Bears wrap up their 80th season with two home games this weekend
UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Apr. 14 vs. Bridgeport, 7 pm
Fan Appreciation Night
Sunday, Apr. 15 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5 pm
Jersey Off Our Back Night, Player Awards Ceremony
After a long season of ups and downs the Bears 80th anniversary season comes to an end this weekend against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. After 74 games played this season for Hershey. the Bears sit 8th in the Atlantic division with a record of 29-36-4-5 with 67 points. Unfortunately for Hershey they have a goal differential of -45.
The Bears started the season with the Washington Capitals 5th and 6th goalies on the depth chart in Hershey as both Pheonix Copley and Vitek Vanecek both started the season on the injured list. Couple that with the group of rookie defenseman at the beginning of the Bears season, and it created a slow start to the season. A start in which the Bears had to battle just to get back to a .500 record.
The Bears leading scorer late in the season, Riley Barber, ended his season early with an upper body injury. Connor Hobbs, Mason Mitchell, Jeremy Langlois, Tyler Graovac, Matias Bau, and Colby Williams all missed extended time due to injury this season as well. The chemistry just never had time to really set in.
Special teams has been an issue this year as well. The Bears come into the final weekend of the season ranked 25th in the AHL at a 15.4 % conversion on the powerplay. The Penalty kill comes in a bit higher, as the Bears rank 18th in the AHL at 82.9%.
The Hershey Bears have announced yesterday (4/11) that they will honor and pay tribute to the Humboldt Broncos hockey team for this Saturdays game as they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at 7 p.m. The game is set to feature a special pre-game remembrance, with opportunities to raise funds for the 16 lives lost, as well as the many others also impacted, due to the junior hockey team’s tragic bus accident last Friday.
Stats from HersheyBears.com press release “LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: Chris Bourque scored three goals last weekend, giving him 196 in his Hershey career. The forward now sits alone in sole possession of seventh place all-time in franchise history in goals. His second power play marker Saturday helped him pass AHL and Hershey Hall of Famer Mitch Lamoureux, who had 194 career goals as a member of the Chocolate and White. Next up, Bourque will try and chase down Gil Gilbert who finished his career in Hershey with 206 goals and ranks sixth on the all-time list. Bourque leads the Bears with 53 points on the 2017-18 season (17 goals, 36 assists).”
