Bears drop another game

Before I get into the team and their problems last night I want to say how awesome it was to see the reaction and reception for the soldiers that were welcomed home last night. If you weren't there it was something special. Not only did they get a standing ovation from the crowd but even the players on the ice were saluting them by hitting their sticks on the boards and the ice. And this wasn't before the game or between periods but during a timeout in play.

Sometimes we get a little caught up in the sport and the outcomes and forget that it is, quite simply, just a game. Whether a team wins or loses it really doesn't matter in the grander scheme of things. Watching the players acknowledge that last night was amazing.

As someone who has relatives and friends serving our amazing country (as many of us do) it was definitely something I will always remember.



Now onto the game....

Not exactly the way Hershey wanted to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Worcester came into Hershey and played well enough to get a 3-2 win against a sluggish Bears team.

I have some thoughts on wait ails this team but first I want to say this...it is still early. There are many new pieces and due to call-ups and injuries they have had limited time to play together. I still contend that this team is very talented at the offensive end and can score with anyone.

But goaltending and defense are 2 different issues altogether.


Dany Sabourin and the Defense

First let me say this...Dany is having a hard time controlling rebounds this year. Last night was horrible as he kept directing rebounds right out to the circles and the center of the ice. You just can't do that and expect to win many games.

BUT I don't blame Dany (entirely) for the goals last night. The first goal was a poorly controlled rebound that dropped at the stick of a Shark. My problem here is that whichever defenseman was following him through the zone didn't tie him up. Not sure which defenseman it was but Miscovic and Nycholat were on the ice.

A very similar play happened at the other end but the Sharks defenseman tied Perreault and kept him from making a play.

The 2nd goal was quite simply a horrible play by Souray and Miscovic. The puck was in the neutral zone and yet they still got caught flat footed by the play and Wingels skated in all alone on Sabourin.

And the 3rd goal...you CAN NOT allow a guy to take a one timer from the faceoff circle. Especially at even strength. That is simply unacceptable. If I remember correctly Andrew Joudrey's guy is the one that scored and Joudrey did make an attempt to block the shot but it was already too late.

Sure, Dany could have made some more saves but he did keep Hershey in the game too. I thought he played OK. Unfortunately I don't think he is capable of winning games by himself and that is what Hershey is asking him to do right now. The defense isn't showing up with any consistency.


Communication

It doesn't appear that anyone on this team is communicating with each other. And that might have something to do with the constant line changing due to injuries and call-ups but it should be a simple and easy thing to correct.

It appeared to me that right now there are 5 guys on the ice playing as individuals instead of as a a team. Clever passes where no one is there, one on one moves when they are unnecessary, and (most importantly) NO ONE GOING TO THE NET!

This is always a problem for teams but this Hershey team is really struggling. There were numerous rebounds left by the Worcester goalie last night but there were no Bears around to take advantage. They were all standing on the outside near the boards.

This team has some big guys too. Greentree, Rome, Pinner, GMac, Rechlicz, and Beagle can all get down low and stir up some chances. But most of them don't want to do that.

Last night there were 2 players that seemed to be okay getting their nose dirty...Beagle and Perreault. And Perry is the smallest player on the ice many games but he was in there going after rebounds and trying to make something happen.

No one else.


Line Makeup

With all the injuries and call ups it has been hard to get any lines any continuity but the lines they are running right now are too scattered and inconsistent.

There is no telling when Aucoin will be back so let's make some changes now.

Kyle Greentree is a scorer in the Giroux mold. Not as good a shot and not as quick a skater (never thought I would say that) but a similar player. Why is he on a line with 2 muckers (Beagle and Rome)?

Put Greentree with Perreault and Gordon and move Willsie down to play with Beagle. Willsie is a great player but he is more of the grinder/mucker type than a scorer. Putting Greentree on the top line with open Gordon up for him to perform.

High energy, grinder lines are what this team needs. Maxime Lacroix and Trevor Bruess are playing great right now and that is what they are doing. I actually think Rome should move to this line with Kugryshev moving to the Beagle/Willsie line.

What all these lines need is balance. A scorer, a grinder and a playmaker. Hershey has some of each but not like last years team.

Putting Greentree with a terrific playmaker like Perreault and allowing Gordon to get to the net and score the 'ugly' goals will definitely help that line.

Beagle has a little playmaker in him but will also get in the corners and muck it up. Putting him with Kugryshev and Willsie will result in hustle goals.

Rome, Lacroix, and Bruess aren't going to score a lot but they will control the puck with the cycle and get a few chances while frustrating the opposition. They will draw penalties and do the dirty work down low.

The last line of Pinner, Kane, and Joudrey is much like the Bruess line. I think Pinner could offer more in the way of offense but I don't see the energy on this line as I do the Bruess line. They don't seem interested in cycling and possessing the puck. Which is what they are all built to do.

With some continuity and communication all of these lines could cause problems for any opposition.


Power Play

One more thing and this is for French.

Why the hell is Souray not on the #1 power play unit? I don't care if you have to put Willsie on the wing or the bench if you don't Souray as your only defenseman but he should absolutely be out there firing away.

Put Willsie, Perry and Gordon out as forwards with Nycholat and Souray on the blue line. I guarantee that goals will be scored.

Then the 2nd line could be Beagle, Greentree and Kurgryshev with Collins/Fahey and Miscovic on the point.

TWO solid lines that can score and produce some consistent pressure.



That's it for today. Hopefully Friday and the weekend go better than the last 4 have gone. Getting 40+ shots a game is good IF they are quality chances which most of Hershey's 40+ weren't last night.

Everyone have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Bears win 1 of 3

Not a great weekend for the Hershey Bears. They managed to record 44 shots in Friday's game at Binghamton but the Senators goalie, Barry Brust, stopped 42 of them and the Sens offense scored 4 times against Hershey goalie, Dany Sabourin, to pick up their first win over the Bears this season.

Saturday night saw a 4-3 loss at home at the hands of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. That makes it 4 straight losses against the Pens to start the season. 3 of the 4 games have been goal affairs. On bright spot in the loss was the Hershey power play which converted on all 3 of their chances.

Then came Sunday against the soon to be defunct Hartford Wolfpack. (Seriously in one week they will no longer exist...they will be the Connecticut Whale)

A strong but scattered first period led to a 0-0 tie after the 1st. The Bears took control with 4 second period goals and they took a 4-1 lead into the 3rd period. And then they tried to blow it late by allowing 2 goals midway through the 3rd period.

You could definitely see some tired legs out there. Andrew Gordon was one player that definitely looked like he could use a few days rest. He looked sluggish and just a little off his game all night.

In the end Hershey got 2 points out of a weekend in which they were not playing at full strength. But, surprisingly, they are healthier after the weekend then they were going into it. Brian Willsie and Sheldon Souray both played in games this weekend. Keith Aucoin, Francois Bouchard, and Steve Pinizzotto remain sidelined.

Semyon Varlamov played in 2 games and appears to have regained his mobility but I am not sure he is ready for the NHL. He didn't look great in any of the 3 games he has appeared in. But Braden Holtby didn't look good in his start Friday night for Washington.

I would expect to see Braden return to Hershey for the weekend games but who knows. Varly doesn't look ready to significantly contribute but I am not sure playing in the AHL will get him ready for the NHL anyhow.

**UPDATE - shortly after posting this I read on Capitals Insider that Holtby is expected to make another start for the Caps this week. So it would appear that Varly will still be in Hershey for at least the Wednesday night game and possibly longer.**

**UPDATE #2 - Varly was recalled to Washington as Neuvirth suffered a minor lower body injury in practice. Holtby started last night and Varly was the backup. No word on when/if one of the two will be reassigned to Hershey. They say Neuvy can probably play Wednesday so hopefully one of the 2 is back soon.**

Next up for Hershey...a 4 in 5! Not exactly what they need right now but all you can do is play the games that are scheduled.

3 of the 4 games are in Hershey starting with Worcester on Wednesday night.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!!

Bears depleted as tough stretch begins

It is not a great time for Hershey to be facing all the injury issues they are having. Starting tonight Hershey plays 7 games over the next 10 days. They get Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday off. That's it.

Hershey's injury list looks like a pretty damn good power play unit...

Brian Willsie
Keith Aucoin
Francois Bouchard
Steve Pinizzotto
Sheldon Souray

That's a solid group of players to be missing.

Some good news though...Joel Rechlicz is cleared to return to the lineup. Probably not going to help much on the offensive end but healthy bodies are going to be important over the next 10 days.

Keeping with the healthy bodies theory, Nikita Kashirsky was recalled by the Bears as well. He will surely get into some games this weekend.

The goaltending situation is in better shape. Semyon Varlamov remains in Hershey as he tries to get back into game shape. He is expected to play in 2 games this weekend and then could be recalled to Washington.

As soon as he is recalled, Braden Holtby will surely be reassigned to the Bears. Braden is expected to make his 3rd start for the Caps this weekend but hasn't played much since being called up.

Dany Sabourin will also get a start this weekend.

Tonight Hershey visits Binghamton. And all who were in Hershey on Sunday evening recall what the Bears can do to the Senators. In 2 games this season Hershey has a 15-4 edge in goals and obviously a 2-0 record.

Sunday's game was somewhat lacking in the suspense area as Hershey scored their first goal 70 seconds into the game and finished the 1st period with a 6-0 lead. Included in that 1st period were 4 fights including 3 that came within about 30 seconds of each other. GMac (twice), Wellar, and Oreskovic all threw down with the Senators.

When you go up 6-0 in the first period it is kind of hard to critique the rest of the game as Hershey took their foot off the gas and the defense let up a bit as well. Varly also had the opportunity to relax a bit in net. Not saying any player wasn't trying but I think most players in most sports, on any level, would struggle to keep giving 110% effort when they are up 6 scores. (Just ask Mike Vick and the Eagles)

I have a funny feeling tonight's game is going to go differently against the Senators. They have been embarrassed twice against the Bears and are going to come out with something to prove.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!

Bears playing well this weekend

2 down 1 to go for this 3 in 3 weekend. Personally I think the team has played very well this weekend. Obviously the 3-0 win in Syracuse last night shows that. But the 3-2 loss on Friday doesn't.

You know that feeling when you are trying to say something and you just can't figure out the word you are looking for. Or when you are watching a movie or tv show and an actor comes on and you know you have seen them before but you can't quite remember it. The answer is just at the tip of your tongue....

That's how the Bears played on Friday night. The plays were there, partially made. And then something would go wrong. Either an errant pass, an unlucky bounce, or just a good play from Toronto.

Things just didn't work out for 2.5 periods. You could feel the change though. Just before they scored I felt like bounces had started going their way, the Toronto goalie had started to give up some rebounds, and Hershey was making the passes.

Then the first goal...then the second goal.

And then...ouch. A play that goes fine 99 out of 100 times didn't work out. The bounce went Toronto's way. Sabourin played the puck behind the Hershey net but feeling pressure from behind he rushed the pass and it went directly to a Marlie who put it in the net before Sabs could get back in position.

But don't blame Dany for the loss. If anything you can celebrate him for keeping Hershey in the game. The first 2 goals would have been scored on damn near any goalie in hockey. Great plays by the Marlies and poor defensive positioning led to both.

Sabs kept Hershey in the game with 2 other great 1 on 1 saves in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Without those saves it would have 4-0 before Hershey got on the board.

If you want to blame someone for the loss...blame the defense. They didn't play with any consistency that game.

Or blame the centers...they were dominated in the faceoff circle for much of that game. Whether in the offensive or defensive zone it seemed that the Marlies won all the big faceoffs. Hershey has a 5 on 3 power play...can't win a draw to keep the puck in the zone. Hershey has a big draw when on the penalty kill...the Marlies win and keep possession.

In my opinion Hershey didn't play great on Friday but they did outplay the Marlies. Those games will even themselves out over the course of the season as Hershey will get all the bounces in some games.

The fact that Hershey overcame the tough luck and miscues to tie the game up with a legitimate chance to win says how good this team is.

They rebounded nicely on Saturday night as they out shot the Crunch 40 to 24 and outscored them 3-0. Sabourin made all the saves to pick up Hershey's first shutout of the season. Willsie and Gordon continued their good play picking up their 7th and 8th on the season respectively. And Ashton Rome scored his 4th after being a healthy scratch on Friday.

Tonight Hershey is back home at Giant Center serving host to the Binghamton Senators. In one game against Bingo this year, October 15th in Bingo, Hershey won 7-1 as 6 different Bears scored in that game.

Semyon Varlamov is expected to get the start for Hershey as he prepares to return to the Washington lineup. Varly hasn't played in Hershey since last February 28th in another conditioning assignment. And he hasn't played at all since October 21 when he got the start and the loss in a 4-1 loss in Boston. He has only appeared in 2 games for the Caps this year so rust could be an issue tonight.

Binghamton comes to town at the tail end of a 4 in 5 weekend. They beat Wilkes-Barre on Friday on the road before losing last night to Toronto at home. They haven't scored fewer than 3 goals in their last 5 games but have dropped 2 of those games.

Rookie Bobby Butler is leading the league in goals this season as he has 12 goals in 15 games. 7 of those have come in the last 5 games. And Corey Locke leads the league with 22 points this season as well.

Bingo currently resides in 5th place in the East division, one point behind the Bears. They are 3-2-0-1 on the road this year and 7-6-1-1 overall. Their power play on the road is 24th in the league while their penalty kill is #2 on the road. To compare, Hershey has the 10th best power play at home and the 16th ranked penalty kill at home.

Should be a good one at the GC tonight.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!

MoJo joins Hershey in Charlotte

With the Capitals playing so well at this moment, winners of 3 straight, and all the forwards seemingly healthy (quick...knock on wood) the Caps sent rookie pivot Marcus Johansson to Hershey yesterday. He is expected to play tonight as Hershey goes up against the Charlotte Checkers for the first time.

MoJo had one goal in 6 games with the Caps while playing on the 3rd line alongside Jason Chimera and Eric Fehr.

The adjustment from the Swedish Elite League to a more aggressive North American style has been slower than the organization was looking for. He has played well defensively but has been largely ineffective in the offensive end.

Watching him skate you can see the amazing natural skill that he possesses, very fluid and definitely fast. He obviously has tremendous upside.

But the Caps are looking to win this year and with the team getting off to a slow start they don't have time to wait for a rookie to get up to speed. So while his reassignment to Hershey might be for just a short while, don't be surprised if he doesn't hang out with the Bears for the foreseeable future.

All of that will depend on what injuries Washington will have to deal with. I would say that until someone gets hurt all of the 'call-ups' will remain in Hershey. The organization would rather see Johansson play in Hershey then sit on the bench in Washington.


In other roster news, Dmitry Kugryshev and Johann Kroll were assigned to South Carolina for the weekend. Due to the longer trip the Bears were traveling with a smaller team and instead of leaving the two in Washington they sent them to help the Stingrays in their 3 in 3 this weekend.

Both are expected back in Hershey after the 2 game trip to Charlotte.


Now onto tonight's game.

Let's talk about the Charlotte Checkers. They are the new/old affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes. Last season they were the Albany River Rats in the AHL. But the Charlotte Checkers were an ECHL team last year too. So it is kind of a new/old affiliate.

Either way most of the players on the roster were Albany River Rats last year...minus one big name...Justin Peters. Their top goalie from last year is now in the NHL backing up Cam Ward in Carolina. That has apparently hurt this team a little bit. Last year they challenged Hershey for much of the year and finished 2nd in the East division. This year, with many of the same players, they are in 5th place after 14 games with only 5 wins.

But you have to expect that at some point the big players will get the team together. 9 of the top 10 scorers from last year are still there including former Bear Oskar Osala. Joining him are Stefan Chaput, Zach Boychuk, Jacob Micflikier, Chris Terry, Drayson Bowman, Nick Dodge, Jerome Samson, and Bryan Rodney.

Add to that mix a few college players, Zac Dalpe (played 9 AHL games last year and scored 6 goals in them) and Riley Nash. As well as some guys who made the move from juniors to the A, Matt Kennedy, Jared Staal (yes another Staal brother), and Michal Jordan.

And a few veterans joined the team as well. C Jonathan Matsumoto comes over from Adirondack where he scored 30 goals and added 32 assists last season. (Matsumoto is currently playing in the NHL) D Ethan Graham joins the team after spending 09-10 with Texas, Norfolk, Milwaukee, and the ECHL version of the Checkers. Also coming over is D Bobby Sanguinetti who served on Hartford's blueline the past 2 years.

Expect this team to gel and find their legs going forward. Lots of talent and scoring depth returns from last year and plenty of new faces, young and old, team up with them.

So far this season they have struggled to keep the puck out of their own net more so than scoring it themselves. They have allowed the 3rd most goals against, 41, in the AHL so far. Justin Pogge and Mike Murphy have each played 7 games and neither has much to show for it.

This will be the Checkers 3rd game in as many nights (actually this is an afternoon tilt with a 3:00 start time) and then a 4th in 5 nights as the Bears and Checkers play again on Tuesday.

Those kind of schedules will be a common thing for the Checkers as teams have to travel further than usual to play them. That usually means a couple games back to back instead of traveling all that way just to play one game. Something they will likely adjust to as the season moves along.

Helping them get their legs this afternoon will be a Hershey team that hasn't played since last Sunday. That's a substantial amount of time between games for a team so it will be interesting to see how the Bears come out today.


Hershey Bears
record ~ 6-3-0-1 13 points
standings ~ 3rd in East Division
most recent game ~ 7-3 Win vs Manchester, 10/31
last 5 games ~ 4-1-0-0
road record ~ 3-1-0-1
goals for ~ 40
goals against ~29
power play ~ 19.6% (9th)
penalty kill ~ 79.7% (21st)


Charlotte Checkers
record ~ 5-6-1-2 13 points
standings ~ 5th in East Division
most recent game ~ 3-1 Win @ Norfolk, 11/6
last 5 games ~ 3-0-0-2
home record ~ 1-2-0-2
goals for ~ 38
goals against ~ 41
power play ~ 17.3% (15th)
penalty kill ~ 87.5% (7th)

last time teams met - First of 8 meetings this season. Hershey went 6-2 against the Rats last season including 2-2 in Albany. Hershey outscored Albany 41-21 over the course of the season and none of the games were really close as only 2 of the 8 games were with 2 goals and neither were 1 goal games.


Players to watch:

Hershey:

C Marcus Johansson (17) - Making his Hershey debut today. Hasn't played in a while and was more of a defensive center when he did play. How will Hershey use him today?
RW Andrew Gordon (10) - Leads the Bears in goals with 7, and is 2nd on the team in points with 15.
RW Brian Willsie (18) - Promoted to the top line for the Manchester game, he has 5 goals and 6 assists on the season.

Charlotte:

C Zach Boychuk (11) - Leading the team in points with 13 and second on the team in goals with 6 through 14 games.
RW Jerome Samson (17) - Last years top scorer is leading the team again in goals with 7 and is 2nd on the team in points with 11.
LW Oscar Osala (32) - Finished 2nd on Rats with 24 goals last season (16 of those were in Hershey), he has 2 goals and 6 assists to start this season.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!

Pens getting best of Bears early

Are the Pens going to dominate the East division like Hershey did last year?

That is a question being asked by a few people lately.

The typical answer is...its too early to know.

But the honest answer is....hell no.

Sure the Pens are 8-0-0-0 and all of those have come against the division. That definitely gives them a good start on the East division race but it isn't necessarily indicative of how good a team they really are.

In fact I would say that they are actually weak offensively at this point in the season. Defense has carried them so far. 15 goals allowed in 8 games is impressive...especially considering that 5 of their game were against teams that average 3 or more goals per game (Hershey averages 4, Charlotte 3).

But outside of Hershey they haven't played anyone with a winning record. Okay...technically Binghamton has a winning record, 4-3-1-1, but in reality it is 4-5. They have played the Phantoms twice, Charlotte twice, and Bingo once. 3 teams that are not in the top 8 in the conference at this point including 2 (Adir and Char) that have a combined 5 wins in 22 games (5 wins!! ouch).

And their dominance of Hershey is not exactly unheard of...in 08-09 they won 5 straight against Hershey, outscoring the Bears 23-15. But outside of one game, a 6-2 Pens win, all the games were one goal games including 2 shootout wins.

This year...through 3 games...the Pens have a 6-2 win and 2 other one goal games..including a shootout victory.

See any similarities?

Remind me how that season turned out....oh yeah...the 10th Calder Cup in franchise history!

It is way too early in the season to worry about anything let alone the Pens dominance in 3 games against the Bears this season. Hershey will be fine, both against the Pens and in the division.

Another successful 3 in 3

What an interesting weekend we just witnessed. 3 different games, 3 different opponents, and 3 different Bears teams. Or so it seemed.

Friday started off poorly as Hershey fell behind 2-0 early in the 2nd before springing to life to pick up a 4-3 overtime win in Syracuse.

Saturday was one that we would all love to forget. A 6-2 handling on home ice at the hands of the Baby Pens.

Sunday was an exciting game to see as goals came fast and furious throughout the first as Hershey skated to a 7-3 win over Manchester.

It was an interesting weekend for Hershey goaltenders as well. Braden Holtby remained on recall to Washington which meant Todd Ford and Dany Sabourin would be in goal for Hershey.

Neither goalie looked great and both finished with a win, Sabourin's on Friday and Ford's on Sunday, with an ugly performance stuck in the middle. Sabourin got the start against the Pens but was pulled early in the 1st period after giving up 3 goals on 7 shots. Ford played a little better allowing 3 goals on 16 shots. Overall it was a poor performance across the board for the Bears Saturday night.

But they returned the favor on Sunday to the Monarchs. Manchester's starting goalie, Jeff Zartoff, managed to hang in for about 15 minutes but that was only because Hershey didn't get many shots on him up to that point. At one point Hershey had 3 goals on 3 shots. Zartoff ended up giving up 4 goals on 5 shots before being pulled in favor of youngster Martin Jones. Jones played much better as he allowed only 1 more goal on 14 shots.

It wasn't enough though as Hershey held Manchester to 3 goals and picked up 2 empty netters in the closing minutes.

The weekend ended up a success as the Bears went 2-1 for the second weekend in a row. If they could just find a way to beat those damn Penguins...(more on that coming in a couple days).


One thing I wanted to say though is this....it is still early. I saw a comment somewhere that this team is mediocre at best and another asking if the Pens were that good or is Hershey just bad.

It's EARLY!

Hershey has only played 10 games....only 70 to go!

They have dealt with injuries (Souray, McNeill, Rechlicz)....
They have had a fair share of callups (Perreault, Beagle, Holtby, Fahey)....
And they are still breaking in a relatively new lineup (Greentree, Willsie, Nycholat).

And please keep this in mind too...last season was incredible. It was a once in a lifetime kind of season. All the pieces fell into place as Hershey set record after record on their way to the Cup.

Add to that 3 Finals appearances in the previous 4 years (4 in 5 total) and I think we could all say that we are kind of spoiled. Most teams don't see the Calder Cup Finals at all and we have been watching hockey into mid June for a while.

This years Bears team is good. I said to start the year that I think offensively they could compete with last years team (assuming call ups don't kill the team) but defensively and in goal there are serious concerns. They can no longer rely on Alzner and Carlson on the blueline or Neuvirth in net. And considering the durability of a certain goalie in Washington I am not sure Holtby will be around too often either.

This team is skilled and can play with anyone. Yes they have lost to Wilkes Barre 3 times to start the season. And yes the Pens are undefeated after 8 games. And yes they have come out slow multiple times already.

But all of those things happened in the past 2 years as well....and guess what happened come Spring...

Hershey was celebrating with the Calder Cup in mid June.

There is lots of hockey to play yet in 2010-11.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!

Bears visit Crunch to kick off 3 in 3

Well it has been an interesting week in regards to call ups and injuries for Hershey. Braden Holtby, Brian Fahey, and Mathieu Perreault are on recall to Washington while Sheldon Souray and Joel Rechlicz are out with injuries.

Rechlicz had his nose broken in a fight while Souray broke his hand in a fight. Hopefully it heals quickly as he broke his right hand last December and then proceeded to miss the remainder of the season due to an infection in that hand. Rechlicz has begun skating on his own again so a return is expected sooner than later. Souray is expected to remain sidelined for a couple of weeks.

Who knows what will happen in Washington. Semyon Varlamov is injured again so Holtby is getting a chance. He is expected to get a start on the Caps current 3 game road trip.

The Caps were having enough problems on defense this week that Lawrence Nycholat was down practicing with the team. He is not under contract with the Caps so it was likely more of a tryout than anything. But that shows that the Caps are struggling with injuries on the blueline right now and might be in need of more bodies soon.

Perreault has played well since his call up with 2 assists in 2 games played so far. (As of this moment he has no points in 2 periods of the game against the Wild). I know the team would love to keep him up there but once Marcus Johansson is healthy it is expected that Perry will return to Hershey.

Dylan Yeo was recalled from South Carolina and Todd Ford remains in Hershey to help the Bears fill out their roster. Expect both to get in some time this weekend. Dany Sabourin will likely start 2 of the 3 games this weekend with Ford getting the other start. And Yeo will likely rotate through the defensive lineup this weekend.

This will be Hershey's second 3 in 3 in as many weeks and many of the guys were feeling some aches and pains after a rough back to back against the Phantoms. The week off was surely welcome to rest before this weekends games.

First up is Syracuse. Last year Hershey went 5-1 against the Crunch but that was a completely different team. Thanks to the AHL going to 30 teams the Crunch are now affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks. Last year the Ducks did not have an official affiliate as they sent players to multiple teams.

And they have surely stocked the Crunch will some young talent. Let's put it in perspective...Syracuse has 25 players listed on their AHL.com roster. 14 of those players were born in 1988 or later. Hershey also has 25 players on their roster...only 2 of them (Francois Bouchard and Dmitry Kugryshev) were born in 1988 or later.

Of those 14 Crunch players that are 22 or younger, 10 of them are forwards and 4 of them are in the top 6 on the team in scoring. The other 2 in the top 6 are defensemen and 1 of them is younger than 22. The only player over the age of 22 in the top 6 in scoring on the team is D Brett Festerling and he is 24. Festerling is still younger than 19 Bears!

So it is young vs veteran Friday night in Syracuse. Should be a good one!


Hershey Bears
record ~ 4-2-0-1 9 points
standings ~ 3rd in East Division
most recent game ~ 4-2 Win vs Adirondack, 10/24
last 5 games ~ 3-2-0-0
road record ~ 2-2-0-0
goals for ~ 27
goals against ~17
power play ~ 26.3% (4th)
penalty kill ~ 81.1% (19th)


Syracuse Crunch
record ~ 3-3-0-1 7 points
standings ~ 5th in East Division
most recent game ~ 5-4 Loss @ Hamilton, 10/27
last 5 games ~ 3-2-0-0
home record ~ 2-0-0-1
goals for ~ 16
goals against ~ 16
power play ~ 16.7% (14th)
penalty kill ~ 93.9% (2nd)

last time teams met - First of six meetings this season. Hershey went 5-1 against the Crunch last year including 2-1 on the road. Hershey outscored Syracuse 26-12 in those games.


Players to watch:

Hershey:

RW Andrew Gordon (10) - Leads Hershey and is tied for 2nd in the league with 6 goals this season. Also tied for 4th in the league in scoring with 11 points.
C Keith Aucoin (11) - Leads the Bears and the league in scoring with 13 points this season. He has 3 goals and 10 assists.
RW Ashton Rome (26) - 3 goals and an assist in the last 2 games.

Syracuse:

RW Kyle Palmieri (26) - 2009 1st round draft pick is leading team in goals with 5 and in points with 6. Had a hat trick Wednesday night against Hamilton.
LW Nicolas Deschamps (16) - Second on the team in points with 5 and goals with 3. Currently on a 4 game point streak with all of his points (3g, 2a) coming in those 4 games.
LW Brandon McMillan (15) - The 3rd rookie on this list he is also second on the team in goals with 3 but unlike Deschamps he has no assists this season.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!

Solid weekend for Bears

I didn't get to see any of the Friday game in Wilkes-Barre and I only saw a few minutes of the Saturday game in Hershey. But I was in Hershey for the Sunday game and I have to be honest...I thought Hershey played great.

Even though it appeared that they started slowly, giving up 2 goals in the first 10 minutes, I thought they were actually the better team from start to finish. They just didn't get the bounces early and the Phantoms did. They were out-hitting, out-hustling, and simply out-playing the Phantoms damn near all game.

In the end Hershey responded with 4 unanswered goals to beat the Phantoms for the 2nd straight night. I never really felt that the outcome was in doubt either. It just seemed like Hershey was the better team playing better hockey while getting a few unlucky bounces.

So the weekend ended up pretty good as Hershey scored 11, allowed 5 and went 2-1.

But it didn't start out as well as Washington recalled the Bears #2 and #3 centers, Perreault and Beagle, before the game Friday night.

It isn't easy to replace 2 very good centers on any notice let alone short notice. Having no time to work with other combinations is not easy but Hershey still managed 32 shots against Wilkes-Barre. Not sure the quality of those shots but getting 32 isn't bad.

Saturday and Sunday were different games though. Hershey, who had some trouble with Adirondack last year, came out and played as physical as they have all season. Guys like Grant McNeill, Steve Pinizzotto, and Boyd Kane were on top of their game all weekend.

Those games also featured 4 fights and 31 penalties over the two evenings. Sheldon Souray, Trevor Bruess, Ashton Rome, and GMac all threw down against the Phantoms. I saw GMac's bout, very impressive, and I have heard that Souray looked pretty good on Saturday night too.

But playing physical doesn't get the job done by itself...you still have to score goals. Rome and Andrew Gordon did that okay as both scored 3 times over the 3 games. They accounted for over half of the Bears 11 goals during their 3 in 3. Other goal scorers were Willsie, Joudrey, Greentree, Pinner, and Kane.

Braden Holtby, who just got recalled to Washington, won both games against the Phantoms while Dany Sabourin, who was on recall Sunday but returned today, picked up the loss against the Pens.

Hopefully Holtby will be back before Hershey plays again on Friday but if not Todd Ford might see some time in net this weekend as the Bears have another 3 in 3 this upcoming weekend.

In the end what started out as a poor weekend with callups and a loss turned into an solid 2-1, 4 point showing. Sure, losing to the Baby Pens for the second time this year was disappointing but if you go 2-1 during every 3 in 3 you will end up in pretty good position come April.

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!!

Links and Photos

Here are some interesting links that I found about the Bears this week and below those you will find some pictures I took and I found from the Calder Cup ring ceremony last weekend...

Hershey Trio Working Toward Return Trip - Corey Masisak, CSN Washington

Jersey Auction Results - RocktheRed.net

Gustafsson Hangs Up His Skates - Ravings of a Rink Rebel

More on Gustafsson - RocktheRed.net

Championship Rings - Sweetest Hockey on Earth - I borrowed some of these photos (see below)

Amerks spoil celebration

The video presentation...awesome.

The player introductions...great.

The ring ceremony...amazing.

The banner drop...fantastic.

The game itself...not so much.

After an amazing pregame ceremony celebrating (for the last time) the 2009-10 Calder Cup Championship the Amerks silenced the crowd and left Hershey with a road win...something not many teams can say they have recently.

Hershey started out great. Skating hard, getting to loose pucks, taking the body, and jumped out to a 1-0 league on Brian Willsie's (2nd of year) power play tally 6 minutes in.

But after about 10 minutes Hershey seemed to disappear while Rochester found their legs. Some of that is to be expected. Lots of emotion on the ice before the game, lots of standing around waiting, and lots of guys that weren't a part of it that were stuck watching. All of that has an effect on teams. Hershey came out firing and then tailed off while Rochester, who were stuck in the lock room for an extra 15-20 minutes, came out slow and then turned it on.

For the middle 40 minutes Rochester controlled the play. They were more physical, they were getting to the loose pucks, and they took control on the scoreboard, taking a 3-1 after 2 periods.

Hershey did make it interesting late after Andrew Gordon scored his 3rd of the year on another power play. They pushed hard over the last 10 minutes and on multiple occasions almost got the puck past the Rochester goalie, Jacob Markstrom. Even in the closing seconds they had chances...one or two more ticks on the clock and Hershey might have scored.

But they didn't. It's only one game and with all the extracurricular activities taking place before the game I think we can chalk this up to a team just not as focused as their opponent. Nothing to worry about.

Dany Sabourin got his first start of the season after being reassigned by Washington on Friday. Honestly, he looked bad to start the game. Coach French said that he probably didn't have a chance at any of the goals, but I would tend to disagree with that. Sure the Amerks played well but Dany could have gotten some of them.

But remember he hadn't played in a while. He served as the backup to Neuvirth in Washington since the season started on the 8th. And he hadn't played in an actual game since a preseason game on October 3rd when he played about 25 minutes. So while Dany (and French) won't use rust as an excuse I think it is a legitimate argument for his play early on. As the game went on he made some great saves so I think it was just a matter of getting his feet under him and seeing some real game action.

It didn't help that his defense was letting guys crash the net and stand in front of him either. Overall it was a great game for about 20 minutes and a terrible game for the middle 40.

I am pretty confident the real Bears were the ones playing at the beginning and the end of the game.


My Three Stars of the Game:

1. Michal Repik - a goal and an assist for the Amerks
2. Joe Callahan - 2 assists, both the primary assists
3. Andrew Gordon - 1 goal and played hard the whole game

What Went Right:

• The Power Play - they had 5 chances and scored twice which is pretty good overall. At times they were a little to 'cute' and looking for the extra and/or perfect pass but overall they had consistent good pressure.
• The Penalty Kill - on 7 opportunities the Amerks managed only 1 goal and that came with 1 second left on Kroll's penalty in the first period. There were some tense moments as Rochester did get set up a couple times but overall, like the power play, a very good performance.
• The Pre-Game - the celebration was great. Seeing the 79-80 Bears team handing out rings to last years players was pretty cool, even though I wasn't born when that team won. Lots of people around me seemed to really enjoy seeing the players. The announcement that Mitch Lamoureux will be inducted into the Hall of Fame was pretty cool too. And how about that video presentation...great too see the highlights and I thought the scenes of the players getting dressed in the locker room were pretty cool too. Great job on that!
• Souray's shot - how about that slapshot. He let it rip a couple of times in the 1st and it was quite impressive...a definite weapon that will surely play dividends for the Bears this season.

What Didn't Go So Well:

• Too Many Penalties - Hershey gave Rochester 7 power plays and took 9 penalties in all. And a lot of those were the of the lazy skating variety, hooking, tripping, and slashing...all signs that Hershey was being outworked. Yes there were some questionable calls by referee Ryan Fraser but I think the only 'bad' call was the Boyd Kane slash at the end of the 2nd. Most of the others were the right call...the problem was that there were calls that should have been made against Rochester that weren't.
• The Middle 40 Minutes - the overall play, from the goalie to the forwards, was seriously lacking for most of the game. They were sharp early and corrected it late but the middle was bad. Not totally unexpected but bad nonetheless.

Bears welcome Amerks in 10-11 home opener

Tonight the Bears will put the final touches on the 2009-10 season as they receive their championship rings and drop the 11th Calder Cup Championship banner. Festivities kick off at 6:15 so make sure you get to your seat early to see it all. Surely there will be an awesome video on the big board as well.

It should be fun.

But after that we get a special treat as well. Sheldon Souray and Michael Nylander are both expected to suit up for the game tonight. And they are making a ton of money this season!

Just for some perspective (and some fun) I ran some numbers. I looked at all the AHL salaries (according to capgeek.com) for the Bears and Americans. Obviously there are some players not included as they are on AHL only deals, players such as Nycholat, Wellar, and Kane. So this is not a perfect calculation but I think there is still some wiggle room for my findings.

Here is the finding (and what I assumed going in):

Both Souray and Nylander will make more this season then all the players on both teams playing tonight.

Souray is scheduled to make 5.4 million and Nylander 4.875 million.

The Bears are scheduled to make about 2.5 million. And that includes Sean Collins, who many don't know is actually on a 1-way contract and will make $675,000 this season, Dany Sabourin who is scheduled to make $250,000, and Keith Aucoin's $300,000. You eliminate those 3 salaries and the numbers are even more impressive.

The Americans are scheduled to make 1.645 million this year. And that includes Clay Wilson's 1-way deal for $500,000.

Rochester + Hershey = 4.1 million!

That is ridiculous. And awesome at the same time. There are some players missing (5 for Rochester and 7 for Hershey) that are on AHL/ECHL deals so there numbers don't appear on the site. Assuming they all make $50k a year they still come up short of Nyles and Souray.

Okay...enough of that. Let's talk hockey now.


The Bears come into this game on an offensive high as they dominated the Binghamton Senators last night 7-1 up in New York.

Rochester is coming in off a losing effort at home last night to Hamilton 5-2.

Rochester was up 2-0 in the first period of that game after 2 power play goals late in the period but Hamilton stormed back with 1 in the last 30 seconds of the first period and 2 goals in each of the 2nd and 3rd periods.

The Americans come in with a record of 1-2 as they lost to Hershey last Sunday and to the Bulldogs last night.

Hershey meanwhile is 2-0-1 with a shootout loss to Wilkes-Barre the only blemish on their record to this point.

Players to Watch tonight:

Hershey:

• RW Brian Willsie (18) - he scored a goal and added 3 assists last night
• C Keith Aucoin (11) - he had 2 assists last night and had 2 goals and an assist against Rochester last weekend
• D Sheldon Souray (7) - assuming the veteran plays again tonight it will be interesting to see his skill set and how it translates to the AHL

Rochester:

• D Clay Wilson (5) - the defenseman has 3 goals to lead the team right now including one against the Bears last weekend
• D Mike Kostka (28) - another defenseman leading the team in a category...assists, with 3
• C Michal Nylander (19) - since the post was partially about him I figured I would include him. He has only 1 goal and is a team worst -4 this year.

Bears dismantle Senators

I have to admit that I didn't see much of the game last night. By the time I got to turn it on it was already 5-1 and from there I watched a few minutes before moving on to other items.

In the end it was a 7-1 final, which coincidentally is the Bears record against Bingo each of the past 2 seasons.

6 different Bears scored goals including 4 who got their first of the year (Bouchard, Perreault, Willsie, and Beagle). Greentree (2), Gordon (2), and Bouchard (2) again finished the scoring for the Bears.

Of particular note is how well the 2nd line played last night. Willsie, Perreault, and Bouchard were in top form last night as they combined for 4 goals and 6 assists.

John Walton made mention last night that if this line can do this on a consistent basis then the Bears offense will be very difficult to stop.

And while that is definitely true I would also say, the offense was pretty tough to stop last year too!

Having 2 scoring lines that are technically #1 lines is a great advantage to have. Which is what Hershey have at this moment. The Willsie, Perry, and Bouch line could be the #1 here in Hershey and would be the #1 line for just about any other team in the league.

Goaltending was good last night too as Holtby allowed just one goal on 36 shots. Which believe it or not was one more shot then Hershey recorded...that's right the Senators lost 7-1 but out shot the Bears 36-35.

It was a very physical game, which is to be expected when one team dominates in this fashion. There were 4 fights and plenty of roughing calls between the two teams. When you finish a period up 3-1 and extend that lead to 6-1 in the 2nd period there is bound to be some aggressive physical play from the losing team.

Hershey gets right back to it tonight in the home opener against Rochester. The banner raising and ring ceremony will take place tonight as well to celebrate the 2009-10 Calder Cup Championship one last time.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!!

Bears visit Senators tonight

After losing the season opener in a shootout, the Bears came from behind to beat the Rochester Americans on Sunday evening. Keith Aucoin scored twice, Brian Fahey got his first as a Bear, and Andrew Gordon added his touch with his first goal and game winning goal of the year.

Now the Bears travel back up I81 for a visit to Binghamton tonight. The Senators also split their first 2 games, both at home, last weekend against Adirondack and Norfolk.

Last season Binghamton was thought to be an improved team that could give the Bears a run for the division. That turned out to be a poor theory as the Senators finished 5th in the East division and missed the playoffs by 5 points.

This year I think Binghamton is again a team that made some changes that I am sure they think will pay off. Gone are Binghamton mainstays Josh Hennessy and Denis Hamel. Hamel had been in Binghamton for much of the last decade but he is no longer.

Another key player who didn't return this year is last seasons leading scorer Martin St. Pierre. He scored 24 goals and added 48 assists last year.

That means 3 of their top 4 scorers from last season are gone. That is a combined 76 goals and 115 assists gone from a team that finished 2nd in the East division with 251 goals in 09-10.

In their place are a lot of younger players plus one name we all remember from 06-07.

Corey Locke joins the Senators this year after spending last season with Hartford. He scored 31 goals and added 54 assists for the Wolfpack last year so he is a decent upgrade over any player they had last year.

Other players the Sens are likely looking to for some scoring help are youngsters Bobby Butler, Colin Greening, and Mike Hoffman.

Butler joins the team after spending 4 years at the University of New Hampshire. In his 4 year career there he totaled 61 goals and 60 assists including 29 and 24 last season. He has stared fast this season as well with 2 goals and an assist in 2 games so far.

Greening also comes in from college hockey, from Cornell specifically, where he scored 55 goals and 63 assists in his four years. That includes last season when he scored 15 and 20. He has played in both games this season but has yet to record a point.

Hoffman comes from the QMJHL. Over the last 2 seasons he has scored 98 goals and added 81 assists in 118 games. Not included in those numbers are his playoff numbers over the last 2 seasons as well...in 40 games he scored 32 goals and 26 assists. Pretty impressive in the playoffs.

Those young guys join Ryan Keller (leading goal scorer in 09-10 with 34), Jim O'Brien (3 goals already this year), and Kaspers Daugavins (had 21 and 25 last season) for the 2010-11 season.

A younger and possibly improved offense joins with a few new faces on defense including Andre Benoit and David Hale who spent last season with Hamilton and the NHL's Tampa Bay respectively. Benoit, like Locke, was on the 06-07 Calder Cup champion Hamilton team.

And in goal Mike Brodeur returns and joins Barry Brust who comes over from Houston to help out.

Overall I think the Sens could be a dangerous team. It is a bit too early to make that conclusion as the young players need to get some games under their belt. I can say this...they won't be worse then they were last year.

Hershey won the season series 7-1 last year including all 4 in Binghamton. And most of those games weren't close as Hershey outscored the Senators 37-19 in those 8 games. Hershey scored 5 or more in 5 of the 8 games and Bingo scored 2 or fewer in 5 games as well.

This year the teams again face off 8 times during the regular season. Hopefully things go similarly to last year.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!!

News and Notes:

• Patrick Cullity was sent to South Carolina earlier this week in anticipation of Sheldon Souray being in the lineup this weekend.
• Dany Sabourin was placed on waivers late this week as well and is expected in Hershey today. He may get a start this weekend.
• There is a new Bears blog out there that you should all check out (in addition to visiting here of course), Sweetest Hockey on Earth is the site and it is owned/operated by the guys at Russian Machine Never Breaks (also known as RMNB). Both great sites, check them out for everything Caps and Bears.

Game 1 in the books

Hershey and Wilkes-Barre put on a pretty good show tonight in the season opener for both teams. While there was some sloppy play it was overall a very well played game by both teams. The intensity level seemed good although there were no fights and few dust ups around the goals.

The Baby Pens picked up a 4-3, shootout win over the Bears to kick off the season. Hershey started it off with a power play goal by Kyle Greentree (1) early in the first. Only two minutes later though the Pens had already taken a 2-1 lead on goals by Chris Collins and Nick Johnson.

Hershey tied it up at 2 before the first period was even half over as Steve Pinizzotto picked up his first of the year.

After 4 goals in the first 1o minutes of play the defenses (and more importantly, the goalies) got their feet under them and started making it difficult on the offenses. Andrew Hutchinson made it 3-2 Pens midway through the 2nd before Keith Aucoin tied it at 3 with his first goal of the year on a another Bears power play.

Overall there were numerous chances for both teams as the official shot count ended up 45-33 in favor of the Pens. I would say the majority of those were weak shots that resulted in slightly inflated numbers at the end of the game.

Both teams created chances and both had some mistakes. It was a very well played game considering it was the first of the year in my opinion. There isn't exactly an extended preseason (or training camp for that matter) in the AHL. That makes it difficult for players to develop familiarity with new teammates and/or line mates.

Hershey was breaking in new forwards on 3 of their lines and new defensemen on at least 2 pairings. Wilkes Barre was breaking in plenty of new pieces as well.

In the end the Bears struggled in the shootout as Holtby looked weak after making a good stop on the first shot as he allowed 3 straight goals to Pens shooters. But it wasn't all his fault as only one Bear, Francois Bouchard, managed to score a shootout goal. And no it wasn't on his spin-o-rama move either. Aucoin, Brian Willsie, and Mathieu Perreault all had a chance but none of them could score.

Overall, not a bad game to start of the season but definitely room for improvement too.


What Went Right:

• I really like the Bears 3rd line of Andrew Joudrey, Jay Beagle, and Steve Pinizzotto. French should definitely leave this line together for a while to see what they can do. Possibly the most complete line Hershey can bring as all 3 are capable of 15-20 goals a year and all 3 are strong defensive players. High energy, defensive shut down, and scoring...this line covers all the bases.
• Braden Holtby started a little shaky with a couple weak goals early but ended up having a solid game (until the shootout anyway) as he made 41 saves overall.
• The new blue liners played well for the Bears. Brian Fahey and Lawrence Nycholat were on the ice a lot and were very good most of the night. Fahey looked strong at both ends of the ice. Good to see considering the guys they have to replace.
• The power play was excellent. They finished 2 for 4 but the consistent pressure was the most impressive. Once they got it into the zone they seemed to be able to keep it there for the remainder of the try.

What Didn't:

• Some minor communication errors...mainly due to new players with new lines and limited time to work together. 3 of Hershey's forward lines and 1 defensive pairing feature players that only returned to Hershey this past week. Those type of errors should be corrected after a few games and some more practices together.
• Obviously it is just one game but the shootout is somewhat bothersome. These don't matter come playoff time and many Hershey teams struggle in them but Holtby looked bad on a couple of those goals. Some of that might be due to good moves by the Pens but I would say a little bit of both.
• I don't think the 4th line got enough minutes. Ashton Rome, Trevor Bruess, and Dmitry Kugryshev made up the 4th line tonight and I think all 3 offer some significant potential. Kugryshev got some power play time but the other 2 were almost non-existent.

Next up is @Rochester tomorrow evening at 5:05. The Americans are coming in after winning tonight in Toronto 4-2. This will be the first of 4 meetings between the 2 teams this season and the first of 2 in the next 7 days as the Americans visit Giant Center next Saturday for the Hershey home opener.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!

Hershey heads to Wilkes-Barre to start 10-11 season

And so it begins...the 2010-11 AHL Season kicks off for the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins tonight up I-81.

Both teams are expected to contend in the East division and both are considered contenders for the Calder Cup. Obviously the first game means little in the overall big picture but when you are playing a division opponent, every game matters. The 2 points a team gets tonight could be the difference come April.

So, how different are these teams this year?

Well we have already discussed Hershey. The Bears lost a substantial amount of talent over the summer. Some went to the NHL, some went to Europe and others are stationed elsewhere in the AHL at this point. But the important thing to remember is that they also restocked the talent this year.

Some of the top scorers might be gone but players that have the ability to produce similar numbers have stepped into their places.

But what about the Penguins? Last season they finished 3rd in the East division, a full 36 points behind the Bears. Offensively they only scored 239 goals, 103 behind Hershey. And they allowed 229, 31 more than Hershey. So what did they do to improve their team?

Plenty.

Gone are forwards Mark Letestu (Pittsburgh), Wyatt Smith (Providence), Luca Caputi (Toronto-AHL), Eric Tangradi (Pittsburgh), Konstantin Pushkarev (Russia), Ryan Bayda (Germany), Wade Brookbank (Rockford), and Tyler Spurgeon (Austria).

Not exactly a who's who of offensive forwards. Caputi was 3rd on the team in goals with 23 last season and Letestu was 4th but the remaining 6 only scored 51 goals combined.

In their place this season come some definite offensive weapons:

• Brett Sterling (Chicago) - 34g 22a | 55 games
• Chris Collins (Germany) - 23g 23a | 47 games
• Ryan Craig (Norfolk) - 23g 22a | 73 games
• Nick Petersen (QMJHL) - 39g 40a | 59 games

In addition they added role players Ryan Schnell, Bryan Lerg, and Geoff Walker to the forward cast. Schnell had 173 PIM in 60 games last season playing in the ECHL so his role is pretty well defined.

Sterling and Craig are the top 2 players coming in. Craig is a former Bear with loads of talent. He spent most of 05-09 playing for Tampa Bay and scoring 30+ goals during that span. Sterling has scored 144 goals in 4 partial AHL seasons and another 14 goals in limited playoff time with Chicago.

Collins played in Germany and produced for his team there having finished 4th on the team in goals. Petersen is obviously a young kid who is looking to make a mark coming out of juniors.

All of these players are going to join with returning leaders, Dustin Jeffrey, Chris Conner, Nick Johnson and Tim Wallace to provide some additional offensive punch this season.

On the blueline only 3 of the 8 defensemen were on the roster last season, Steve Wagner, Brian Strait and Robert Bortuzzo.

Joining them will be:

• Corey Potter (Hartford)
• Andrew Hutchinson (Texas)
• Drew Fata (Providence)
• Carl Sneep (NCAA - Boston College)
• Jason DeSantis (Czech)

Obviously we all remember Hutchinson from the Calder Cup finals where he played excellent. Potter was a +17 for a Hartford team that missed the playoffs last season. Sneep is a somewhat offensive defenseman having scored 11 goals and added 17 assists playing for BC last year. Fata is a pest and DeSantis is more than likely there for depth.

All in all it is a different team in Wilkes Barre. One that they surely hope provides a bit more defense and a bit more offense.

It should be a fun rivalry this season and it gets started at 7:05 tonight.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!

Oh and if you didn't hear already....CONGRATS to Andrew Joudrey for being named team captain this year.

I doubt there is a player on the Bears that outworks Joudrey and to see him get rewarded by being named captain is great. The guy plays with more heart and effort than most players and he shows a real love for the game. It is great to watch him play with energy night in and night out.

Players like him are the ones that make or break a season.

Congrats Andrew and I am sure you will be an excellent captain this season!

My 2010-11 Preview

A couple things happened this week that significantly strengthens what was already a very deep and talented Hershey team.

Andrew Gordon cleared waivers and Sheldon Souray was loaned to Hershey from Edmonton.

Wow.

I really thought Gordon might get picked up by another team. He isn't making a ton of money, 500k in the NHL, and is a young talented player with substantial upside. But with so many teams tight against the cap and struggling to get their own rosters down to 23 there was no one to take the gamble.

And Gordon wasn't happy about it but who can blame him. Basically he was passed over for a promotion and a significant raise. If he stays in Washington he #1 gets to play in the NHL and #2 would get paid $500,000 for the season. Being in Hershey he makes $90,000 this season. Definitely nothing to sneeze at but if any of us were up for a promotion and a raise of that magnitude we would be pretty upset too.

Souray is a completely different case. He hasn't played in the AHL since a 6 game stint with Albany in 97-98. He has scored 109 NHL goals including 23 two years ago with Edmonton. Unfortunately he has dealt with some injuries recently and has only played in 144 of a possible 246 games the past 3 seasons.

After a falling out in Edmonton the Oilers placed him on waivers but due to his salary, 5.4 million, no other team wanted to take a chance on him.

It is a very similar situation to Michael Nylander who the Caps are paying almost 4.9 million to play in Rochester this season. With the poor relationships with these players neither team wanted to send them to their minor league affiliate and basically just make the situation worse. So both players were loaned to other teams in the AHL in hopes that they can resurrect their careers and get picked up some other time this season.

Souray, like Nylander, will have to clear re-entry waivers to be called up to the NHL (he is the property of Edmonton and CAN NOT be called up by Washington). I believe (and I am not certain of this so if I am wrong someone please correct me) that if Souray is recalled by Edmonton and claimed on re-entry by another team the claiming team would only owe 50% of his 10-11 salary with Edmonton picking up the other half. So the hope of the Oilers (and Caps with Nylander) is that some team might be interested in doing that at some point this year.

The Capitals did this once before with Ben Clymer. They sent him to Hershey and would do a paper recall of him throughout the season in the hopes of someone taking a chance on him and signing him away. That never happened though and Clymer spent the 07-08 season in Hershey before heading to Europe the following season.

Time will tell what happens with Souray but for now he is a Hershey Bear and hopefully he is determined to help the team and show he can still play.


The rest of the team has been known for a while now and looks very strong. You can find an updated roster on the left side of this page.

Last years team was as talented as any team in recent memory. With Giroux, Bourque, Aucoin, Gordon, Wilson, Perreault, Bouchard, Alzner and Carlson you had 2 to 3 full lines that could score at will and a defense that could shut down anyone.

Well many of those players are gone. Alzner and Carlson are in Washington. Giroux is playing in Oklahoma City at the moment. Wilson is still with Columbus. And Bourque is currently traveling around Europe after leaving his KHL team to play in Switzerland this year.

So are the Bears going to be able to compete.

Umm...yeah I think they will be okay.

In place of the above mentioned players you have Kyle Greentree, Brian Willsie, Brian Fahey, Lawrence Nycholat, Souray, and Dmitri Kugryshev joining forces with Bouch, Perry, Coiner, Gordo, Pinner, Kane, Joudrey, McNeill, and Beags to form what is generally considered the favorite to win the Calder Cup again in 2011.

Here is the Hockey News preseason rankings.

Greentree is probably the highlight of the newcomers. He has scored 64 goals over the past 2 seasons and will now get to play with Aucoin, who routinely helps wingers achieve career years.

Willsie, formerly of the Hershey Bears in 02-03, comes back to Hershey after splitting time between the NHL and AHL over the last 8+ years. In fact last year was really the first time he played a full season in the 'A' since the 2000-01 season in Hershey. And he did okay last year for Lake Erie scoring 26 goals and adding 31 assists.

Souray we talked about already. Fahey is a career AHLer to this point who routinely scores double digit goals and can add triple digit PIMs if needed.

Nycholat, another former Bear, returns to Hershey after spending some time in the NHL with Ottawa and Vancouver. He is a great locker room presence who will help Fahey in solidifying the blue line.

There are lots of young guys who will be making appearances this season in Hershey including Patrick Cullity, Trevor Bruess, Jake Hauswirth, and Nikita Kashirsky but the player who I am most excited to see is Dmitri Kugryshev. He has spent the past 2 years playing in the QMJHL where he totaled 171 points (67 goals) in 132 games. He will be getting good opportunities to show what he can do this year.


The biggest questions facing the Bears this year are in goal and on the blue line. And well the blue line should be okay. Between McNeill, Miscovic, Collins, Fahey, Finley, Souray, Nycholat, Wellar and Cullity I think they will be okay. But when you lose 2 NHLers and 2 veteran players like Helmer and Amadio there will be questions.

The goaltending issue is another one entirely. Last years #1 Michal Neuvirth is in the NHL splitting time with 08-09 #1 Semyon Varlamov. Last years #2 Braden Holtby takes over as the #1 and eventually Dany Sabourin will be in Hershey to be the #2.

Honestly that isn't bad. The problem comes when Varly or Neuvy get hurt, which lets face it, will happen. In fact Varly is already hurt which is why Sabourin is still in Hershey.

Behind Sabourin is Todd Ford and Jared DiMichele. Both are solid prospects but if Hershey has to rely on them for an extended period things could get hairy. I am not saying they can't handle the job but they are both unknowns on this level, although Ford has played 20+ games in the AHL through his career.


For more team and league preview articles check out PennLive.com. Tim Leone did a few articles for the Bears preview section of the Patriot News, which came out today, that you can find on PennLive.com. Definitely worth checking out.


Now lets talk expectations and predictions.

To expect this years team to achieve what last years team accomplished is probably asking a lot. AHL records were set often last year by the Bears and that was likely a once in a lifetime team we got to see.

But this years team can be very good. There is an issue of having too many veterans after the addition of Souray that could result in some lost ice time for players like Nycholat or Kane. Could that disrupt the locker room....maybe.

Will the young players step up and rise to the challenge or buckle under the pressure? Guys like Bruess, Finley, Cullity, Holtby, and Kugryshev are going to be handed some solid minutes and they have to perform.

The team won't use the term '3-peat' as they don't want to think too much about it. I will talk about it today and then probably stash it away until necessary this Spring.

No team has won 3 Calder Cups in a row since the 59-62 Springfield Indians.

Can Hershey do it?

Yeah I think they can but obviously a lot has to fall in to place. Last years East division was not nearly as strong as recent years and it will be better this year. In fact Hershey might not win the division.

Personally I think goaltending is going to be an issue this year. Holtby looked questionable in the playoffs last year and Neuvirth and Varlamov can't stay healthy. Something tells me there will be quite the goaltending shuffle happening in Hershey this season.

And I think it will cost Hershey the division title. Not sure which team beats them out for it but everyone seems to think that Wilkes-Barre will be pretty good again this year. But it doesn't matter as we don't hang Division or Conference Championship banners in Hershey...we only want one thing....

Hershey will raise the Cup again in June...and in October of 2011 we will be watching the 12th Championship banner being raised to the rafters at the GC.

As a disclaimer....I am a believer and an optimist so I will always think they are the favorites to win it all. But I truly do believe that this team could be just as good offensively as last years team and defensively they might be even better. The question comes in goal. As it always does in hockey.

But when you have players like Boyd Kane, who scored 24 goals last season, and Ashton Rome, he added 5 in 26 games, playing on the 4th line you have a definite advantage over 90% of the other teams in the league.

Hershey's depth will again be the difference come May and June.

It is going to be an incredible season and I am hyped for it to get started!!!

LET'S GO BEARS!!!!!!

Caps and Bears make cuts

Yesterday we got word of 7 cuts by the Bears and today we get word of 4 cuts from the Capitals.

First the Bears cuts...

These 5 are off to South Carolina:

• F David de Kostrazza
• F Anton Gustafsson
• F Jake Hauswirth
• G Jared DeMichiel
• D Dustin Stevenson

In addition to those, F Kaleigh Shrock is headed to Fort Wayne of the IHL. And D Wes O'Neill was released from his tryout contract.

No real surprises there. The biggest might be Gustafsson. Former 1st rounder just isn't quite performing to that level. Stevenson had a good camp with the Caps but he is coming from a tier 2 junior league so a little more work is probably good.

Was hoping to see Hauswirth make a claim on a roster spot as I am curious how he uses his size in the offensive end. But Hershey is deep at center right now so he was expendable.

Now onto the Caps cuts...

Mathieu Perreault and Jay Beagle are on their way to Hershey now and Andrew Gordon and Brian Fahey were placed on waivers.

If you have been reading this blog recently you would know that I didn't think Washington would cut Gordon because he is a risk to get picked up on waivers. I figured he would stay in Washington and get the extra forward spot at least to start the year.

So now he has to wait until noon tomorrow to see where he will end up. It is quite possible that Washington knew a while ago that they were going to send him down but waited until this date for a reason. All NHL teams must get their rosters to 23 now so by waiting until all teams are making tough decisions you might be able to slip Gordon through waivers.

Hopefully it works out. As a Bears fan I selfishly want Gordon in Hershey but at the same time if he gets picked up by a team that is going to give him a legitimate shot than I will be very happy for him and his chance.

As for the other two players....I was right. Perry didn't beat out Marcus Johansson and due to MoJo's willingness to go back to Sweden, Perry wasn't going to start the season in Washington.

Beagle...he is a 4th liner in the NHL (at this time anyway) that could potentially develop into a 3rd liner. But Washington already has 5 guys that can play on the 3rd/4th line so Beagle, who doesn't have to worry about waivers, was a long shot to make the club.

I can assure you though that Beagle and Perreault are likely the top 2 recall candidates going into the season.

Bears hockey is only 4 days away!!

Preseason kicks off tonight

The first of 3 preseason games is tonight at 7:05 in Wilkes Barre against the Baby Pens. The Capitals reassigned Nycholat and Holtby leaving the Caps with 28 players (not counting Patty McNeill). That means there will be at least 5 more players arriving from Washington in the next week.

So far the (camp) roster looks something like this (I apologize if I miss anyone as I am not sure I know all the camp invitees):

Goalies:

• Braden Holtby
• Todd Ford
• Jared DeMichiel

Defense:

• Josh Godfrey
• Johann Kroll
• Dustin Stevenson
• Dylan Yeo
• Patrick Cullity
• Joe Finley
• Sean Collins
• Zach Miskovic
• Patrick Wellar
• Wes O’Neill

Forwards:

• Trevor Bruess
• Boyd Kane
• Joel Rechlicz
• David de Kostrazza
• Anton Gustafsson
• Jake Hauswirth
• Nikita Kashirsky
• Dmitry Kugryshev
• Ashton Rome
• Francois Bouchard
• Kyle Greentree
• Grant McNeill
• Brian Willsie
• Keith Aucoin
• Andrew Joudrey
• Lincoln Schrock
• Jordan Pietrus
• Steve Pinizzotto
  

Players expected in Hershey some time soon that are still in Washington:

• G Dany Sabourin
• D Brian Fahey
• D Patrick McNeill (injured but listed on Caps roster)
• F Jay Beagle
• F Mathieu Perreault
• F Matt Hendricks

and, while long shots, still possibly...

• F Andrew Gordon
• F Marcus Johansson

---------------------

According to Tim Leone the lineup for tonight will look something like this....

Lines:
G. McNeill - Gustafsson - de Kastrozza
Greentree - Willsie - Kugryshev
Pietrus - Kashirsky - Bruess
Schrock - Hauswirth - Rechlicz

D-pairs:
O’Neill - Miskovic
Stevenson - Cullity
Finley (game-day decision)/Yeo (if Finley is scratched) - Godfrey

Goalies: Ford, DeMichiel