Former Hershey Bear David Leggio is currently playing for EHC Red Bull München in Germany and is playing fairly well. Though 14 games with the team, Leggio has eight wins and five losses with three shutouts and a .925 save percentage. On Thursday, Leggio celebrated his third shutout with a little dance for the fans.
Steve Pinizzotto during his Hershey Bears days. Photo by Kathryn Hedrick.
Here at Sweetest Hockey on Earth, we believe “once a Bear, always a Bear.” This belief is especially true with a fan favorite player like Steve Pinizzotto.
After winning two Calder Cup Championships with the Bears, Pinizzotto became a free agent last summer and signed with the Vancouver Canucks. He played in a handful of pre-season games before suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery. He was kind enough to use his free time to answer a few questions and let us know about his injury rehabilitation, Twitter, and keeping up with former teammates.
Bourque celebrates his short-handed goal against the Phantoms. All photos by Kyle Mace.
It’s hard to follow a huge game like the Outdoor Classic, but with the same teams playing, it makes for an interesting rematch. Speaking of the Outdoor Classic, have you checked out Kyle’s recap and amazing photos?
Unlike last night, the Phantoms scored the first goal of the game. Andrew Rowe scored by banking a shot off of Danny Richmond. Not a whole lot Richmond or Dany Sabourin could have done.
The Bears tied it up late in the same period with a patented Chris Bourque short-handed goal. It was a big goal for his 20th of the season.
Last year we brought you the Top 11 Moments of 2010. This year we are doing the same list, but we got your input on our Facebook and Twitter pages this year. (Which if you do not like/follow, you should.) So without further adieu, here are the Top 11 moments of the 2011 calendar year (in no particular order)…
Chris Bourque and Cody Eakin model their Halloween costumes this year.
It’s that time of year again – the time when people are expected to wear a costume and take part in general tomfoolery. When else do you get to see Cody Eakin as Ron Weasley and Chris Bourque as Justin Bieber?
Thanks to the magic of Twitter, we were able to get a look a few of the Hershey Bears’ costumes this Halloween. Hockey players – so like us. After the jump, check out a few other costumes from the Hershey boys.
We wish our readers and a safe and happy Halloween! If you have any hockey-related costumes or pumpkin carvings, leave a comment and let us know!
Photo by Kyle Mace Hmmmmm what do I have to share with you this week. I seem to recall there was something going on. Oh yeah... free agency!!! If you didn't see Kyle's recap of what happened with Hershey's free…
Photo by Kyle Mace And with that, the season is over. Not much to say that hasn't already been said. After today, Chocolate Fix will focus on Bears that were called up to Washington as well as prospects coming up…
Patrick McNeill tries to hold off Nicolas Blanchard. Photo by Checkers SmugMug.
The story of this series against the Charlotte Checkers has been offense. Both teams are incredibly offensively talented and the score usually shows that. Tonight was no exception.
It was all Hershey for the first two periods. Steve Pinizzotto scored the first goal of the game after Boyd Kane took a Charlotte turnover and dished it to Pinizzotto. Pinizzotto won’t miss that shot often. 1-0 Hershey. The Bears kept frustrating the Checkers by maintaining constant control of the puck and not allowing Charlotte to garner any momentum.
Mathieu Perreault scored quickly at the start of the second period to give Hershey some breathing room. After Braden Holtby made a great save on the Checkers, the Bears moved the puck the other direction. Brian Willsie got the first shot off and Perreault came crashing towards the net to capitalize on the rebound.
I’ve been a fan of Andrew Carroll since we picked him up from the Reading Royals. Tonight, he had one of the best games I’ve seen from him. All of his hard work paid off when he scored his first AHL career playoff goal. With his back to Murphy, he backhanded the puck into the goal as he was losing balance. It’s the kind of gritty goal you would expect from him.
A few minutes later, the Checkers dumped the puck and Braden Holtby went to play the puck behind the goal. Unfortunately, the puck hit the boards and bounced back out to the front of the goal. Brett Sutter crashed the net and made sure the puck went in, giving Charlotte their first goal of the game.
A two goal lead going into the third period is nice. But as Tim Leone warned us on Twitter, the Checkers have outscored the Bears 5-2 in the third period during this series. They proved this point when Charlotte scored on the power play just one minute into the third.
To make things worse, the Checkers tied it up a few minutes later. Oskar Osala had a 1-on-none breakaway. Holtby stopped the first shot but Osala converted his own rebound to get the game-tying goal.
The tables had completely turned. The Checkers now kept control of the puck and the inevitable finally happened: Nick Dodge scored after rushing to the net to give Charlotte the first lead of the night. There was a brief conversation about whether it was kicked in or not but it was eventually determined to be a good goal. Once they had the lead, the Checkers were content to play it safe. Even when the Bears pulled Holtby, they still couldn’t get anything done. The Checkers scored an empty net goal and the Bears lost 5-3. Charlotte now leads the series 3-2.
Braden Holtby stands a Charlotte Checker up. Photo by Checkers SmugMug.
Tonight’s game against the Charlotte Checkers was the first chance for the Bears to really take control of this series but we all knew that it would be a battle.
The first period was pretty uneventful in terms of offense. The Bears made sure that they were in control of this game, keeping possession of the puck for most of the periods. During the first period, the Checkers only managed four official shots on goal versus Hershey’s ten shots on goal.
Unfortunately, all that effort didn’t matter when Zach Miskovic was whistled for tripping at the beginning of the second period. Charlotte scored on the power play with a shot from the face-off circle. It looked like Braden Holtby was screened by both a Checker and a Bear.
Just over halfway through the period, Mathieu Perreault tied the game up with an interesting goal. Perreault was right on the goal line when he took a shot. It somehow managed to squeak past Mike Murphy who was flush against the goalpost. It may have even bounced off of Murphy.
Charlotte’s power play proved to be deadly again in the third period as former Bear Oskar Osala scored during the man advantage. It was originally awarded to Dalpe, who was right on top of Holtby. But it was changed to Osala after it was decided that Dalpe didn’t touch it before it crossed the line.
With the game winding down, the Checkers ensured that they would finish the game with a win. Nick Dodge, who scored a goal last night, gave Charlotte a two-goal lead. But Perreault responded with his second goal of the night. He was able to bang home a rebound and bring it back within one goal.
But the Bears couldn’t complete the comeback with such little time left in the game. With Mike Murphy looking his best at the other end of the ice, Hershey lost 3-2.
Zach Miskovic chases after Nicolas Blanchard. Photo by Checkers SmugMug.
Spurred on by the excitement of winning Game 2, the Bears traveled down South to play the Charlotte Checkers on the road. Perhaps with a bit more confidence, they aimed to earn their first series lead of the post-season.
It’s a common phrase in hockey to say that “you need bounces to go your way.” This became a literal occurence when Francois Bouchard scored the first goal of the game. Bouchard was behind the net and the puck deflected off of his skate and over the goal. It bounced off of goaltender Mike Murphy’s back and into the net. It was such a bizarre way to get the first lead of the night but it counted and that’s what matters.
The second half of the period was a busy one for the Bears. They scored two goals to end the period with a three goal lead. One goal came from Keith Aucoin. Steve Pinizzotto has a nice, fast pass to moving Aucoin and all Coiner had to do was tip it into the net. There was not much Murphy could have done to stop that one. The final goal of the period came from Kyle Greentree who scored with a shot from the top of the face-off circle.
The Checkers finally broke the shutout in the second period with a soft goal that I’m sure Braden Holtby is not proud of. Holtby saw it coming the whole way but the puck squeaked past him courtesy of Nick Dodge. The penalty kill unit withstood a few Charlotte power plays and prevented any more goals during the second period.
From the start, the third period had a much different tempo and control than the previous forty minutes. The Checkers were roaring and got several quality scoring chances early on. Holtby was able to stand most of them up but Zach Boychuk finally got one of those scoring chances to go in and made it a one goal game.
Despite the Checkers controlling and outshooting the Bears in the final stanza, Hershey hung on. It became a nail-biter during the final two minutes when Greentree was sent to the box for high-sticking. But they prevented any game-tying goals and the Bears won 3-2. With this win, the Bears gained their first lead of the series.