Bears visit Pens....some random thoughts as well

With the season only 4 games old for Hershey there is little to discuss as the Bears head up 81 to Wilkes Barre for tonight's game against the Baby Pens. For the most part the same players to play in the game a couple weeks ago will play tonight.

While Hershey has gone 2-1-0-1 in their first 4 the Pens have gone 4-0 in their opening 4. Tim Wallace is leading the team in goals with 3 while Jeffrey, Vitale and Wagner are tied at 2.

Tonight will kick off Hershey's first 3 in 3 of the season as Adirondack visits Saturday and Sunday.


But since there is little to discuss between the teams this early in the year I have some random thoughts I would like to share...

Sheldon Souray

I think Souray spends the entire 10-11 season in Hershey. I might have touched on this previously but I can't remember. The reason is that no team is going to want his salary for 11-12. The Oilers can place him on re-entry waivers at any point which would allow another NHL team to add him to their roster while only paying half of his 10-11 salary which would be about 2.5ish million. BUT that would still leave that team on the hook for his 2011-12 salary of 5.4 million...and not too many teams want that.

Honestly I think one team that could (and might...read the next point) be willing to add his salary could be the Caps. If he proves he can stay healthy the Capitals could move some players to get him. I can assure you he will come cheaper than most in terms of prospects/picks as the Oilers just want to get rid of him.

Washington Trades

I think Washington will trade some prospects this year, whether at the deadline or before. The development of players like Patrick McNeill and Sean Collins will go a long way in determining that. There is not a lot of NHL ready defensive depth in the organization this year compared to last year when Karl Alzner and John Carlson were in Hershey.

Currently Tyler Sloan is the #7 defenseman in the organization and the drop to #8 is pretty big I think. McNeill, Collins, and Fahey (already called up once) are the top contenders but are any capable of playing in the NHL for extended periods? That is an unknown. I could see a situation where an injury forces Washington to trade for a defenseman to fill in.

As mentioned above that could mean Hershey trades some of their prospects/picks to the Oilers for Souray. How bad would that be...losing Souray and others midseason? Not a good situation if it happens.

Chris Bourque

I wouldn't be surprised to see Bourque back in Hershey this season. 2 reasons...1, he is already unhappy overseas and 2, his rights are still owned by the Caps/Bears which means if he comes back he is likely to end up here first. He left his Russian team already and is playing professionally in Switzerland (he has 2g 1a in 3 games so far).

European players have until December (I think) to return to the US to play. Not saying it will happen but don't be surprised if he shows up in Hershey.

LET'S GO BEARS!!
BEAT THE PENS!!