Hershey Bears team pitched in and helped clean up the furry friends, making for some great photos.
With races in our first ever SHOEY Awards very close, we decided to extend voting another week! We will count up the final votes Saturday, May 10th at midnight and announce all of the winners on Monday, May 12th. We still have two final categories to breakdown and they just happen to be the closest races of them all.
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.