In their illustrious seventy-four year history in the American Hockey League, the Hershey Bears have won over 2,500 regular season games. However, it’s a pretty safe bet that not many of those triumphs were attained largely as a result of a seemingly insignificant faceoff in the neutral zone, particularly when the draw occurred in that zone at the faceoff dot that was furthest away from the net that the Bears were attacking.
Sunday night at Giant Center brought those exact circumstances as the Bears rode the momentum from that rare goal to a 7-0 drubbing of the Syracuse Crunch and handed the visitors their first regulation setback of the season, which gave the Bears their first home victory of the young season.
Prior to the game-changing strike, even while building a 1-0 first period lead on Dmitry Orlov’s first goal of the season, the Bears appeared a bit tentative on the attack, which is not surprising considering how they played in a 3-1 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins the previous night in Hershey.
“I thought we came out a little, not hesitant I would say, but a little tentative knowing that the way we played last night wasn’t the way we wanted to play,” said Jacob Micflikier. “We knew we had to step up and make a big statement tonight, but you never expect to blow out a team like that in this league. When you look at the final score, it’s not really indicative of the way the game was.”
But late in the period with thirteen seconds remaining in the frame, Bears’ fans had little idea that the next ten seconds would be eventful. With an impending neutral zone draw, Hershey coach Mark French elected to make a late line change and took of the line centered by Keith Aucoin, in favor of the line centered by Cody Eakin.
Eakin and AHL veteran Nathan Smith dueled on the faceoff, and the immediate result was a stalemate with the puck lying in the faceoff dot. At that point, Smith swept the puck back into his own zone and seemingly made the safe play, but the puck ended up along the wall in his own zone on the stick of defenseman Mat Clark. Clark, a 6’3” 200-plus pound defenseman, was pressured by the 5’8” 180-pound Micflikier, with the ultimate result being Micflikier’s third goal of the season with 3.1 seconds remaining in the stanza.
“We were going to try and create a play of the faceoff. Obviously it wasn’t the one that unfolded, but one where I was going to get the puck and go in on a rush,” explained Micflikier. “Their D got the puck but didn’t have real good control, so I just went in hard on the forecheck trying to separate him and the puck. He got rid of it quick and (Boyd) Kane made a great play to throw it on the net and right to a place where I could post up."
The Bears then reeled off four power play goals in the remaining forty minutes of action, with Micflikier collecting a helper on one of those tallies. With their power play success on the evening (4-for-6), the Bears find themselves in the upper echelon of the league in that category.
“You hope to be pretty successful out there. We’ve had a bunch of games where we’ve gone 4-for 5 or something like that, which causes the numbers to get a little skewed, but we’ve also had nights where we didn’t produce. It’s early in the year and things tend to even out, but it’s good for everybody on that unit to get some confidence by having the success we’ve had,” Micflikier said.
Notes- In last year’s six-game series between the Crunch and the Bears, the visiting team won all six contests.
The Crunch entered the game with an unblemished record in regulation (3-0-1-1).
Before the game, the Bears reassigned goaltender Philipp Grubauer to the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. Grubauer, a nineteen-year-old rookie from Germany, has yet to see action in the crease for the Bears this season.
The Bears scratched defenseman Danny Richmond and Brett Flemming and forwards Joel Rechlicz, Graham Mink, Ryan Potulny and Kyle Greentree.
Dany Sabourin collected the shut-out by stopping all 36 Syracuse salvos. This was Sabourin’s third shutout as a Bear, his first at Giant Center and incidentally, his second against Syracuse.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Pens Prey on Bears
When one considers the proximity between their respective cities, it’s not much of a surprise that the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have made Giant Center their unofficial home away from home. On Saturday night at the aforementioned venue, the visitors continued their recent mastery over the Hershey Bears and skated away with a convincing 3-1 win.
The Penguins, who with this victory have now won six straight outings against their Keystone State neighbors to the north, improved to 3-2-1-1 on the season while the Bears, who are a perfect 4-0 on the road, slipped to 0-1-1-0 at home with the setback.
Brian Gibbons, who scored the baby Pens’ first goal in their 3-2 loss to the Bears earlier in the season at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in the only prior meeting between the clubs on this young season, replicated that feat at 3:36 of the first period by deflecting a Jason Williams point shot by Hershey goaltender Braden Holtby while the visitors were on a power play.
The first period foretold the futility that the Bears would endure in this encounter as they failed to establish a prolonged presence in the Pens’ zone despite their 17 shots on net; Hershey also short-circuited one of their two extra-man advantages by taking a penalty of their own.
Holtby, who had a shaky outing in the Bears’ home opener a week ago, kept his club in the game in the first period by stopping 13 shots, including close-range bids from Gibbons (right pad save) and Colin McDonald (left pad, shorthanded) in the latter stages of the stanza.
Early in the second period, the Pens were pestering Holtby again, but he was up to the challenge and made a couple of early saves with some help from defenseman Patrick McNeill, who swept a puck out of danger when Holtby left a rebound in his crease.
However, the pesky Pens eventually doubled their lead when Penguins’ defenseman Simon Despres made it 2-0 at 7:19. Despres’ dart, which occurred with the teams skating at four aside, came only 29 seconds after Graham Mink derailed a Bears’ power play by committing a tripping infraction.
Bryan Lerg lengthened the Pens lead to 3-0 at 10:45 of the second period when he finished off a picturesque give-and-go sequence with Paul Thompson.
Hershey captain Boyd Kane thwarted Brad Thiessen’s bid for a shutout late in the third period by canning his second goal in as many days to make it 3-1 with a power play marker, but Kane’s caper would be all of the offense his club could muster on the evening.
Notes- Thiessen pitched a 26-save shutout on Friday night in Springfield against the Falcons.
With Dany Sabourin still on recall to the Washington Capitals, Holtby made his third straight start for the Bears.
The Bears scratched defensemen Danny Richmond and Brett Fleming and forwards Maxime Lacroix, Joel Rechlicz, Ryan Potulny and Kyle Greentree.
The Bears have now given up the first goal of the game in their last two games after scoring the game-opening goals in the prior four contests.
Hershey’s first period blanking was the first time season they failed to score in the first period and also marked the first time this season that they faced a deficit after 20 minutes of play.
Chris Bourque, who leads the league in shots on goal, registered only a single shot on net in this game, but did extend his point streak to six games with an assist on Kane’s goal, while his linemate Keith Aucoin saw his five-game point streak come to an end.
The Penguins, who with this victory have now won six straight outings against their Keystone State neighbors to the north, improved to 3-2-1-1 on the season while the Bears, who are a perfect 4-0 on the road, slipped to 0-1-1-0 at home with the setback.
Brian Gibbons, who scored the baby Pens’ first goal in their 3-2 loss to the Bears earlier in the season at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in the only prior meeting between the clubs on this young season, replicated that feat at 3:36 of the first period by deflecting a Jason Williams point shot by Hershey goaltender Braden Holtby while the visitors were on a power play.
The first period foretold the futility that the Bears would endure in this encounter as they failed to establish a prolonged presence in the Pens’ zone despite their 17 shots on net; Hershey also short-circuited one of their two extra-man advantages by taking a penalty of their own.
Holtby, who had a shaky outing in the Bears’ home opener a week ago, kept his club in the game in the first period by stopping 13 shots, including close-range bids from Gibbons (right pad save) and Colin McDonald (left pad, shorthanded) in the latter stages of the stanza.
Early in the second period, the Pens were pestering Holtby again, but he was up to the challenge and made a couple of early saves with some help from defenseman Patrick McNeill, who swept a puck out of danger when Holtby left a rebound in his crease.
However, the pesky Pens eventually doubled their lead when Penguins’ defenseman Simon Despres made it 2-0 at 7:19. Despres’ dart, which occurred with the teams skating at four aside, came only 29 seconds after Graham Mink derailed a Bears’ power play by committing a tripping infraction.
Bryan Lerg lengthened the Pens lead to 3-0 at 10:45 of the second period when he finished off a picturesque give-and-go sequence with Paul Thompson.
Hershey captain Boyd Kane thwarted Brad Thiessen’s bid for a shutout late in the third period by canning his second goal in as many days to make it 3-1 with a power play marker, but Kane’s caper would be all of the offense his club could muster on the evening.
Notes- Thiessen pitched a 26-save shutout on Friday night in Springfield against the Falcons.
With Dany Sabourin still on recall to the Washington Capitals, Holtby made his third straight start for the Bears.
The Bears scratched defensemen Danny Richmond and Brett Fleming and forwards Maxime Lacroix, Joel Rechlicz, Ryan Potulny and Kyle Greentree.
The Bears have now given up the first goal of the game in their last two games after scoring the game-opening goals in the prior four contests.
Hershey’s first period blanking was the first time season they failed to score in the first period and also marked the first time this season that they faced a deficit after 20 minutes of play.
Chris Bourque, who leads the league in shots on goal, registered only a single shot on net in this game, but did extend his point streak to six games with an assist on Kane’s goal, while his linemate Keith Aucoin saw his five-game point streak come to an end.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
During his playing career, including the 200 games spent with the Hershey Bears, Louis Robitaille was a master at getting under the skin of his opponents and goaded numerous victims into taking penalties that they ordinarily would not take. Robitaille’s unique riling talents were not limited to the ice-- he often drew the ire of his own coaches for his tactics, including current Washington Capitals head coach, Bruce Boudreau, when he and Robitaille were both with the Bears.
Boudreau, in fact, was once quoted as saying, “Louis is a guy that you hate when he’s on the other team, but hate him a little less when he’s on yours.” So it probably came as a bit of a surprise to Boudreau and a few of Robitaille’s other bench bosses when over the summer, after playing in an AHL career low 50 games with the Albany Devils last season, he decided to retire as a player and become a head coach.
"It was always in mind that I wanted to be a coach when my career was over, and last year was a difficult one for me with me being an AHL veteran,” said Robitaille, who coaches the Valleyfield Braves, a Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League club.
“With my son now being three and a half, I thought it was the right time for me to start a new career. I’m still at a relatively young age (29), and I still have the passion for the game and I miss playing, but after going through a couple of interviews over the summer and talking it over with my family, I thought it was the right thing to do."
Currently, very early in his rookie season guiding the Braves, Robitaille’s charges are off to a wonderful 6-1-1 start. It should be of no surprise to fans of the Bears and Capitals who Robitaille revealed which of his former coaches influenced him the most.
“I would say the two coaches that I try to model are Bruce (Boudreau) and John MacLean. I was involved with Bruce for three years in Hershey and with me staying in Hershey over the summer; I could tell how dedicated he always was to his job. Bruce was also a player’s coach and he never looked at is as how many hours it was he was putting into doing his job, but he put in whatever time that it took to make himself a well prepared coach.”
“I’m still learning, but that’s the way I’m doing this job. I’m putting a lot of hours into it to make it work, and if you look at our team right now, we basically play the same system that Washington does.”
Throughout his Hershey career, Robitaille was often criticized for his reluctance to drop the gloves by his frustrated foes, but if stats be the judge, they say that Robitaille accepted many more invitations than he denied.
“I had so many fights during my time there, whether I was getting jumped or going after a guy,” said Robitaille, who was officially credited with 938 PIM’s and 83 fights in his three years in Hershey. “To judge if it’s a really good fight you not only have to think whether you did well, but you also have to look at it to see if it was at the right time.”
He continued, “I think one of my best fights was against Brennan Evens (Binghamton) in my first year in Hershey. That was a toe-to-toe battle at Giant Center. I also had a really good one against Eric Meloche in the 2006 playoffs (game four) against Norfolk that I thought changed the momentum of that game in our favor.”
Perhaps the biggest occupational hazard of any hockey players, particularly those who play with the reckless abandon that Robitaille played with is the risk of injury--particularly head injuries. Over the course of this past summer, the hockey world suffered a number of deaths to players that were at least in some way attributed to concussions and other symptoms related to head blows. That is a subject with which Robitaille is very familiar, and he has a seemingly plausible explanation of the spike in head injuries over the last few years in hockey.
“I’d say that I had about three or four of them that the doctors told me that I had to stop playing for a bit, and I probably had a couple more than that but I never said anything and I kept playing,” confessed Robitaille. “It’s like a little headache here and there, but you keep going because every hockey player suffers mild concussions here and there. You have the mentality that you don’t want to sit a game.”
“Back in the days when I first came into the AHL, you were still allowed to clutch and grab a little bit. But after they changed the rules, my style of game was when I had the puck between the blue and the red lines that I was going to softly chip the puck in and go in on the defenseman on the forecheck because they were not allowed to hold you up. The guys are in such good shape now and going 100 miles an hour and the defenseman in particular have no time to react and because of that, their heads are very exposed. So I think the new rules have a lot to do with the many head injuries.”
Last season at Giant Center, in what turned out to be his next to last appearance as a player in that venue, Robitaille was at the center of controversy when he collided with Hershey netminder Dany Sabourin behind the net. The hit earned him a game misconduct and a major penalty for charging Sabourin, and it essentially ended Sabourin’s season. Even now, however, as he did on that night, Robitaille maintains his innocence in the incident.
“It was definitely not intentional,” he said. “It was my first shift of the game and I was coming straight off the bench on the forecheck. My emotion was running high and I was excited to play and my intent was to go hard on the d-man. (Brian) Fahey had the puck behind the net and I know Dany stopped the puck and I thought he was getting out of there quicker. I think he stayed there to slow me down on the forecheck and I never stopped.”
“It was just a bad accident,” explained Robitaille. “If I had wanted to intentionally hit him, I would have hit him right in the number. If you look at the video, I caught his right leg and it was because I was trying to move out of the way because I realized I was kind of close. It’s one of those moments where you go out on the forecheck and you don’t realize what’s going on.”
Robitaille rates the 2005-06 Calder Cup winning season as the best of his career. In that campaign, he received his first and only NHL call-up, scored a career high of seven goals, and along with Joey Tenute and the combination of Eric Fehr and Jakub Klepis, played on a ferocious fourth line that would have been a first line combination in many clubs. In fact, Robitaille collected the sole assist on Tenute’s goal two minutes into the Cup-clinching game in Milwaukee, a game in which the Bears never looked back after that great start and cruised to a 5-1 victory.
There is no doubt that fans throughout the AHL all have lasting memories, whether they are positive or negative, of Robitaille who always seemed to be in the spotlight. But how does he want to be remembered by the fans?
“Oh, they’re gonna remember me as one of the premier pests in the AHL,” Robitaille chuckled. But really I want to be remembered as a guy who never backed down from anybody and as a guy who was always there for my teammates. I did take some bad penalties sometimes, but I was always a guy that had our team in mind first and I always worked hard for them. If it was something that would give a spark to my team, I would do it. Lastly, I was someone who always worked hard when I was on the ice. I was not the most talented guy on the ice, but to play eight years in the AHL and to play in the NHL and win the Calder Cup was to live my dream.”
At the conclusion of my conversation with the former number 24, Robitaille made a specific request that I include this message to the Hershey fans:
“Make sure you tell them that I’ll be at some games at Giant Center this year, and that I want to say thank you to all of the fans for their great support. They were always extremely nice to me and my family.”
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Ads Sink Bears in OT 10.15.11
For Jacob Micflikier and the rest of his Hershey Bears teammates, it was a game of give and take in their home opener on Saturday night at Giant Center as the Bears gave up a two-goal second period lead, then rebounded to tie the game on a Micflikier power play goal late in regulation, only to lose in overtime to the Norfolk Admirals, 6-5.
Things started out well for the Bears as Graham Mink struck on the power play at 6:42 to give his team a 1-0 goal lead over the Ads and their goaltender Jaroslav Janus who made the start for the visitors after making a relief appearance on Friday night in Norfolk.
Then the defenseman took over the scoring with Norfolk’s Radko Gudas racking up a pair of goals within a six-minute span against Hershey goaltender Braden Holtby before Sean Collins capped off the period for the Bears, blasting a buzzer beating shot by Janus at 19:46.
The Bears regained the lead again on the power play at 6:01 of the second when a determined Keith Aucoin authored a beautiful pass to Chris Bourque, who found the back of the net for his fourth tally of the season. Aucoin’s helper was his 500th in the AHL.
“They were complaining all night about me in the draws, and then their guy was complaining to the refs, and I was standing there for about 20 seconds and I had enough,” said Aucoin. “So I went for a brief skate because I started to cramp up a little bit. I really wanted to win the draw after all of that and Mink helped me out and got it to Wellar, who gave it to me and I passed it as quick as I could to Bourque.”
The Bears doubled their lead midway through the period, but the Admirals then ran off three straight goals to take a 5-4 lead 8:59 in the final frame of regulation. But the “Battlin’ Bears” bounced back to tie the game on a power play goal by Micflikier at 13:15.
“We didn’t get as many good looks tonight as we wanted, especially compared to last night. Coiner made a good play to the net and Mink did what he is so good at, creating some space in front, and I was able to bang in the rebound in the far side,” Micflikier said.
However, Micflikier’s miscue in overtime, which the Admirals converted into the game-winning goal, doomed the Bears and sent the Admirals out of Giant Center with a fiercely-contested triumph.
“I got it by the first guy with control, and then I tried to slow it down a little bit to our d-man, but I misplayed it right into a turnover to their guy and their second guy came in for support and he cashed it in,” explained a somber Micflikier.
Notes- The Bears are 5-2-0-3 in their 10 season opening games at Giant Center, including a 1-1-0-1 record against Norfolk.
The Bears scratched defensemen Dmirty Orlov (illness), Brett Flemming (injury), Ryan Potulny (injury) and Francois Bouchard (healthy), and defenseman Zach Miskovic made his season debut.
Mink was returned to Giant Center for the first time since June 9, 2009. In that encounter, he scored the Bears’ first goal in a 3-2 loss to the Manitoba Moose in the Calder Cup Finals.
The eleven combined goals established a new Giant Center record for goals scored in a Bears’ home opener, erasing the previous high of eight set in Hershey’s 7-1 victory over the Syracuse Crunch in the 2008-2009 season.
The Bears have scored the first goal in each of their four games.
Steve Yzerman, Vice President and General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning which is Norfolk’s parent team, attended the game.
Things started out well for the Bears as Graham Mink struck on the power play at 6:42 to give his team a 1-0 goal lead over the Ads and their goaltender Jaroslav Janus who made the start for the visitors after making a relief appearance on Friday night in Norfolk.
Then the defenseman took over the scoring with Norfolk’s Radko Gudas racking up a pair of goals within a six-minute span against Hershey goaltender Braden Holtby before Sean Collins capped off the period for the Bears, blasting a buzzer beating shot by Janus at 19:46.
The Bears regained the lead again on the power play at 6:01 of the second when a determined Keith Aucoin authored a beautiful pass to Chris Bourque, who found the back of the net for his fourth tally of the season. Aucoin’s helper was his 500th in the AHL.
“They were complaining all night about me in the draws, and then their guy was complaining to the refs, and I was standing there for about 20 seconds and I had enough,” said Aucoin. “So I went for a brief skate because I started to cramp up a little bit. I really wanted to win the draw after all of that and Mink helped me out and got it to Wellar, who gave it to me and I passed it as quick as I could to Bourque.”
The Bears doubled their lead midway through the period, but the Admirals then ran off three straight goals to take a 5-4 lead 8:59 in the final frame of regulation. But the “Battlin’ Bears” bounced back to tie the game on a power play goal by Micflikier at 13:15.
“We didn’t get as many good looks tonight as we wanted, especially compared to last night. Coiner made a good play to the net and Mink did what he is so good at, creating some space in front, and I was able to bang in the rebound in the far side,” Micflikier said.
However, Micflikier’s miscue in overtime, which the Admirals converted into the game-winning goal, doomed the Bears and sent the Admirals out of Giant Center with a fiercely-contested triumph.
“I got it by the first guy with control, and then I tried to slow it down a little bit to our d-man, but I misplayed it right into a turnover to their guy and their second guy came in for support and he cashed it in,” explained a somber Micflikier.
Notes- The Bears are 5-2-0-3 in their 10 season opening games at Giant Center, including a 1-1-0-1 record against Norfolk.
The Bears scratched defensemen Dmirty Orlov (illness), Brett Flemming (injury), Ryan Potulny (injury) and Francois Bouchard (healthy), and defenseman Zach Miskovic made his season debut.
Mink was returned to Giant Center for the first time since June 9, 2009. In that encounter, he scored the Bears’ first goal in a 3-2 loss to the Manitoba Moose in the Calder Cup Finals.
The eleven combined goals established a new Giant Center record for goals scored in a Bears’ home opener, erasing the previous high of eight set in Hershey’s 7-1 victory over the Syracuse Crunch in the 2008-2009 season.
The Bears have scored the first goal in each of their four games.
Steve Yzerman, Vice President and General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning which is Norfolk’s parent team, attended the game.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Bears Navigate by Norfolk
It may not have been a perfect effort from head coach Mark French’s crew, but it was an effective one as the Hershey Bears outdueled to Norfolk Admirals in Norfolk on Friday night, 7-5, improving their record to a perfect 3-0 on the campaign.
The Bears, who had not allowed more than twelve shots in a period entering the game, permitted 22 in the first period, but still entered the first intermission in good shape considering the lopsided shot totals, deadlocked at two, on the strength of a Chris Bourque power play goal and an even-strength strike from rookie defenseman Brett Fleming (first as a pro).
At the end of the first period, the Admirals took a penalty in the Bears’ zone and put the visitors on a power play to start the second stanza and although they technically failed on the endeavor, they ultimately succeeded on scoring the go-ahead goal, with Cody Eakin authoring the marker with a one-time laser that was launched from the top of the faceoff circle at 2:02.
Then Bourque and Mark Barberio traded goals eighty-five seconds apart before Jacob Micflikier put the exclamation point on a three-goal middle stanza for the Bears by netting a power play goal for his first tally wearing the Chocolate and White.
Eakin added another goal at 2:07 of the final frame, a long-range wrister that eluded Dustin Tokarski and spelled the end of his night in net for Norfolk. Tokarski was replaced by Jaroslav Janus.
Former WBS Penguins’ forward Michel Ouellet gave the Ads a shot of adrenaline shortly after the goaltending change, beating Hershey netminder Dany Sabourin at 2:25. However, Keith Aucoin curtailed any momentum the home team gathered from the Ouellet goal by netting his second goal in as many games at 6:06.
Norfolk added another late goal from Richard Panik at 16:26, but the Bears did not panic, and Sabourin and his mates held on for the win without allowing another tally.
Notes: In their last visit to Norfolk last season, the Bears stormed back from a 4-1 first period deficit with a four-goal second period to capsize the Admirals, 5-4.
Norfolk’s 22-shot first period total was just shy of the Bears average for shots against in a game entering the contest (27).
Patrick McNeill, who made his AHL debut for the Bears at Scope Arena on November 7, 2007, when he collected an assist on a goal by Joe Motzko, collected three assists tonight.
The Bears were 6-1-0-1 in eight outings against Norfolk last season.
Graham Mink, who left the Bears after their 2009 Calder Cup season, assisted on Micflikier’s goal to post his first point as a Bear since a March 28, 2009 game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Giant Center.
Tonight’s game was Kyle Greentree’s 300th AHL game.
Bourque had three multi-goal games in his last season with the Bears in 2009-10, including a pair against the Admirals.
The Bears and Admirals continue their home-and-home weekend series tomorrow night at Giant Center.
The Bears, who had not allowed more than twelve shots in a period entering the game, permitted 22 in the first period, but still entered the first intermission in good shape considering the lopsided shot totals, deadlocked at two, on the strength of a Chris Bourque power play goal and an even-strength strike from rookie defenseman Brett Fleming (first as a pro).
At the end of the first period, the Admirals took a penalty in the Bears’ zone and put the visitors on a power play to start the second stanza and although they technically failed on the endeavor, they ultimately succeeded on scoring the go-ahead goal, with Cody Eakin authoring the marker with a one-time laser that was launched from the top of the faceoff circle at 2:02.
Then Bourque and Mark Barberio traded goals eighty-five seconds apart before Jacob Micflikier put the exclamation point on a three-goal middle stanza for the Bears by netting a power play goal for his first tally wearing the Chocolate and White.
Eakin added another goal at 2:07 of the final frame, a long-range wrister that eluded Dustin Tokarski and spelled the end of his night in net for Norfolk. Tokarski was replaced by Jaroslav Janus.
Former WBS Penguins’ forward Michel Ouellet gave the Ads a shot of adrenaline shortly after the goaltending change, beating Hershey netminder Dany Sabourin at 2:25. However, Keith Aucoin curtailed any momentum the home team gathered from the Ouellet goal by netting his second goal in as many games at 6:06.
Norfolk added another late goal from Richard Panik at 16:26, but the Bears did not panic, and Sabourin and his mates held on for the win without allowing another tally.
Notes: In their last visit to Norfolk last season, the Bears stormed back from a 4-1 first period deficit with a four-goal second period to capsize the Admirals, 5-4.
Norfolk’s 22-shot first period total was just shy of the Bears average for shots against in a game entering the contest (27).
Patrick McNeill, who made his AHL debut for the Bears at Scope Arena on November 7, 2007, when he collected an assist on a goal by Joe Motzko, collected three assists tonight.
The Bears were 6-1-0-1 in eight outings against Norfolk last season.
Graham Mink, who left the Bears after their 2009 Calder Cup season, assisted on Micflikier’s goal to post his first point as a Bear since a March 28, 2009 game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Giant Center.
Tonight’s game was Kyle Greentree’s 300th AHL game.
Bourque had three multi-goal games in his last season with the Bears in 2009-10, including a pair against the Admirals.
The Bears and Admirals continue their home-and-home weekend series tomorrow night at Giant Center.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Bears Bounce by Pens
Longtime fans of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins already know what Hershey Bears’ goaltender Dany Sabourin is capable of, having witnessed his 30-win season in 2005-06when his outstanding work tending the twine for the baby Pens earned him the Baz Bastien award as the best goaltender in the AHL. On Saturday night, they were eyewitness to some more of his solid work as he backstopped the Bears to a 3-2 road win over the Penguins.
Sabourin got off to a rough start last season in his first season as a Bear, but eventually regained his form and finished with a solid 14-9 record. However, he struggled in two losing outings against his former club, including an October 30th outing at Giant Center where he only lasted 9:51 when he yielded way to backup goalie Todd Ford after allowing three goals on only seven shots.
“Those types of things are always there a little bit, but I came into this year thinking it doesn’t matter which team we’re playing. I knew they beat me last year, but that’s in the past. I’m just focused on looking forward, and I was pretty happy with my performance tonight. It was a team win where everybody played well and showed up,” said Sabourin, who finished with 23 saves and made his best save of the night in the first period when he beat down Bryan Lerg's shorthanded breakaway attempt.
In keeping with the night long “bounce theme”, the Bears benefitted from a fortuitous bounce in attaining the game’s first goal at 11:27 of the first period. With the puck high along the boards and just inside the blueline, WBS’ Eric Tangradi attempted to clear his zone, but Christian Hanson was able to get his puck on the attempt and the puck found its way to Kyle Greentree, who was stationed at the top of WBS goaltender Brad Thiessen’s crease. With little room to operate, Greentree stickhandled in a phone booth and skillfully slid a backhand shot behind Thiessen.
The Bears lead lasted exactly four minutes until the Pens’ Brian Gibbons went coast-to-coast with his team in shorthanded mode to knot the contest at one with an unassisted goal, but the visitors quickly regained their one-goal lead only twenty seconds after the Gibbons goal when Matt Ford intercepted a clearing attempt high in the WBS zone and then fluttered a shot on net that bounced off a stunned Thiessen and into the net.
The Pesky Penguins knotted the game at two when veteran Niko Dimitrakos, making his WBS debut, dented the twine 1:06 into the middle frame, converting a nice centering pass from Colin McDonald into his first goal as a baby Pen.
Things quieted down after Dimitrakos’ goal, but the Bears were presented with a glorious opportunity to take command of the affair just past the midway point of the session when they earned a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:09. Before the Bears went to work on their mission, head coach Mark French, with his team mired in a 0-for-6 power drought in this young season, called a timeout to talk strategy with his troops. However, despite the chalkboard talk from their coaches, the Bears squandered the opportunity, mostly as a result of excessive passing and minimal shooting (unofficially three shots on goal during the sequence).
“It’s one of those things that early in the year where you haven’t had a lot of time to practice,” said French. “So I thought it was good to use your timeout to make sure that everybody knew what their responsibilities were. I thought we had some pretty good chances to score on the 5-on-3 but the bottom line is that it didn’t go in. Oftentimes when you don’t score on those opportunities it comes back to bite you, but fortunately today it didn’t."
Christian Hanson, who scored his first goal as a Bear (shorthanded) in Binghamton on Friday, had a splendid chance at his second of the season in the fifteenth minute of the frame, but his breakaway forehand attempt was gloved by Thiessen and the game remained tied entering the third period.
Early in the final frame of regulation, the Bears finally put a positive number on their power play stats with Keith Aucoin doing the goal-scoring honors. Aucoin, after taking a pass from Ryan Potulny down low, had an option to pass to Matt Ford, but decided against that option and buzzed a blast by the glove of Thiessen at 3:33.
“The 5-on-3 was pretty frustrating. We had a couple of good opportunities, but the rebounds bounced to the side and to them. We stayed confident in ourselves and remained upbeat because we knew we’d get another chance, and we capitalized. It was kind of 2-on-1 and I saw him there, but the d-man actually played it really well. My last option is always to shoot, and knew I had to get it up and I was able to get it up over his glove,” said Aucoin.
Notes- The Bears scratched defenseman Zach Miskovic and Brett Flemming and forwards Joel Rechlicz and Graham Mink (veteran scratch).
The Bears have only allowed a thrifty 13 shots against in the first period of their two games this season.
Hershey defenseman Patrick McNeill left for the dressing room area in the first period after absorbing a hard hit, but later returned to the game.
Penguins forward Zach Sill missed the game, serving a suspension for illegal hit to the head that he laid on Miskovic at Giant Center in a pre-season game on October 1st.
Sabourin got off to a rough start last season in his first season as a Bear, but eventually regained his form and finished with a solid 14-9 record. However, he struggled in two losing outings against his former club, including an October 30th outing at Giant Center where he only lasted 9:51 when he yielded way to backup goalie Todd Ford after allowing three goals on only seven shots.
“Those types of things are always there a little bit, but I came into this year thinking it doesn’t matter which team we’re playing. I knew they beat me last year, but that’s in the past. I’m just focused on looking forward, and I was pretty happy with my performance tonight. It was a team win where everybody played well and showed up,” said Sabourin, who finished with 23 saves and made his best save of the night in the first period when he beat down Bryan Lerg's shorthanded breakaway attempt.
In keeping with the night long “bounce theme”, the Bears benefitted from a fortuitous bounce in attaining the game’s first goal at 11:27 of the first period. With the puck high along the boards and just inside the blueline, WBS’ Eric Tangradi attempted to clear his zone, but Christian Hanson was able to get his puck on the attempt and the puck found its way to Kyle Greentree, who was stationed at the top of WBS goaltender Brad Thiessen’s crease. With little room to operate, Greentree stickhandled in a phone booth and skillfully slid a backhand shot behind Thiessen.
The Bears lead lasted exactly four minutes until the Pens’ Brian Gibbons went coast-to-coast with his team in shorthanded mode to knot the contest at one with an unassisted goal, but the visitors quickly regained their one-goal lead only twenty seconds after the Gibbons goal when Matt Ford intercepted a clearing attempt high in the WBS zone and then fluttered a shot on net that bounced off a stunned Thiessen and into the net.
The Pesky Penguins knotted the game at two when veteran Niko Dimitrakos, making his WBS debut, dented the twine 1:06 into the middle frame, converting a nice centering pass from Colin McDonald into his first goal as a baby Pen.
Things quieted down after Dimitrakos’ goal, but the Bears were presented with a glorious opportunity to take command of the affair just past the midway point of the session when they earned a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:09. Before the Bears went to work on their mission, head coach Mark French, with his team mired in a 0-for-6 power drought in this young season, called a timeout to talk strategy with his troops. However, despite the chalkboard talk from their coaches, the Bears squandered the opportunity, mostly as a result of excessive passing and minimal shooting (unofficially three shots on goal during the sequence).
“It’s one of those things that early in the year where you haven’t had a lot of time to practice,” said French. “So I thought it was good to use your timeout to make sure that everybody knew what their responsibilities were. I thought we had some pretty good chances to score on the 5-on-3 but the bottom line is that it didn’t go in. Oftentimes when you don’t score on those opportunities it comes back to bite you, but fortunately today it didn’t."
Christian Hanson, who scored his first goal as a Bear (shorthanded) in Binghamton on Friday, had a splendid chance at his second of the season in the fifteenth minute of the frame, but his breakaway forehand attempt was gloved by Thiessen and the game remained tied entering the third period.
Early in the final frame of regulation, the Bears finally put a positive number on their power play stats with Keith Aucoin doing the goal-scoring honors. Aucoin, after taking a pass from Ryan Potulny down low, had an option to pass to Matt Ford, but decided against that option and buzzed a blast by the glove of Thiessen at 3:33.
“The 5-on-3 was pretty frustrating. We had a couple of good opportunities, but the rebounds bounced to the side and to them. We stayed confident in ourselves and remained upbeat because we knew we’d get another chance, and we capitalized. It was kind of 2-on-1 and I saw him there, but the d-man actually played it really well. My last option is always to shoot, and knew I had to get it up and I was able to get it up over his glove,” said Aucoin.
Notes- The Bears scratched defenseman Zach Miskovic and Brett Flemming and forwards Joel Rechlicz and Graham Mink (veteran scratch).
The Bears have only allowed a thrifty 13 shots against in the first period of their two games this season.
Hershey defenseman Patrick McNeill left for the dressing room area in the first period after absorbing a hard hit, but later returned to the game.
Penguins forward Zach Sill missed the game, serving a suspension for illegal hit to the head that he laid on Miskovic at Giant Center in a pre-season game on October 1st.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Bears Spoils Party, Best B-Sens in Season Opener
It started as a night of celebration for the Binghamton Senators who commemorated their capturing of last season’s Calder Cup, but the Hershey Bears, perhaps feeling a bit “shorthanded” without the hardware in hand from the previous two seasons, scored a pair of shorthanded goals and escaped the Broome County Veterans Memorial Coliseum with a narrow 3-2 victory on Friday night.
The Bears, who were forced to cool their heels for fifteen minutes before the puck officially dropped at 7:20 instead of the scheduled 7:05 start, stormed out of the gate with head coach Mark French’s starting forward line of Kyle Greentree, Matt Ford, and Mattias Sjogren putting a couple of shots on Binghamton backstoppper Robin Lehner before eventually drawing an early power play.
“We talked about keeping our focus, but I attribute it to the veterans in our room who are able to handle things like that, where as a younger team in that kind of situation might cause some distractions,” said French.
“That’s what you want them to do. If you get the honor of being the first line on the ice, especially with a team like ours when we can roll four lines, they need to do that and they did, drawing the penalty and giving us momentum right away.”
After squandering the initial power play as well as a subsequent advantage, the game remained scoreless when the B-Sens went on their first power play at 6:57; however, only 23 seconds into the power play, Hershey newcomer Christian Hanson corralled a loose puck at center ice and then beat Lehner by lofting a shot over his glove hand.
With just over seven minutes remaining in the opening frame, the Bears held a 10-1 shot advantage and their starting goaltender Braden Holtby had about as major of a work load as the Maytag repairman. But that situation changed rather suddenly as the B-Sens found an offensive groove and peppered Holtby with some quality chances, one off of the stick of Jim O’Brien that Holtby halted by making a splendid sprawling save, and another by Pat Cannone that Holtby brilliantly thwarted with a well placed poke check.
“The two preseason games that I played, I had the same situation, but I was able to get a few shots in at the end that got me moving and into it,” said Holtby. “Those are saves that I should make; there were a few more that I made that were things that I was working on, so I was actually more proud of them. I saw the puck well tonight and the forwards and defenseman did a great job all night of fronting everyone and clearing things out in front of the net.”
Also, in the latter stages of the first frame, French did some line juggling by mixing and matching combinations, a scenario that was necessitated by all of the special teams’ play in the opening period.
“We had the power plays early and then some penalty kills, and one thing we wanted to do tonight was to get everybody involved and not have guys sitting. So it was out of necessity rather than trying to get guys going and changing things up. We’re still trying to find chemistry, and those types of situations sometimes allow you to find some natural fits,” said French.
In the second stanza, special teams were in the spotlight again when Chris Bourque scored a shorthanded goal by combining with fellow New England native Keith Aucoin on the strike, and with Binghamton answering Bourque’s tally with a power play goal.
In the latter stages of the stanza, the Bears regained their two-goal cushion when defenseman Patrick Wellar wandered down from his point position to penetrate the Senators’ defense and then deftly deposited a shot by Lerner at 13:46.
“We were told to be really aggressive tonight so I pinched in and was able to keep the play alive,” said Wellar, who scored three goals last season. “As soon as Greentree got the puck, I knew he was going to shoot it. I knew we had numbers so I went to the net. I got kind of lucky because the goalie was already moving and I was able to make a quick move and throw it on net.”
Before the buzzer sounded to signify the end of the second period, Wellar was again in the spotlight. This time, he was in the defensive zone, and due to Holtby being caught wandering behind the net, Wellar got to try out his best goaltender impersonation by stopping a shot that was ticketed for the back of the net.
“Things happen so fast in this small rink; the puck popped loose and we had a little miscommunication,” Wellar said. “Actually, I didn’t see it, but I felt it hit my skate. Sometimes you get lucky and you get to cover up for a miscue, but those are rare.”
The Senators looked to have cut the Bears bulge on a power play in the early stages of the third period during a goalmouth scramble, but after some initial confusion, the officials conferred with the goal judge and an apparent Senators goal was nullified.
“I’m not sure,” said Holtby when asked what happened on the play. “The puck went behind the net and I slid back and he shot it. It went past my first pad, but hit the end of my other pad. I don’t know if I slid into the net with it or not, but I didn’t think there was any evidence that it went in.”
The Senators eventually got their second goal at 16:03 of the third period when veteran Mark Parrish potted a goal from between the circles after receiving a perfect setup from Corey Locke, but Holtby and the Bears held on for the victory.
Notes- The Bears scratched defenseman Danny Richmond and Zach Miskovic and forwards Francois Bouchard and Andrew Carroll.
The Bears, who were forced to cool their heels for fifteen minutes before the puck officially dropped at 7:20 instead of the scheduled 7:05 start, stormed out of the gate with head coach Mark French’s starting forward line of Kyle Greentree, Matt Ford, and Mattias Sjogren putting a couple of shots on Binghamton backstoppper Robin Lehner before eventually drawing an early power play.
“We talked about keeping our focus, but I attribute it to the veterans in our room who are able to handle things like that, where as a younger team in that kind of situation might cause some distractions,” said French.
“That’s what you want them to do. If you get the honor of being the first line on the ice, especially with a team like ours when we can roll four lines, they need to do that and they did, drawing the penalty and giving us momentum right away.”
After squandering the initial power play as well as a subsequent advantage, the game remained scoreless when the B-Sens went on their first power play at 6:57; however, only 23 seconds into the power play, Hershey newcomer Christian Hanson corralled a loose puck at center ice and then beat Lehner by lofting a shot over his glove hand.
With just over seven minutes remaining in the opening frame, the Bears held a 10-1 shot advantage and their starting goaltender Braden Holtby had about as major of a work load as the Maytag repairman. But that situation changed rather suddenly as the B-Sens found an offensive groove and peppered Holtby with some quality chances, one off of the stick of Jim O’Brien that Holtby halted by making a splendid sprawling save, and another by Pat Cannone that Holtby brilliantly thwarted with a well placed poke check.
“The two preseason games that I played, I had the same situation, but I was able to get a few shots in at the end that got me moving and into it,” said Holtby. “Those are saves that I should make; there were a few more that I made that were things that I was working on, so I was actually more proud of them. I saw the puck well tonight and the forwards and defenseman did a great job all night of fronting everyone and clearing things out in front of the net.”
Also, in the latter stages of the first frame, French did some line juggling by mixing and matching combinations, a scenario that was necessitated by all of the special teams’ play in the opening period.
“We had the power plays early and then some penalty kills, and one thing we wanted to do tonight was to get everybody involved and not have guys sitting. So it was out of necessity rather than trying to get guys going and changing things up. We’re still trying to find chemistry, and those types of situations sometimes allow you to find some natural fits,” said French.
In the second stanza, special teams were in the spotlight again when Chris Bourque scored a shorthanded goal by combining with fellow New England native Keith Aucoin on the strike, and with Binghamton answering Bourque’s tally with a power play goal.
In the latter stages of the stanza, the Bears regained their two-goal cushion when defenseman Patrick Wellar wandered down from his point position to penetrate the Senators’ defense and then deftly deposited a shot by Lerner at 13:46.
“We were told to be really aggressive tonight so I pinched in and was able to keep the play alive,” said Wellar, who scored three goals last season. “As soon as Greentree got the puck, I knew he was going to shoot it. I knew we had numbers so I went to the net. I got kind of lucky because the goalie was already moving and I was able to make a quick move and throw it on net.”
Before the buzzer sounded to signify the end of the second period, Wellar was again in the spotlight. This time, he was in the defensive zone, and due to Holtby being caught wandering behind the net, Wellar got to try out his best goaltender impersonation by stopping a shot that was ticketed for the back of the net.
“Things happen so fast in this small rink; the puck popped loose and we had a little miscommunication,” Wellar said. “Actually, I didn’t see it, but I felt it hit my skate. Sometimes you get lucky and you get to cover up for a miscue, but those are rare.”
The Senators looked to have cut the Bears bulge on a power play in the early stages of the third period during a goalmouth scramble, but after some initial confusion, the officials conferred with the goal judge and an apparent Senators goal was nullified.
“I’m not sure,” said Holtby when asked what happened on the play. “The puck went behind the net and I slid back and he shot it. It went past my first pad, but hit the end of my other pad. I don’t know if I slid into the net with it or not, but I didn’t think there was any evidence that it went in.”
The Senators eventually got their second goal at 16:03 of the third period when veteran Mark Parrish potted a goal from between the circles after receiving a perfect setup from Corey Locke, but Holtby and the Bears held on for the victory.
Notes- The Bears scratched defenseman Danny Richmond and Zach Miskovic and forwards Francois Bouchard and Andrew Carroll.
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