Outlook for '08

The Bears have enjoyed much success the past few years with deep playoff runs and one Calder Cup to their credit. I think the upcoming year will be a success as well.

This year's team does not have the scoring power as last seasons but it has a more physical style like in 05-06 when they one the cup. Can they win the cup again? Absolutely. In fact I would give them good odds to do so. A few things have to happen though:

1. Find another consistent scorer or two. The only player on the team that is even close to a point a game is Joe Motzko, who is only a big injury away from playing in Washington for the rest of the season. Grant Potulny leads the team in goals and some other guys are getting into things now, like Wilson. But the team needs guys like Chris Bourque, Jay Beagle, Ben Clymer, and Andrew Joudrey to step up and start scoring more.
2. Figure out the goaltending situation. I know this sounds crazy considering the Bears have Freddie Cassivi but the goaltending situation needs ironed out. Daren Machesney (nicknamed Cheese) is playing great between the pipes and deserves to at least get a look at being the #1 goalie. His numbers are outstanding, a 2.03 GAA, 9-2-1 record with 1 shutout, and a .930 save percentage. Compared to Freddie's 3.10 GAA, 10-10-1 record, and .900 save percentage and you can see that Cheese is outplaying Freddie right now.
3. Stay physical. The last two Calder Cup champions, the Hershey Bears and Hamilton Bulldogs had two things in common. A hot goaltender and a very physical game. This years Bears team is more like the Calder Cup team in their physicality. Last year's team was more finesse than muscle and they lost in the finals to Hamilton. This year's team needs to keep up the work along the boards and continue intimidating the other teams with physical play.
4. Get healthy. Obviously injuries play a big role in a teams success late in the season and the Bears will be no different. The hope here is that the team is getting all of their injuries out of the way now instead of later. Dean Arsene, Josef Bomedienne, Tyler Sloan, Jay Beagle, and others are out or have been out and hopefully get and stay healthy sooner than later.

If the Bears can do these things and play hard every game than there is no reason that they can't or won't get back to the playoffs and have another deep run into June.

LET'S GO BEARS!!! B-E-A-R-S Woooooooo!!!!