Redemption for Bears

On December 13th the Hershey Bears traveled to Houston to face the Aeros after a uninspiring effort against San Antonio. What they got that night was a very physical game and a 6-1 beating.

Last night in Hershey the Aeros came to visit after losing in a shootout the night before. What they got was pretty much an old fashioned beat down from a very fired up Bears team.

Hershey won 5-1 with goals from Oskar Osala (18th), Alexandre Giroux (25th), Andrew Gordon (12th), Andrew Joudrey (4th), and Francois Bouchard (11th). For a short time the game was 3-1 but it was never in question.

The physical play started early and picked up late. In the first 10 minutes of the game there were 3 fights and 38 penalty minutes between the two teams. Overall there 5 fights and 96 penalty minutes in the game.

The third period was especially physical for a short time when an Aeros player took a shot in open ice on Keith Aucoin and Graham Mink when absolutely nuts. After grabbing the player and knocking him to the ice Mink went to work on him and just pounded on him for a solid minute while the linesmen tried to pull him off. At the same time Alexandre Giroux and an Aeros player tried to help their respective teammates and were given 10 minute misconduct penalties for interfering in a fight.

Surprisingly Mink was not given more than a fighting major and a couple minor penalties as I thought he might get a misconduct penalty as well. Even more surprising was that the Aeros player also got a penalty for fighting even though I don't think he ever dropped his gloves OR threw a punch.

Either way it was a solid job of sticking up for a teammate by the Minker!

But you know what....it would have been nice to see Kip Brennan on the ice to go at it.


My Three Stars of the Game:

1. Chris Bourque - he only had an assist but he played great hockey and both ends
2. Andrew Joudrey - a goal and an assist and an all around very good game
3. Andrew Gordon - a goal and an assist and he even tried to throw his weight around

Grading the Performance:

• Offense - A - 5 goals and 30 shots was very impressive. This game was never in doubt and the Bears almost had many other goals. Goalie Barry Brust made some big saves for Houston or the game might have been 10-1.
• Defense - B - For most of the game it was a very solid game for the D. But for the first half of the second period they came out and watched Houston move the puck around. They had some big hits and really made some nice plays but the first half of the 2nd period made this grade a B.
• Goaltending - A - Varly played goal and he played it well. If it wasn't for the goaltending at times this game might have been closer. The defense did help him by blocking shots but Varly had to throw himself all around the crease to stop some shots and rebounds though.
• Power Play - B - Only 3 chances and no goals but there was consistent pressure and many very good chances. But at times they tried to get too cute with passes right through the defense.
• Penalty Kill - B - Their one goal came on the power play at the end of the 2nd period. But the other 5 chances didn't go anywhere. And Giroux's goal came shorthanded when he made Brust look silly in goal.
• Overall - B+ - A couple minor problems but for the most part an excellent game for the entire team. They came in wanting to get revenge for the game they played in Houston last month and I think they achieved that goal.

LET'S GO BEARS!!!

Aeros @ Bears Preview, 1/9

Hershey Bears
record ~ 27-9-0-1 55 points
standings ~ 1st in East Division
most recent game ~ 3-2 Win @ Norfolk, 1/7
last 5 games ~ 4-1-0-0
home record ~ 14-3-0-0
goals for ~ 148
goals against ~99
power play ~ 16.7% (15th)
penalty kill ~ 82.6% (17th)


Houston Aeros
record ~ 17-15-1-7 42 points
standings ~ 5th in West Division
most recent game ~ 4-3 SO Loss @ Bridgeport, 1/7
last 5 games ~ 1-2-0-2
road record ~ 8-9-0-4
goals for ~ 106
goals against ~ 112
power play ~ 17.1% (15th)
penalty kill ~ 86.3% (3rd)

last time teams met - Houston won 6-1 on December 13th in Houston.

Players to watch:

Hershey:

LW Alexandre Giroux (12)- He has at least a goal in 10 of the past 11 games including 8 straight games. During that streak he has a total of 15 goals and 10 assists. And remember he wasn't there for the game against Houston where the Bears lost.
C Kyle Wilson (18) - He was the only Bear to score against Houston in the first matchup and he has 2 goals in the last 3 games.
LW Oskar Osala (36) - He also didn't play against Houston in December. He hasn't been producing much lately with only 6 points in the past 14 games but that could change.

Houston:

LW Corey Locke (84) - Team leader in assists and points (26 and 40). 4 goals and 5 assists in the last 10 games and he had 1 goal and an assist against the Bears.
RW Jesse Schultz (10) - 2 goals in his last 3 games. He had 1 goal and 2 assists against Hershey.
D Clayton Stoner (7) - Not an offensive force with only 2 assists in the last 9 games but defensively he is very solid. The 7th rated prospect in the Wild organization is the active leader in plus/minus on the Aeros. Has been even or plus in 12 of the last 13 games.


News and Notes:

• Houston has lost 8 of their last 10 games.
• They are currently in the 6th game of an 8 game road trip. They are currently 1-4 (2 SO losses) on the trip with 4 straight losses.
• In their last game they were down 3-0 with 3 minutes to go in the game when Bridgeport took a major penalty and the Aeros scored 3 goals to tie the game before losing in the shootout.
  
• Leading scored Krys Kolanos is currently on recall with Minnesota. He scored 2 goals and added an assist against Hershey.
• The Aeros have only scored more than 3 goals once in the past 11 games and have scored 2 or less in 7 of those.

• The Bears return home after a 5 game road trip where they won 4 of 5 games.
• After Sunday's make up game with Wilkes-Barre the Bears will be at the midpoint of their season.
• 4 Bears (Giroux, Aucoin, Helmer, Bourque) and the coaches (Woods and Frenchy) will be in Worcester for the All Star game on January 26th.

Texas is no place for Bears

Well I am sure the Bears are happy to be on their way back from Texas today. They lost 3-0 on Thursday night and then rebounded (or failed to rebound) with a 6-1 loss suffered at the hands of the Houston Aeros last night.

Daren Machesney played solidly in goal until halfway through the 2nd period when the flood gates opened and Houston scored 5 goals in the period on 15 shots.

The defense wasn't exactly strong (or even decent) in front of Cheese. They routinely let open guys get shots from great locations on the ice and those players converted. Krys Kolanos did the most damage with 2 goals and an assist on the night.

Bobby Goepfert came in for Cheese in the 3rd period and stopped all 13 shots he faced. It appears all hell broke loose late in the period as there were 42 penalty minutes handed out over the final 9 minutes of the game including a couple fights and a misconduct period to Aucoin for abuse of officials.

And to add insult to injury (or injury to insult if you will) 3 players left the Capitals game against Montreal with injuries last night. Tyler Sloan, Sergei Federov, and Nicklas Backstrom all went out with injuries. Backstrom was suffering from a migraine headache but there is no word on the other two. Sean Collins was already on recall in case of a defenseman not being able to go so he will probably stay for Sloan if Sloaner can't go on Tuesday. Federov is the biggest concern because he missed so much time already due to an ankle injury. If he can't go Keith Aucoin will probably be recalled again or Oskar Osala might head back up. Either way it isn't good for the Bears. Hopefully Nicky's headache was just a headache and not a concussion symptom.

The good news for Hershey is Dean Arsene and Jay Beagle are expected back in the lineup next weekend. If the team loses a d-man and a center at least there are other players to jump in now.


My Three Stars of the Game:

1. Barry Brust - made 29 of 30 shots and really kept the Aeros in the game for the 1st period
2. Krys Kolanos - 2 goals (including the game winner) and an assist
3. Corey Locke - 1 goal and an assist and many other opportunities

Grading the Performance:

• Offense - B - Not bad actually. They just didn't get anything by Brust who is on a 6 game winning streak now. Many good opportunities in the first period and a half. After that it was a lost cause and the team played like it was.
• Defense - F - They were okay for the first period and then they just had a MASSIVE letdown. On many of the goals they weren't around at all. There were players open all around the goaltender all night and it shows up on the scoresheet.
• Goaltending - D - Like I said above, he had a good first period and a half. But then the whole team (including Cheese) stopped playing. Goepfert was solid in the third period though.
• Power Play - F - 6 opportunities and no goals means a bad performance. They had a tough time getting set up in the zone and didn't get any really good looks all night. They need to score more.
• Penalty Kill - F - They allowed goals on 25% of the Aeros chances. And they were allowing Aero players to stand around uncovered near the goal. Not good.
• Overall - F - If I was grading the first period I honestly would give them an A. The first period was great, they played physical and fast. And then the second period came and Houston took over the game.

News and notes:

• Simeon Varlamov won his first NHL game in his first NHL start last night in Montreal.
• More news on the injuries will probably come Monday.

Bears @ Houston Preview, 11/13

Hershey Bears
record ~ 20-6-0-1 41 points
standings ~ 1st in East Division
most recent game ~ 3-0 Loss @ San Antonio, 12/11
last 5 games ~ 4-1-0-0
road record ~ 9-4-0-1
goals for ~ 114
goals against ~69
power play ~ 17.7% (13th)
penalty kill ~ 82.2% (18th)


Houston Aeros
record ~ 12-10-1-3 28 points
standings ~ 6th in West Division
most recent game ~ 4-1 Win vs Quad City, 12/11
last 5 games ~ 2-1-0-2
home record ~ 8-4-1-3
goals for ~ 71
goals against ~ 69
power play ~ 16.8% (16th)
penalty kill ~ 85.5% (6th)

last time teams met - First meeting this season.

Players to watch:

Hershey:

RW Graham Mink (21)- He has not been scoring as much lately and he needs to show that the beginning of the season wasn't a fluke.
C Mathieu Perreault (24) - Can he contribute like he was without Osala in the lineup? He needs to show everyone something if he intends to further his career.
LW Chris Bourque (17) - He only has 3 goals in his last 16 games. He needs to pick up the pace if he intends to set a new personal record for goals. Although he is getting many more assists this season.

Houston:

LW Corey Locke (84) - A familiar face from his days in Hamilton the past few seasons he is leading the team in points with 28 (9 g, 19 a). 4 goals and 4 assists in last 4 games.
LW Krys Kolanos (32) - He has 4 goals and 4 assists in his last 6 games. He is the team leader in goals with 13 in only 17 games.
D Maxim Noreau (26) - Tied for second on the team in goals with 9 he has 4 in the last 5 games. 7 of his 9 goals have come on the power play.


News and Notes:

• Former Bear G Nolan Schaefer plays for Houston. He played 3 games during the 06-07 season for the Bears. He is 6-8 with a 2.58 gaa and a .908 save percentage this season.
• Oskar Osala and Alexandre Giroux remain in Washington but could be back for next weekend's games.
• Dean Arsene and Jay Beagle are expected back when Hershey play Wilkes Barre on the 19th.
• For the first time in a while the Bears had a healthy scratch the other night in San Antonio, Viktor Dovgan sat for Hershey.
• Expect Daren Machesney to draw the start for this game.
  

LET'S GO BEARS!!!