First two weekends not what Bears expected, on to week three
The Hershey Bears opened up the season with their top two goaltenders on the shelf and not able to help. Hershey opened up two of their first three games against rival Lehigh-Valley Phantoms with tons of talent this season. The Bears would drop both games, the second of which the Bears battled back for their first point of the season. The Bears would also drop their home opener to AHL newcomer the Belleville Senators. So after three games the Bears have one point and a 0-2-0-1 record.
The Hershey Bears now enter their third week of their 80th season with a trip to the Midwest. The Bears are set to battle the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday, reigning AHL Calder Cup champions the Grand Rapids Griffins Saturday, and the Rockford Icehogs on Sunday, for their first three game, in three day set of games of the season.
Friday’s game will be the first visit to Milwaukee for the Bears since the 2006 Calder Cup Finals. The Bears beat the Admirals, four games to two, to win their 10th Calder Cup. The cup clinching game was held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Jun. 15, 2006. The cup clinching game was a 5-1 victory in that building. Just about the only person in the organization to remember this game would be the Bears trainer Dan “beaker” Stuck. So as Bears fans this will mean more to you then the players headed to Milwaukee, but still this game will be business as usual for the Bears.
Saturday’s game with the Grand Rapids Griffins will put the Bears against the defending Calder Cup champions as mentioned earlier. This matchup will be Hershey’s first against the Griffins since the 2005-06 regular season. The Griffins defeated the Bears twice, 6-4 at Grand Rapids on Dec. 22, and 4-3 in Hershey on Feb. 26. Current Hershey Bears VP Bryan Helmer and former Bear Greg Amadio were members of the Griffins for those two games.
The Bears head into Sunday’s matchup against a team they have yet to see. The Rockford Icehogs will be an interesting matchup for Hershey. The Bears will see a tandem of goaltenders in which they have seen in the past in Jean-Francois Berube and Jeff Glass. Berube has played within the same division as the Bears in previous season with Bridgeport and the Manchester Monarchs. So far this season Berube has a 2-0 record and a 2.00 GAA to lead the Icehogs. Jeff Glass has seen time with the Toronto Marlies as well as another divisional team in the Binghamton Senators. The leading point goer for the Rockford is rookie winger Matthew Highmore. In three games so far this season he has tallied three goals and two assists for five points. Winger Thomas Jurco (five points), and defenseman Villa Pokka (three points) are players to watch for the Icehogs.
