Mid Season Notes

Since it is about mid season for the Hershey Bears I thought I would give my mid season pluses and minuses.

Pluses:
Grant Potulny has been the most consistent and solid player for the Bears all year. He is currently 3rd on the team in points and first in goals with 15.
Joe Motzko has also been solid. He has only played in 31 of the 39 games but is leading the team in points with 27 (13G, 14A). My only complaint for Joe is that he needs to quit trying to make great goals all the time. So often he skates in circles multiple times until he loses the puck instead of passing.
Jay Beagle has been quite a surprise. Not many people even thought he would make the club out based on the roster but after a strong camp he has played and played well. 15 points in 24 games is solid for the rookie. Hopefully he will have a strong second half once he comes back from injury.
Sami Lepisto is probably the best defenseman on the team that isn't hurt right now. He is a veteran of some Finnish leagues but he is an AHL rookie. He scored his first goal of the season the other night and has 15 assists to go with his team high +13 rating.
Daren Machesney has been better than solid. While filling in for Freddie Cassivi he made a name for himself by playing as good as anyone in the league. He has earned more playing time in the second half and could be the goalie of choice in the playoffs.

Minuses:
Andrew Joudrey has had a poor season after showing so much promise at the end of last year. He has yet to show anything great this season and has been a healthy scratch for a few games.
Scott Barney has been playing better lately but more scoring is needed out of the big fella. 8 goals and 15 assists halfway through the season is not good enough for him.
Ben Clymer, the million dollar man, is not earning his pay and the Caps organization knows it. They tried again a couple weeks ago to see if anyone wanted to sign him off waivers but no one picked him up. Need a lot more from him. In the beginning of the year he was trying to teach to much and still is sometimes. Play more and teach less.
Chris Bourque has also had a relatively poor season. By some standards the little guy has had a solid season but with expectations high and an early season call up I expected more. 23 points and 12 goals are not good enough. We need him to score 30 goals and get 60-70 points in a season. He is capable to do it and hopefully he picks up in the 2nd half.


News and notes:
Dean Arsene is expected to return Friday at Albany. Tyler Sloan and Beagle are getting better and could play this weekend but probably not until next week.