By: John Sparenberg
In the previous meeting this season between the Hershey Bears and Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the aftermath of “Superstorm Sandy”, the Sound Tigers offered free admission of their fans to the contest. That night, the home club sprinted by the Bears in front of a sellout crowd of better than 8,000 patrons and pelted goaltender Braden Holtby with 42 shots in a 3-2 win.
Last night at Giant Center, in front of more than 8,000 Bears’ boosters at Giant Center, the Bears responded to a Sound Tigers’ game-tying goal early in the third period by storming back with three straight goals to end the contest and emerged with a 5-2 win.
The Bears, who were outshot 42-21 in the previous encounter, enjoyed a decisive 11-4 shot advantage in the opening period last night, but a goaltender’s best friend, the goal post, saved them from facing a first-period deficit when Blair Riley’s odd-man blast at 16:42 rang off the iron. At the next stoppage of play, the play went to video review with referee Terry Koharski ultimately ruling that the puck did not go in the net.
Holtby, making his 12th start of the season, had his shutout bid ended at 5:50 of the middle frame when his inability to cleanly snare Johan Sundstrom’s shot with his glove resulted in a rebound the Sundstrom subsequently pushed by him to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
It looked like the teams were going to enter the third period with Bridgeport still boasting their 1-0 lead, but a late goal by Zach Hamill with only 33.1 seconds left knotted the game up at one. The sequence leading up to Hamill’s goal started when his linemates, Jeff Taffe and Jon DiSalvatore, combined on a play. Taffe sent a nifty backhand pass from along the boards to DiSalvatore, who was stationed all alone in the high slot, but DiSalvatore shanked the shot, and the puck ended up behind the net where it was retrieved by a Sound Tiger. The tenacious Taffe hurried the defender’s clearing pass and the puck skidded to DiSalvatore, who backhanded a pass of his own to a wide open Hamill, who hammered it home.
Early in the final frame, the Bears had a full two-man two-minute power play, but managed only a single shot on goal. Luckily, only five seconds after the Sound Tigers’ players were uncaged and before they could rejoin the play, defenseman Tomas Kundratek’s slapshot along the ice eluded Bridgeport netminder Anders Nilsson at 6:01. However, less than a minute later, the Sound Tigers climbed back into the game when Jordan Hill fought off a Kevin Marshall hip check along the boards and then proceeded to the crease area where be beat Holtby to make it a 2-2 game.
Near the midway point of the stanza, the Sound Tigers enjoyed a lengthy two-man advantage of their own, but the Bears’ penalty-killing unit was up to the task and allowed only a couple of harmless shots which Holtby was able to commandeer.
Taffe then started the Bears’ three-goal storm at 14:22, targeting the glove side of Nilsson and hitting a bull’s-eye with a blast from the left wing circle. Patrick McNeill’s power-play goal, launched from nearly the same spot as Taffe’s tally, also struck pay dirt to Nilsson’s suddenly exposed glove side, and DiSalvatore’s empty-net marker gave the Bears their final margin of victory.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Bears Shoot Blanks In Loss to Pens
By: John Sparenberg
Thanksgiving is a traditional time of the year when a host usually serves up a bountiful meal for their visitors, and that is precisely what the Hershey Bears did on Wednesday night at Giant Center. The Bears dished up five tasty second period power plays to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins which led to a pair of power play goals that catapulted the visitors to a 4-0 victory.
Zatkoff and his Hershey counterpart Braden Holtby, who was appearing in his 150th professional game, combined to stop all 13 shots they faced in the fast-paced, evenly- played first period, with Holtby making stellar stops on Bobby Farnham on a two-on-one early and then denying Philippe Dupuis’ rebound attempt in the closing minutes. Meanwhile, Zatkoff made his best stop of the frame in the closing minutes by denying Mathieu Beaudoin’s bid from close range.
Early in the middle stanza, the Bears had the ice tilted in their favor as they applied solid pressure on Zatkoff in the opening moments, but that advantage and momentum quickly dissipated when a string of penalties led to a pair of quick power play strikes just over a minute apart by Beau Bennett and Simon Despres.
Bennett’s goal was a billiard shot type that was actually a centering pass apparently intended for Trevor Smith heading down the slot, but instead of finding Smith, the puck caromed off of the skate of Hershey defensemen Steve Oleksy and then behind Holtby at 4:28.
A short time later, with Garrett Stafford sitting in the sin bin for a questionable roughing call that was successfully sold to referee Mark Lemelin by Farnham, the visitors padded their cushion to 2-0 when Despres’ wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle eluded Holtby.
The Bears had a glimmer of hope entering the final frame on a power play. However, just over a minute in, Tomas Kundratek’s attempted pass to his defensive partner Garrett Stafford along the blueline was intercepted by Benn Ferriero. Ferriero then proceeded in alone on Holtby on a shorthanded breakaway. Although Holtby was able to get his glove on the shot, it still managed to eventually cross the goal line which gave the Pens a 3-0 lead that crushed the Bears’ hopes of a comeback in the process.
Notes:
Washington Capitals’ General Manager George McPhee and Caps’ assistant coach Tim Hunter attended the game.
Tonight’s game was the 140th meeting between the clubs. With the loss, the Bears fell to 69-60-11 in the all-time series.
The next meeting in the twelve-game season series between the Keystone State rivals will be on Friday, December 7th, at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Bears scratches were Patrick McNeill, Matt Pope and Julien Brouillette, all healthy, as well as Ryan Stoa, and Jonathon Kalinski, both injured.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
IceCaps Freeze Bears 2-1
By: John Sparenberg
During his six-year career with the Hershey Bears, defenseman Dean Arsene hoisted the Calder Cup on two occasions, once in 2006 and once in 2009 when the club disposed of the Manitoba Moose in the finals.
On Saturday night, Arsene, known as the “Mayor of Hershey” during his time in Chocolatetown, returned as part of the St. John’s IceCaps, and with the help of Raymond Sawada, a member of that Moose club who assisted on the vistors' game-winning goal, the IceCaps finished up their five-game road swing with a 2-1 win over the Bears at Giant Center.
Outshot in nine of their ten previous outings this season, the Bears jumped out to a 3-0 shot advantage in the opening minute of play when their starting fivesome, comprised of forwards Jeff Taffe, Barry Almeida, and Garrett Mitchell and defenseman Tomas Kundratek and Julien Brouillette, provided early pressure on the IceCaps’ keeper, Mark Dekanich, with Almeida getting the best chance. All of that pressure developed after Arsene, who normally doesn’t take too many chances, looked to take a bit of a gamble by running at Mitchell at the Hershey blueline, springing Taffe and Almeida into the IceCaps’ zone as a result, but as he explained after the game, it wasn’t such a risk after all.
“It wasn’t like I was thinking about running anyone. That’s just our forecheck and the way our defense stands up on the strong side. I was able to read the play, and it’s just the way I play. I wasn’t trying to do anything too much. When you start doing that, you can kind of get burned; that’s just the way our forecheck is,” said Arsene.
Shortly after the visitors survived the early attack, they went on the offensive themselves, evening up the shot totals at three, with Eric O’Dell getting a couple of quality bids against Bears’ netminder, Dany Sabourin; but Sabourin, making his first start since October 28th, was equal to the challenge and kept it a scoreless game entering the second period.
In the second stanza, Sawada had the Icecaps’ first shot on goal, a point-blank bid, but Sabourin superbly swatted away the bid and kept the game scoreless. Sabourin, who had been outstanding until that point by stopping the puck and controlling his rebounds, made a fatal mistake at the 5:19 mark. Initially, he stopped Derek Meech’s shot from the point, but kicked the rebound into the high slot between the circles. Unfortunately for the Bears, O’Dell was there to gather in the puck and while fighting off Brouillette’s backchecking efforts, buried the biscuit over the glove of Sabourin who made a gallant effort to atone for his misplay.
Later in the period, with exactly four minutes left on the clock, the IceCaps’ Derek Whitmore took a pass from behind the net from Jason Jaffray, who also played for the Moose on the 2009 team, apparently beat Sabourin with a sizzling shot and even raised his hands in celebration, but the red light never went on and play continued.
Before the teams headed to the locker room for the second intermission, the Bears knotted the score at one when the tenacious Taffe, following his own dump-in to the rear boards, forced Meech to release the puck quicker than he wanted to. Taffe’s efforts forced the puck onto the stick of Matt Pope, who promptly put a pass onto the stick of Almeida who was left unattended and deposited the puck into the net for his second goal of the year.
“He (Taffe) put some good pressure on me. We had a bit of a lapse there, and that’s the way it goes,” said Meech.
In the final frame, Pope, in forechecking mode in the St. John’s zone, inadvertently high-sticked Carl Klingberg, drawing blood, but not drawing a penalty call from referee David Banfield. The play went on, but when the next whistle stopped play, linesman Tom George conferred with Banfield, and at that point Pope was banished to the penalty box for a double minor penalty for high-sticking.
The Bears penalty killers were excellent at this critical juncture in the game, not allowing a shot until 3:15 had elapsed in Pope’s penalty, and that shot was a harmless shot from the point that was easily stopped by Sabourin. However, exactly 20 seconds later, the Bears allowed the eventual game-wining goal when Meech meandered down from his point position and potted his first goal of the season.
“He was kicking really nice and playing really well all night,” said Meech of Sabourin.
We were getting a bit desperate there; it’s always a little bit frustrating when you’re not scoring on the power play. But it was a good play by Johnny Albert. He came down the wall and made a good pass to me. I just got it by him (Sabourin) on the post. We needed one and we found a way in the end.”
After the game, Arsene offered his thoughts on whether fatigue (the Bears were coming off a tough win on the road in Wilkes/Barre-Scranton the night before) and freshness (the IceCaps had been idle since a matchup in Manchester on Wednesday night) factored into the outcome of Saturday’s contest.
“I think it played into it,” admitted Arsene. “Anytime you have to go to Wilkes--I played up there a ton of games--and it’s a difficult game. We haven’t had a great road trip yet; we were 1-and-3 going into tonight, so we wanted to go out with a bang. I think those factors definitely contributed to it.”
Notes:
Dekanich missed all of last season with an ankle injury.
With the exception of Sabourin in net, the Bears went the same lineup that they iced in Friday night’s win. The scratches were Ryan Stoa, Ryan Potulny, and Dmitry Orlov (all injured), and Patrick McNeill, Stanislav Galiev, and Jonathon Kalinski (all healthy).
Among the IceCaps’ scratches was Aaron Gagnon, who played against the Bears in the 2010 Calder Cup Finals while a member of the Texas Stars, and tallied the Stars’ first goal in games two and five of that series. Sawada and current Bear, Mathieu Beaudoin, were also members of that Stars squad.
During his six-year career with the Hershey Bears, defenseman Dean Arsene hoisted the Calder Cup on two occasions, once in 2006 and once in 2009 when the club disposed of the Manitoba Moose in the finals.
On Saturday night, Arsene, known as the “Mayor of Hershey” during his time in Chocolatetown, returned as part of the St. John’s IceCaps, and with the help of Raymond Sawada, a member of that Moose club who assisted on the vistors' game-winning goal, the IceCaps finished up their five-game road swing with a 2-1 win over the Bears at Giant Center.
Outshot in nine of their ten previous outings this season, the Bears jumped out to a 3-0 shot advantage in the opening minute of play when their starting fivesome, comprised of forwards Jeff Taffe, Barry Almeida, and Garrett Mitchell and defenseman Tomas Kundratek and Julien Brouillette, provided early pressure on the IceCaps’ keeper, Mark Dekanich, with Almeida getting the best chance. All of that pressure developed after Arsene, who normally doesn’t take too many chances, looked to take a bit of a gamble by running at Mitchell at the Hershey blueline, springing Taffe and Almeida into the IceCaps’ zone as a result, but as he explained after the game, it wasn’t such a risk after all.
“It wasn’t like I was thinking about running anyone. That’s just our forecheck and the way our defense stands up on the strong side. I was able to read the play, and it’s just the way I play. I wasn’t trying to do anything too much. When you start doing that, you can kind of get burned; that’s just the way our forecheck is,” said Arsene.
Shortly after the visitors survived the early attack, they went on the offensive themselves, evening up the shot totals at three, with Eric O’Dell getting a couple of quality bids against Bears’ netminder, Dany Sabourin; but Sabourin, making his first start since October 28th, was equal to the challenge and kept it a scoreless game entering the second period.
In the second stanza, Sawada had the Icecaps’ first shot on goal, a point-blank bid, but Sabourin superbly swatted away the bid and kept the game scoreless. Sabourin, who had been outstanding until that point by stopping the puck and controlling his rebounds, made a fatal mistake at the 5:19 mark. Initially, he stopped Derek Meech’s shot from the point, but kicked the rebound into the high slot between the circles. Unfortunately for the Bears, O’Dell was there to gather in the puck and while fighting off Brouillette’s backchecking efforts, buried the biscuit over the glove of Sabourin who made a gallant effort to atone for his misplay.
Later in the period, with exactly four minutes left on the clock, the IceCaps’ Derek Whitmore took a pass from behind the net from Jason Jaffray, who also played for the Moose on the 2009 team, apparently beat Sabourin with a sizzling shot and even raised his hands in celebration, but the red light never went on and play continued.
Before the teams headed to the locker room for the second intermission, the Bears knotted the score at one when the tenacious Taffe, following his own dump-in to the rear boards, forced Meech to release the puck quicker than he wanted to. Taffe’s efforts forced the puck onto the stick of Matt Pope, who promptly put a pass onto the stick of Almeida who was left unattended and deposited the puck into the net for his second goal of the year.
“He (Taffe) put some good pressure on me. We had a bit of a lapse there, and that’s the way it goes,” said Meech.
In the final frame, Pope, in forechecking mode in the St. John’s zone, inadvertently high-sticked Carl Klingberg, drawing blood, but not drawing a penalty call from referee David Banfield. The play went on, but when the next whistle stopped play, linesman Tom George conferred with Banfield, and at that point Pope was banished to the penalty box for a double minor penalty for high-sticking.
The Bears penalty killers were excellent at this critical juncture in the game, not allowing a shot until 3:15 had elapsed in Pope’s penalty, and that shot was a harmless shot from the point that was easily stopped by Sabourin. However, exactly 20 seconds later, the Bears allowed the eventual game-wining goal when Meech meandered down from his point position and potted his first goal of the season.
“He was kicking really nice and playing really well all night,” said Meech of Sabourin.
We were getting a bit desperate there; it’s always a little bit frustrating when you’re not scoring on the power play. But it was a good play by Johnny Albert. He came down the wall and made a good pass to me. I just got it by him (Sabourin) on the post. We needed one and we found a way in the end.”
After the game, Arsene offered his thoughts on whether fatigue (the Bears were coming off a tough win on the road in Wilkes/Barre-Scranton the night before) and freshness (the IceCaps had been idle since a matchup in Manchester on Wednesday night) factored into the outcome of Saturday’s contest.
“I think it played into it,” admitted Arsene. “Anytime you have to go to Wilkes--I played up there a ton of games--and it’s a difficult game. We haven’t had a great road trip yet; we were 1-and-3 going into tonight, so we wanted to go out with a bang. I think those factors definitely contributed to it.”
Notes:
Dekanich missed all of last season with an ankle injury.
With the exception of Sabourin in net, the Bears went the same lineup that they iced in Friday night’s win. The scratches were Ryan Stoa, Ryan Potulny, and Dmitry Orlov (all injured), and Patrick McNeill, Stanislav Galiev, and Jonathon Kalinski (all healthy).
Among the IceCaps’ scratches was Aaron Gagnon, who played against the Bears in the 2010 Calder Cup Finals while a member of the Texas Stars, and tallied the Stars’ first goal in games two and five of that series. Sawada and current Bear, Mathieu Beaudoin, were also members of that Stars squad.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Holtby's Heavenly Return Helps Bears Down Devils
By: John Sparenberg
In the early going of this season, the Hershey Bears have found themselves in the uncustomary position of looking up at the rest of the American Hockey League’s East Division and showed only one win on the winning side of the ledger entering Saturday night’s tilt at Giant Center; However, bolstered by the return of goaltender Braden Holtby and with a solid contribution from defenseman Tomas Kundratek at both ends of the ice, they escaped their meeting with the Albany Devils with a 3-0 victory.
The Bears were on their heels defensively in the opening moments of the contest, but Holtby was on top of his game from the outset and showed no signs of his two weeks of inactivity between the pipes. Holtby made a big save on Adam Henrique, a 16 goal-getter last year with in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils during the visitors’ first power play of the evening.
Late in the first frame, with the clubs still locked in a scoreless duel, Hamill’s backhander at 17:10 gave the Bears a 1-0 lead. Hamill’s goal was his first in the Chocolate and White and was assisted by Kundratek and Ryan Stoa, who fed Hamill in the spot with a pretty backhand dish. Stoa was stymied by Albany netminder Keith Kinkaid a short time later when the Devils keeper kicked out his bid with a quality stop from just atop the crease.
Early in the second stanza, Holtby was stellar, quickly flexing his left pad in razor-like fashion to deny a point-blank chance by Albany’s David “Don’t call me Mark” Wohlberg. Seconds later, Wohlberg, obviously still in full frustration mode, slashed Hamill and then absorbed a couple of stiff jabs in the subsequent scrum that ensued, but when the dust had settled, he was the only player sent to the “sin bin” by referee Darcy Burchell.
“That was a big chance for them and for a goalie; that’s where you’ve got to come up with a save. I thought I played it patiently. I’ll have to look at it on video and find out if I was cheating or not, but it worked out well and I made the save. Luck was on our side tonight,” said Holtby.
Less than thirty seconds into Wohlberg’s sentence, the Bears, feeding off the “Good Vibrations” from Holtby’s big save, padded their one-goal cushion when Jeff Taffe, with a helping hand from Kundratek, sizzled a one-time slapshot by Kinkaid to give the Bears a 2-0 lead. Taffe’s goal went to video review, but Burchell eventually ruled on the Bears’ behalf.
“It was one of those shots where you’ve obviously got to elevate it because the goalie is going to slide over. But at the same time it’s one of those shots where if you get it on net, you’ve got a pretty good chance of scoring. Most of the guys on the team thought it went in, but it was just a matter of going through the review process,” said Taffe.
The Bears then went on to earn the games next three power plays, but did not score on any of them including a lengthy five-on-three advantage, and nearly squandered a shorthanded goal to Albany’s Jacob Josefson, but Holtby, aided largely by Kundratek who raced back to catch Josefson, the Bears avoided the crisis and maintained their two-goal lead in the process.
“Those types of play are always tough. If he gets that last half-step at the end, he can go right around me, but Kundy did a great job of holding him, and I was able to cut down the angle and force him into shooting,” said Holtby.
In the third period, the Bears sputtered again from the opening puck drop, and with Albany enjoying a 5-1 shot advantage through 4:38 of action, the Bears bench brain trust elected to utilize their timeout.
“We seemed to be stalled in our end and had to take a timeout. I think a lot of it started with not winning the draw and possessing the puck. It’s something that we’ve got to get out of the gate a little bit better; fortunately tonight it didn’t hurt, but we’ve got to better in that area,” said Hershey co-coach, Mark French.
Last weekend, the Bears wasted a pair of three-goal leads in their home opener against the Rochester Americans when they fell in a disappointing 8-7 loss; However, Taffe said that game is now a distant memory, although he conceded that the club held onto the memory for a bit after the stinging setback.
“When you lose big leads like that you can think about it for a day or two, but you’ve got to put it out of your head. Last week, we’ve kind of put that out of our minds. It was the first (three-in-three) weekend and obviously, you can’t play run and gun hockey like that, especially after last night getting down early. We just wanted to get a lead tonight. We know we are a different team when we do.”
The timeout strategy worked as the Bears allowed only seven more shots the rest of the way, with most of those coming in the final moments, and Kundratek added an empty-net goal at 17:53 to put the game out of reach for the visitors.
Notes:
Holtby’s shutout was his 12th as a Bear and fell just short of his shutout best performance (38 saves at Wilkes/Barre Scranton on October 9, 2009).
Holtby was seeing only his second game action of the young season after starting and being injured in the Bears’ season opening loss in Syracuse (28 saves, 4 goals against).
T.J. Syner was recalled prior to the game from the Bears’ ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals, before the game to take Sjogren’s spot in the lineup, while goaltender Philipp Grubauer was heading the other way on the Pennsylvania turnpike with Holtby’s return.
The Bears and Devils, who will meet a total of four times this season, don’t square off again until a December 29th meeting at Giant Center.
Ryan Potulny and Mattias Sjogren (injured in Friday night’s loss at Connecticut) were the injury scratches for the Bears, while Patrick McNeill (veteran), Julien Brouillette, Jonathon Kalinski, and Matt Clackson were the healthy scratches.
In the early going of this season, the Hershey Bears have found themselves in the uncustomary position of looking up at the rest of the American Hockey League’s East Division and showed only one win on the winning side of the ledger entering Saturday night’s tilt at Giant Center; However, bolstered by the return of goaltender Braden Holtby and with a solid contribution from defenseman Tomas Kundratek at both ends of the ice, they escaped their meeting with the Albany Devils with a 3-0 victory.
The Bears were on their heels defensively in the opening moments of the contest, but Holtby was on top of his game from the outset and showed no signs of his two weeks of inactivity between the pipes. Holtby made a big save on Adam Henrique, a 16 goal-getter last year with in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils during the visitors’ first power play of the evening.
Late in the first frame, with the clubs still locked in a scoreless duel, Hamill’s backhander at 17:10 gave the Bears a 1-0 lead. Hamill’s goal was his first in the Chocolate and White and was assisted by Kundratek and Ryan Stoa, who fed Hamill in the spot with a pretty backhand dish. Stoa was stymied by Albany netminder Keith Kinkaid a short time later when the Devils keeper kicked out his bid with a quality stop from just atop the crease.
Early in the second stanza, Holtby was stellar, quickly flexing his left pad in razor-like fashion to deny a point-blank chance by Albany’s David “Don’t call me Mark” Wohlberg. Seconds later, Wohlberg, obviously still in full frustration mode, slashed Hamill and then absorbed a couple of stiff jabs in the subsequent scrum that ensued, but when the dust had settled, he was the only player sent to the “sin bin” by referee Darcy Burchell.
“That was a big chance for them and for a goalie; that’s where you’ve got to come up with a save. I thought I played it patiently. I’ll have to look at it on video and find out if I was cheating or not, but it worked out well and I made the save. Luck was on our side tonight,” said Holtby.
Less than thirty seconds into Wohlberg’s sentence, the Bears, feeding off the “Good Vibrations” from Holtby’s big save, padded their one-goal cushion when Jeff Taffe, with a helping hand from Kundratek, sizzled a one-time slapshot by Kinkaid to give the Bears a 2-0 lead. Taffe’s goal went to video review, but Burchell eventually ruled on the Bears’ behalf.
“It was one of those shots where you’ve obviously got to elevate it because the goalie is going to slide over. But at the same time it’s one of those shots where if you get it on net, you’ve got a pretty good chance of scoring. Most of the guys on the team thought it went in, but it was just a matter of going through the review process,” said Taffe.
The Bears then went on to earn the games next three power plays, but did not score on any of them including a lengthy five-on-three advantage, and nearly squandered a shorthanded goal to Albany’s Jacob Josefson, but Holtby, aided largely by Kundratek who raced back to catch Josefson, the Bears avoided the crisis and maintained their two-goal lead in the process.
“Those types of play are always tough. If he gets that last half-step at the end, he can go right around me, but Kundy did a great job of holding him, and I was able to cut down the angle and force him into shooting,” said Holtby.
In the third period, the Bears sputtered again from the opening puck drop, and with Albany enjoying a 5-1 shot advantage through 4:38 of action, the Bears bench brain trust elected to utilize their timeout.
“We seemed to be stalled in our end and had to take a timeout. I think a lot of it started with not winning the draw and possessing the puck. It’s something that we’ve got to get out of the gate a little bit better; fortunately tonight it didn’t hurt, but we’ve got to better in that area,” said Hershey co-coach, Mark French.
Last weekend, the Bears wasted a pair of three-goal leads in their home opener against the Rochester Americans when they fell in a disappointing 8-7 loss; However, Taffe said that game is now a distant memory, although he conceded that the club held onto the memory for a bit after the stinging setback.
“When you lose big leads like that you can think about it for a day or two, but you’ve got to put it out of your head. Last week, we’ve kind of put that out of our minds. It was the first (three-in-three) weekend and obviously, you can’t play run and gun hockey like that, especially after last night getting down early. We just wanted to get a lead tonight. We know we are a different team when we do.”
The timeout strategy worked as the Bears allowed only seven more shots the rest of the way, with most of those coming in the final moments, and Kundratek added an empty-net goal at 17:53 to put the game out of reach for the visitors.
Notes:
Holtby’s shutout was his 12th as a Bear and fell just short of his shutout best performance (38 saves at Wilkes/Barre Scranton on October 9, 2009).
Holtby was seeing only his second game action of the young season after starting and being injured in the Bears’ season opening loss in Syracuse (28 saves, 4 goals against).
T.J. Syner was recalled prior to the game from the Bears’ ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals, before the game to take Sjogren’s spot in the lineup, while goaltender Philipp Grubauer was heading the other way on the Pennsylvania turnpike with Holtby’s return.
The Bears and Devils, who will meet a total of four times this season, don’t square off again until a December 29th meeting at Giant Center.
Ryan Potulny and Mattias Sjogren (injured in Friday night’s loss at Connecticut) were the injury scratches for the Bears, while Patrick McNeill (veteran), Julien Brouillette, Jonathon Kalinski, and Matt Clackson were the healthy scratches.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Bears Drop Home Opener 10.20.12
Saturday night was a historical night at Giant Center as the Hershey Bears and Rochester Americans, the American Hockey League’s eldest clubs, faced off to kick off the home portion of the Bears’ 75th season, and it was a historical name from the Bears’ past that turned a joyful beginning into a dismal 8-7 defeat.
Veteran Jeff Taffe gave the Bears a 1-0 lead by converting a nifty backhand pass from Garrett Mitchell at 7:57. Defenseman Cameron Schilling, who scored the game-winning goal on Friday night in Binghamton, picked up the secondary assist on the tally, which was his first professional assist.
“I saw Taffe, and he’s a guy that can finish. I knew if I put it in his wheelhouse, he would capitalize on the chance,” said Mitchell.
After the Amerks tied the game, Mitchell turned from playmaker into goal scorer and gave the Bears a 2-1 lead at 17:24 when he masterfully deflected Garrett Stafford’s salvo from the point past Rochester netminder David Leggio.
“I saw the puck coming through the bodies,” Mitchell explained. “I touched it, but it was pretty wide and I didn’t know it would come back on the net. It took a good bounce off the post, and I guess it found a way to go in.”
Despite the large size disadvantage that Mitchell (5’10” and 188 lbs.) faced against towering former Bear Joe Finley (6’8” and 249 lbs.), he made himself a thorn in the side of Finley for an entire shift in the first period by laying a couple of solid body belts on the blue-liner and credited that with playing a big role in his opening period performance where collected a multi-point effort, something he accomplished only twice last season.
“That’s kind of my role to create space and energy and finish my checks, and that’s what finishing your checks does. It puts you on the right side of the puck and when you do that good things happen.”
Mitchell's battle with Finley continued into the second period when Finley plastered him from behind, earning a minor penalty for boarding in the process. Finley's actions brought an immediate reaction from Patrick Wellar, a super-heavyweight of his own (6’3” and 231 lbs.). Wellar and Finley's fistic encounter saw Finley drop Wellar with a heavy blow and in a bout that started after the Wellar-Finley duel. Matt MacKenzie and Mitchell also dropped the mitts, with Mitchell earning a unanimous decision in that encounter.
Late in the first frame, referee David Banfield whistled Rochester defenseman off the ice on a cross-checking infraction, and the Bears capitalized on the game’s first manpower advantage. The unit, comprised of forwards Jon DiSalvatore, Ryan Stoa, and Taffe, along with rearguards Stafford and Tomas Kundratek, kept the puck in the Amerks zone for the entirety of the advantage. Kundratek ultimately put the puck behind David Leggio at 19:06 to give the Bears a 3-1 lead.
Early in the second, with the Bears already in the midst of their second power play, Brennan was once again banished to the penalty box by Banfield, which gave the home club a five-on-three advantage. They did not squander the opportunity and once again captured lightning in a bottle when DiSalvatore generated the goal that illuminated the red light behind Leggio at 1:56 to give the Bears a three goal cushion at 4-1.
Less than four minutes after the Bears took a 5-2 lead on Ryan Stoa’s power play goal, the Amerks started their comeback on a goal by Luke Adam, and then historical name from the past, Foligno, as in Marcus Foligno, son of former Bears’ coach Mile Foligno, who guided the club in their inaugural game at Giant Center on October 19, 2002 when they also squared of against the Amerks, took center stage.
Foligno, who scored 13 points in 14 games last season with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres in the show, scored his 4th goal of the season at 13:09, 35 seconds after Adam’s tally, and then finished off the stanza by assisting on Brennan’s power play goal at 17:42.
In the third period with the scored tied at 6, Foligno capped off a four point performance (2+2) when he gave the visitors a lead they would not relinquish by sliding a backhander under the glove of Bears’ netminder Dany Sabourin at 11:07.
Hershey/Rochester Series Notes:
Tonight’s meeting was the 445th between the eldest clubs in the AHL, and with the loss, the Bears now sport a record of 206-186-53 in those outings.
Tonight’s meeting was the 8th time in their history that the Bears have opened their season at home against the Amerks, and the teams are tied at four in those games and also squared away at two in the four battles staged at Giant Center.
While most Bears fans are fully aware that Cail MacLean scored the first goal in the October 19, 2002 contest and thus tallied the first goal in the history of The “GC”, it’s not as commonly known that Eric Bertrand (SHG) struck for the game-winning goal in that contest.
Veteran Jeff Taffe gave the Bears a 1-0 lead by converting a nifty backhand pass from Garrett Mitchell at 7:57. Defenseman Cameron Schilling, who scored the game-winning goal on Friday night in Binghamton, picked up the secondary assist on the tally, which was his first professional assist.
“I saw Taffe, and he’s a guy that can finish. I knew if I put it in his wheelhouse, he would capitalize on the chance,” said Mitchell.
After the Amerks tied the game, Mitchell turned from playmaker into goal scorer and gave the Bears a 2-1 lead at 17:24 when he masterfully deflected Garrett Stafford’s salvo from the point past Rochester netminder David Leggio.
“I saw the puck coming through the bodies,” Mitchell explained. “I touched it, but it was pretty wide and I didn’t know it would come back on the net. It took a good bounce off the post, and I guess it found a way to go in.”
Despite the large size disadvantage that Mitchell (5’10” and 188 lbs.) faced against towering former Bear Joe Finley (6’8” and 249 lbs.), he made himself a thorn in the side of Finley for an entire shift in the first period by laying a couple of solid body belts on the blue-liner and credited that with playing a big role in his opening period performance where collected a multi-point effort, something he accomplished only twice last season.
“That’s kind of my role to create space and energy and finish my checks, and that’s what finishing your checks does. It puts you on the right side of the puck and when you do that good things happen.”
Mitchell's battle with Finley continued into the second period when Finley plastered him from behind, earning a minor penalty for boarding in the process. Finley's actions brought an immediate reaction from Patrick Wellar, a super-heavyweight of his own (6’3” and 231 lbs.). Wellar and Finley's fistic encounter saw Finley drop Wellar with a heavy blow and in a bout that started after the Wellar-Finley duel. Matt MacKenzie and Mitchell also dropped the mitts, with Mitchell earning a unanimous decision in that encounter.
Late in the first frame, referee David Banfield whistled Rochester defenseman off the ice on a cross-checking infraction, and the Bears capitalized on the game’s first manpower advantage. The unit, comprised of forwards Jon DiSalvatore, Ryan Stoa, and Taffe, along with rearguards Stafford and Tomas Kundratek, kept the puck in the Amerks zone for the entirety of the advantage. Kundratek ultimately put the puck behind David Leggio at 19:06 to give the Bears a 3-1 lead.
Early in the second, with the Bears already in the midst of their second power play, Brennan was once again banished to the penalty box by Banfield, which gave the home club a five-on-three advantage. They did not squander the opportunity and once again captured lightning in a bottle when DiSalvatore generated the goal that illuminated the red light behind Leggio at 1:56 to give the Bears a three goal cushion at 4-1.
Less than four minutes after the Bears took a 5-2 lead on Ryan Stoa’s power play goal, the Amerks started their comeback on a goal by Luke Adam, and then historical name from the past, Foligno, as in Marcus Foligno, son of former Bears’ coach Mile Foligno, who guided the club in their inaugural game at Giant Center on October 19, 2002 when they also squared of against the Amerks, took center stage.
Foligno, who scored 13 points in 14 games last season with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres in the show, scored his 4th goal of the season at 13:09, 35 seconds after Adam’s tally, and then finished off the stanza by assisting on Brennan’s power play goal at 17:42.
In the third period with the scored tied at 6, Foligno capped off a four point performance (2+2) when he gave the visitors a lead they would not relinquish by sliding a backhander under the glove of Bears’ netminder Dany Sabourin at 11:07.
Hershey/Rochester Series Notes:
Tonight’s meeting was the 445th between the eldest clubs in the AHL, and with the loss, the Bears now sport a record of 206-186-53 in those outings.
Tonight’s meeting was the 8th time in their history that the Bears have opened their season at home against the Amerks, and the teams are tied at four in those games and also squared away at two in the four battles staged at Giant Center.
While most Bears fans are fully aware that Cail MacLean scored the first goal in the October 19, 2002 contest and thus tallied the first goal in the history of The “GC”, it’s not as commonly known that Eric Bertrand (SHG) struck for the game-winning goal in that contest.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Crunch Clip Bears in Opener
By: John Sparenberg
The Hershey Bears kicked off their historic 75 anniversary season on the road on Saturday night in Syracuse against the Crunch and fell to their hosts, 4-3.
After falling behind by a pair of goals early in the second period, the Bears tied the game at two later in the frame when Garrett Mitchell (SHG) and Barry Almeida rang up goals against ‘Cuse’s keeper of the crease, Riki Helenius.
However, the home club regained a lead they would never relinquish before the culmination of the stanza when Cory Conacher last year’s AHL Rookie of the Year with the Norfolk Admirals beat Bears netminder Braden Holtby at 18:44 with a turn-around wrist shot that emanated from between the faceoff circles. Conacher, who is also the league’s reigning MVP after his sparkling thirty-nine goal rookie campaign, incurred six of those markers at the expense of the Bears.
In the final frame, the Crunch extended their lead to 4-2 when Brett Connolly capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play advantage at 5:02. Just over eight minutes after Connolly’s caper, the Bears’ Jon DiSalvatore responded with his club’s first power play potting of the season. Despite getting another power play only seconds after DiSalvatore dented the twine, the Bears were unable to get the equalizing goal behind Helenius, who collected 23 saves to capture the win.
Notes:
Hershey scratched defensemen Kevin Marshall, Julien Brouillette, and Patrick Wellar and forwards Zach Hamill, Matt Pope, and Matt Clackson.
The Bears continue their season-opening road swing on Friday night against the Binghamton Senators before opening the home portion of their season on Saturday night against the Rochester Americans at Giant Center and finish up the weekend on Sunday afternoon in the same venue against the
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Stuccio's First Season in Chocolatetown a Sweet Success
By: John Sparenberg JSHEYNOW@comcast.net
Regardless of how the Hershey Bears fare in their upcoming playoff series against their bitter rivals the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins that begins on Friday night in Wilkes-Barre, their fans will have a lot to look forward to next season. Not only will it be the year to celebrate the 75th anniversary season of the club, but it will also mark the return of Scott Stuccio behind the radio microphone for a second season with a valuable year of experience under his play-by-play broadcasting belt.
Stuccio’s first season at the helm of the Bears’ radio network recently concluded with the culmination of the regular season portion of the schedule last Sunday, and the season was full of turbulent times as well as turbulent waters that delayed his arrival in Hershey.
“I think it went pretty smoothly,” Stuccio remembers. “The hardest part at the beginning was just getting to Hershey in the first place with all of stuff related to the flooding. I was basically forced to go right into training camp and the pre-season without getting much of a chance to prepare, let alone get to have any time to know the area. John (Walton, his predecessor) and I were talking a lot in the beginning of the season and then it kind of trailed off because he’s obviously very busy now and travelling all over creation with the Capitals. If I had needed something from him early on, it was a nice, easy question and lately it’s been kind of hard to get ahold of him. But he was always there and eventually always got back to me which was great.”
Stuccio continued, “The (radio) job itself was actually just getting used to calling the games again because I was not doing play-by-play last year, but I thought I did well. I dealt with a few people that still thought that I got a little excited when the Penguins scored in that first game. It’s not showing excitement for the team in particular; I get excited for other teams when they score really nice goals-it’s hard not too. Over the 76 gamed that have transpired already, I think I proved very well which team I work for, root for, and really get excited for.”
Although he had the opportunity to call 244 goals during the season, Stuccio singled out the first two games and first two goals of the campaign as well as the camaraderie he developed with a few of the players on their way to the NHL as memorable out moments.
“The first goal was Christian Hanson’s and short-handed, and then the second goal also was scored short-handed by Chris Bourque up in Binghamton, which was a very strange way to start a season. Having my first game being on the road where I had to fill an extra half hour because they had a Calder Cup ceremony to do was a challenge. Then the next night, which was also on the road in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and was their home opener, I had to fill even more time in a building that I used to call home. They definitely stood out as being a little nerve-wracking because of the amount of time I had to fill for a brand new network of listeners.”
“Also, the month of March was a memorable one, without Braden Holtby and without a lot of our stars,” Stuccio said. “To watch a great guy like Dany Sabourin take us through a run like he did and lock up a playoff spot, that was really special for me, like any time that I get to call goals and get to know guys like Cody Eakin, Keith Aucoin, Holtby, Sabourin, and Dmitry Orlov. I got to meet those guys and then you get to root them on as they go on to the National Hockey League. Those are all standout moments.”
With St. John’s, Newfoundland, gaining an AHL affiliate again this past season, Stuccio and the Bears were afforded the opportunity to venture to “The Rock”, and while getting to that destination is a travel ordeal, the IceCaps’ rink, the Mile One Centre, as well as the people on the island, made the trip much more bearable.
“St. John’s,” said Stuccio without hesitation when asked what building made the most impression on him this season, good or bad. “The arena is really nice, and the fans are ridiculously passionate about that team in a great way which was really neat to see. The place was sold out all year, and I think they are also sold out for the next three years as well. To see the way the fans have taken to that team that used to be a Toronto Maple Leafs affiliate, and now they are a Winnipeg Jets affiliate, so quickly is amazing. The crew that worked in that building and the entire organization were all awesome; they were really helpful and very friendly and hospitable. I had been to all of others before, but St. John’s was the one spot that I hadn’t been to, and it was certainly something to see.”
Now that he has had a chance to visit the Penguins’ barn, the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, numerous times this past season as a visitor while calling thr action for the Bears broadcasts, I asked him if he noticed anything this year about the building that he hadn’t noticed before when he worked for the club at the venue.
“Not really. The thing you notice is that it’s obviously a very passionate fan base. I’ve really noticed the rivalry from both sides being on the home broadcasts with Wilkes-Barre and now the home broadcasts for Hershey, it’s all within the fans. I said this when I got here. The fan bases have developed that rivalry and it’s a fun one to watch and be a part of. The professionalism in both organizations from top to bottom is second to none; they are the best in the league. I’ve seen this from the home side too, but from the visitor’s side, I actually have less prep time to get my work done because I have so many people come and say hello and ask how things are in Hershey.”
I asked Stuccio if he thought it was destiny that the Bears and Penguins, the only two AHL clubs that he has worked for in his broadcasting career were meeting in the playoffs, and his answer was well, maybe no, but maybe yes.
“It’s something else,” he chuckled. “I think to a lot of people it’s annoying more than anything. It’s two pre-season games, it’s 12 regular season games, and now a best of five in the playoffs. The funny part about is that they extended the season one week, they shortened it four games, and they realigned the playoff format to go to the top eight in the conference and we’re still going to play them; it’s amazing. As far as it being destiny, I think it would be if the Bears won,” he laughed, “because that would really make it a wonderful move for me. Not to say that it hasn’t been already, but that would be the icing on the cake and would mean we are that much closer to winning a championship.”
Looking ahead to next year, although there is still hopefully plenty more hockey for the Bears to play this season, Stuccio is very optimistic that his sophomore season will be bigger and better than his rookie one from a professional standpoint. Although he technically has not put his name on the dotted line to return, it’s a foregone conclusion that he will be back, considering his solid work this season filling some mighty big shoes.
“Things will get better. I had to get used to it (broadcasting) again. I had to learn the area, learn the fans, learn the Bears, and learn the history. I know some of the things that John did I wasn’t able to do--the post-game Saturday show, some of the visits I didn’t get to do, as well as the video interviews of the players because I didn’t get a chance to setup due to the fact that I didn’t have my own gear. I used this season to get reacquainted and now that I’ve gotten through this one and next year being our 75th, there will be some neat things to come.”
“I don’t have a contract, at least that I know of unless Doug (Yingst, the Bears’ President and GM) has a hidden one in his mind. I didn’t sign anything when I came here; it’s basically mine to run with and it’s mine to excel at and make people happy.”
I bet that hearing Stuccio belt out a call that “the Hershey Bears have won their 12th Calder Cup Championship” at the end of this year’s playoffs would make a lot of Central Pennsylvania residents happy, as well as a very excitable transplanted one.
Regardless of how the Hershey Bears fare in their upcoming playoff series against their bitter rivals the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins that begins on Friday night in Wilkes-Barre, their fans will have a lot to look forward to next season. Not only will it be the year to celebrate the 75th anniversary season of the club, but it will also mark the return of Scott Stuccio behind the radio microphone for a second season with a valuable year of experience under his play-by-play broadcasting belt.
Stuccio’s first season at the helm of the Bears’ radio network recently concluded with the culmination of the regular season portion of the schedule last Sunday, and the season was full of turbulent times as well as turbulent waters that delayed his arrival in Hershey.
“I think it went pretty smoothly,” Stuccio remembers. “The hardest part at the beginning was just getting to Hershey in the first place with all of stuff related to the flooding. I was basically forced to go right into training camp and the pre-season without getting much of a chance to prepare, let alone get to have any time to know the area. John (Walton, his predecessor) and I were talking a lot in the beginning of the season and then it kind of trailed off because he’s obviously very busy now and travelling all over creation with the Capitals. If I had needed something from him early on, it was a nice, easy question and lately it’s been kind of hard to get ahold of him. But he was always there and eventually always got back to me which was great.”
Stuccio continued, “The (radio) job itself was actually just getting used to calling the games again because I was not doing play-by-play last year, but I thought I did well. I dealt with a few people that still thought that I got a little excited when the Penguins scored in that first game. It’s not showing excitement for the team in particular; I get excited for other teams when they score really nice goals-it’s hard not too. Over the 76 gamed that have transpired already, I think I proved very well which team I work for, root for, and really get excited for.”
Although he had the opportunity to call 244 goals during the season, Stuccio singled out the first two games and first two goals of the campaign as well as the camaraderie he developed with a few of the players on their way to the NHL as memorable out moments.
“The first goal was Christian Hanson’s and short-handed, and then the second goal also was scored short-handed by Chris Bourque up in Binghamton, which was a very strange way to start a season. Having my first game being on the road where I had to fill an extra half hour because they had a Calder Cup ceremony to do was a challenge. Then the next night, which was also on the road in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and was their home opener, I had to fill even more time in a building that I used to call home. They definitely stood out as being a little nerve-wracking because of the amount of time I had to fill for a brand new network of listeners.”
“Also, the month of March was a memorable one, without Braden Holtby and without a lot of our stars,” Stuccio said. “To watch a great guy like Dany Sabourin take us through a run like he did and lock up a playoff spot, that was really special for me, like any time that I get to call goals and get to know guys like Cody Eakin, Keith Aucoin, Holtby, Sabourin, and Dmitry Orlov. I got to meet those guys and then you get to root them on as they go on to the National Hockey League. Those are all standout moments.”
With St. John’s, Newfoundland, gaining an AHL affiliate again this past season, Stuccio and the Bears were afforded the opportunity to venture to “The Rock”, and while getting to that destination is a travel ordeal, the IceCaps’ rink, the Mile One Centre, as well as the people on the island, made the trip much more bearable.
“St. John’s,” said Stuccio without hesitation when asked what building made the most impression on him this season, good or bad. “The arena is really nice, and the fans are ridiculously passionate about that team in a great way which was really neat to see. The place was sold out all year, and I think they are also sold out for the next three years as well. To see the way the fans have taken to that team that used to be a Toronto Maple Leafs affiliate, and now they are a Winnipeg Jets affiliate, so quickly is amazing. The crew that worked in that building and the entire organization were all awesome; they were really helpful and very friendly and hospitable. I had been to all of others before, but St. John’s was the one spot that I hadn’t been to, and it was certainly something to see.”
Now that he has had a chance to visit the Penguins’ barn, the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, numerous times this past season as a visitor while calling thr action for the Bears broadcasts, I asked him if he noticed anything this year about the building that he hadn’t noticed before when he worked for the club at the venue.
“Not really. The thing you notice is that it’s obviously a very passionate fan base. I’ve really noticed the rivalry from both sides being on the home broadcasts with Wilkes-Barre and now the home broadcasts for Hershey, it’s all within the fans. I said this when I got here. The fan bases have developed that rivalry and it’s a fun one to watch and be a part of. The professionalism in both organizations from top to bottom is second to none; they are the best in the league. I’ve seen this from the home side too, but from the visitor’s side, I actually have less prep time to get my work done because I have so many people come and say hello and ask how things are in Hershey.”
I asked Stuccio if he thought it was destiny that the Bears and Penguins, the only two AHL clubs that he has worked for in his broadcasting career were meeting in the playoffs, and his answer was well, maybe no, but maybe yes.
“It’s something else,” he chuckled. “I think to a lot of people it’s annoying more than anything. It’s two pre-season games, it’s 12 regular season games, and now a best of five in the playoffs. The funny part about is that they extended the season one week, they shortened it four games, and they realigned the playoff format to go to the top eight in the conference and we’re still going to play them; it’s amazing. As far as it being destiny, I think it would be if the Bears won,” he laughed, “because that would really make it a wonderful move for me. Not to say that it hasn’t been already, but that would be the icing on the cake and would mean we are that much closer to winning a championship.”
Looking ahead to next year, although there is still hopefully plenty more hockey for the Bears to play this season, Stuccio is very optimistic that his sophomore season will be bigger and better than his rookie one from a professional standpoint. Although he technically has not put his name on the dotted line to return, it’s a foregone conclusion that he will be back, considering his solid work this season filling some mighty big shoes.
“Things will get better. I had to get used to it (broadcasting) again. I had to learn the area, learn the fans, learn the Bears, and learn the history. I know some of the things that John did I wasn’t able to do--the post-game Saturday show, some of the visits I didn’t get to do, as well as the video interviews of the players because I didn’t get a chance to setup due to the fact that I didn’t have my own gear. I used this season to get reacquainted and now that I’ve gotten through this one and next year being our 75th, there will be some neat things to come.”
“I don’t have a contract, at least that I know of unless Doug (Yingst, the Bears’ President and GM) has a hidden one in his mind. I didn’t sign anything when I came here; it’s basically mine to run with and it’s mine to excel at and make people happy.”
I bet that hearing Stuccio belt out a call that “the Hershey Bears have won their 12th Calder Cup Championship” at the end of this year’s playoffs would make a lot of Central Pennsylvania residents happy, as well as a very excitable transplanted one.
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