Restricted Free Agent News

According to Mike Vogel, writer for the Capitals website, there have been a few players that will not receive offers from the Caps, and others that have. The Bears players that did not receive a qualifying offer (which means they will be unrestricted free agents come July 1st) are winger Nicolas Deschamps, center Peter LeBlanc, and defenseman Brett Flemming. Deschamps played in 65 games for the Bears last season. He was tied for 3rd on the team in points, as he had 40 (15 goals, 25 assists) to his credit. LeBlanc played 65 games last season, and he had 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) to his credit. He signed a contract to play for Rogle BK in Sweden. In his time in the Caps system, Flemming played mostly for ECHL teams (South Carolina and Reading). He played 36 games for the Bears in his years in the system, with 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) in those games.

The Caps made four qualifying offers. They were made to goalie Eddie Pasquale (part of the draft trade mentioned in yesterday's post), forward Michael Latta, and defensemen Cameron Schilling and Nate Schmidt. Latta played 52 games for the Bears last season. He was 5th on the team in points, as he had 34 (14 goals, 20 assists) to his credit. Schilling has been with the Bears for a little more than 2 years now. Last season, he played in 70 games, and was tied for the best plus/minus ratio on the team. He had 16 points (3 goals, 13 assists) to his credit. Schmidt split some of his time between Washington and Hershey. He played in 38 games for the Bears, with 13 points (2 goals, 11 assists) to his credit.

Bears NHL Draft News

When it comes to the NHL Draft, it looks like there were a couple moves made that will affect the Bears in the upcoming season. The Caps drafted forward Nathan Walker with the 89th overall pick. Walker was with the Bears this season, and the Caps made sure that he would stay in the system. He played in 43 games for the Bears last season, with 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) to his credit. There was also a trade of picks that the Caps made, which included the rights for a goalie that could be the backup for the Bears. The goalie, Edward Pasquale, went 17-13-1 last season with the St. John's IceCaps. We'll have to see what happens now with David Leggio, who seems to be the odd man out (even though he was the wins leader for the Bears last season) and is scheduled to be a free agent.

Caps and Bears Reunite with Stingrays

According to the Hershey Bears website, the Caps and Bears have come to an agreement with the South Carolina Stingrays to be their ECHL affiliate for the 2014-15 season. Here is the link to the article: http://www.hersheybears.com/news/detail.php?id=4415

Bears Resigning and Signing

In the past couple days, the Bears have made a couple moves. First, they resigned forward Dustin Gazley to a one-year AHL contract. Gazley appeared in 42 games for the Bears last season, with 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists) to his credit. 4 of those goals were game-winning goals (tied for 2nd on the team), and 4 were power play goals (3rd on the team). Gazley brought needed boosts of energy to the team, so it will be good to see him in a Bears jersey again. The Bears also brought a new member to the team, as they signed defenseman Garrett Haar to a one-year AHL contract. Haar was the 207th pick in the 2011 NHL Draft. He played in 61 games for the WHL's Portland Winterhawks last season, with 45 points (7 goals, 38 assists) to his credit. He had 3 assists in the Winterhawks' games in the playoffs.

2014 Calder Cup Finals

(W1) Texas Stars defeat (E4) St. John's IceCaps 4-1
Game 1: Texas 6, St. John's 3 (home team in italics)
Game 2: St. John's 2, Texas 1
Game 3: Texas 2, St. John's 1 (F/OT)
Game 4: Texas 4, St. John's 3 (F/OT)
Game 5: Texas 4, St. John's 3 (F/OT)

Analysis

A few years back, the Hershey Bears kept the Texas Stars from winning their 1st Calder Cup. This time, a former Bear (Andrew Gordon) couldn't stop the Stars from winning it all. The Texas Stars are the 2014 Calder Cup Champions! Even though the series only lasted 5 games, the series was much better than the series line would suggest. The scores of those last 4 games say it all. If St. John's had kept the foot on the gas in game 4, this post might have not been written yet. Any of those 3 games in St. John's could have been a win for them, and we might be talking about a different series. In game 4. St. John's had a 3-0 lead in the 2nd period, and had outshot Texas 21-5 in the 1st period (Texas would outshoot them 33-14 the rest of the game). In game 5, they had a 3-2 lead in the 3rd. Each time, Texas clawed back and found a way to win. Congratulations to them, and we'll see if they can defend the Cup next season.

Conference Championships of AHL Playoffs

Eastern Conference Championship
(4) St. John's IceCaps defeat (6) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-2

Western Conference Championship
(1) Texas Stars defeat (3) Toronto Marlies 4-3

Analysis

Even though the lower seeds in each matchup put up a fight (especially Toronto), the higher seeds moved on to the finals. St. John's, led by former Bear Andrew Gordon, took care of business against the Baby Pens. Gordon always played on another level against the Pens, and it continued. In the West, the series was as great as it was expected to be. Each team traded wins back and forth, and with Texas winning the first game in that pattern, they finished off the series with a 6-2 win in game 7. Toronto finished with a 10-3 record in the playoffs, but they needed that one win. The Calder Cup Finals begin on Sunday in Texas. Who do you think will win the Calder Cup?

Other News

The Caps and Bears are going to have to look for a new ECHL affiliate. The Reading Royals announced that they signed a new affiliate deal with the Philadelphia Flyers.