Regular Season Game 3: Portland Pirates 5, Hershey Bears 2 (10/18/15)

Box Score

Hershey (1-1-0-0) at Portland (1-1-0-0)

Cross Insurance Arena: Portland, ME

Goalies: Ellis vs. Brittain

1st Period

Scoring

16:32- POR Goal (PPG): Schremp (2), Weegar & Harper

Penalties

13:10- POR Penalty: Wilson for Slashing (2:00)

16:08- HER Penalty: Burgdoerfer for Interference (2:00)

2nd Period

Scoring

1:11- POR Goal: Rau (2), Simpson

10:40- POR Goal: Schremp (3), Gaunce & Harper

15:20- HER Goal: Carey (1), Camper

17:53- POR Goal: Rau (3), Matheson & Simpson

Penalties

5:26- HER Penalty: Burgdoerfer for Cross-Checking (2:00)

9:39- HER Penalty: Moore for Hooking (2:00)

9:39- POR Penalty: McFarland for Holding the Stick (2:00)

3rd Period

Scoring

5:34- HER Goal: Barber (3), Boyd & Vrana

16:43- POR Goal (Penalty Shot): McFarland (1)

Penalties

No Penalties

Shots

HER: 7-9-3=19

POR: 8-11-9=28

Regular Season Game 2: Portland Pirates 3, Hershey Bears 2 (10/17/15)

Box Score

Hershey (1-0-0-0) at Portland (0-1-0-0)

Cross Insurance Arena: Portland, ME

Goalies: Peters vs. McKenna

1st Period

Scoring

6:30- HER Goal (SHG): Gazley (1)

Penalties

5:48- HER Penalty: Bench Minor for Too Many Men (Served by Barber) (2:00)

11:38- POR Penalty: Regner for Tripping (2:00)

12:11- POR Penalty: Weegar for Tripping (2:00)

15:19- HER Penalty: O'Brien for Tripping (2:00)

2nd Period

Scoring

2:42- POR Goal (PPG): Shaw (1), McKegg & Grimaldi

9:46- POR Goal (PPG): Shaw (2), Wilson & McKegg

15:51- HER Goal (PPG): Vrana (1), Bourque & Camper

18:52- POR Goal: Megan (1), Harper

Penalties
1:34- HER Penalty: Moore for Hooking (2:00)
6:22- HER Penalty: Carrick for Roughing (2:00)
6:22- POR Penalty: Acolatse for Hooking (2:00)
6:22- POR Penalty: McFarland for Roughing (2:00)
9:11- HER Penalty: Stanton for Tripping (2:00)
12:57- HER Penalty: Gazley for Unsportsmanlike Conduct (2:00)
12:57- HER Penalty: Gazley Misconduct for Unsportsmanlike Conduct (10:00)
12:57- HER Penalty: Sill Misconduct for Continuing Altercation (10:00)
12:57- HER Penalty: Walker for Unsportsmanlike Conduct (2:00)
12:57- POR Penalty: Acolatse Misconduct for Continuing Altercation (10:00)
12:57- POR Penalty: Wilson for Unsportsmanlike Conduct (2:00)
12:57- POR Penalty: Wilson Misconduct for Unsportsmanlike Conduct (10:00)
15:21- POR Penalty: Bench Minor for Too Many Men (Served by Harper) (2:00)

3rd Period
Scoring
No Goals

Penalties
1:43- HER Penalty: O'Brien for Fighting (5:00)
1:43- POR Penalty: Racine for Fighting (5:00)
3:19- POR Penalty: Weegar for Boarding (2:00)

Shots
HER: 7-4-15=26
POR: 8-10-6=24

Update on Next Few Games

Due to previously planned engagements, I will not be able to blog the next few games. These games are on the 17th, 18th, 23rd, and 24th. The next day (the 25th), I will be posting box scores from each game. I will then be back on schedule and doing the box score and recap for the game on that day. Thank you for your understanding. Go Bears!

Regular Season Game 1: Hershey Bears 5, Springfield Falcons 1 (10/10/15)

Box Score

Hershey at Springfield

MassMutual Center: Springfield, MA

Goalies: Ellis vs. Treutle

1st Period

Scoring

8:54- HER Goal (PPG): Camper (1), Carey & Vrana
11:45- HER Goal: Barber (1), Stephenson & Bourque
11:57- SPR Goal: Cunningham (1), Shinnimin & Smith

Penalties

5:19- HER Penalty: Bowey for Holding (2:00)
8:31- SPR Penalty: Dauphin for Slashing (2:00)
13:44- HER Penalty: Bourque for Boarding (2:00)
14:21- HER Penalty: Moore for Tripping (2:00)

2nd Period
Scoring

11:09- HER Goal: Carrick (1), Mitchell

14:24- HER Goal: Barber (2), Camper & Stanton

Penalties

5:17- SPR Penalty: Shinnimin for Delay of Game (2:00)

13:10- HER Penalty: Moore for Roughing (2:00)

13:10- SPR Penalty: Selleck for Roughing (2:00)

16:12- SPR Penalty: Delisle for Cross-Checking (2:00)

16:12- SPR Penalty: Lane for Roughing (2:00)

3rd Period

Scoring

13:09- HER Goal (PPG): Bourque (1), Ness & Vrana

Penalties

8:07- HER Penalty: Carrick for Roughing (2:00)

8:29- HER Penalty: Mitchell for Tripping (2:00)

9:42- HER Penalty: Stanton for Roughing (2:00)

9:42- SPR Penalty: Lessio for Roughing (2:00)

12:53- SPR Penalty: Potter for Tripping (2:00)

19:10- HER Penalty: Carrick for High-Sticking (2:00)

Shots

HER: 8-17-5=30

SPR: 7-2-11=20

Recap

What a way to start off the new season! The Bears made a statement with this one. In the 1st, the special teams came to the forefront. After a penalty kill, Hershey went on the power play, and got on the board 23 seconds into said power play (at the 8:54 mark). Carter Camper scored his 1st of the season, from Paul Carey & Jakub Vrana. During a 4-on-4, the Bears would take the 2-0 lead. Riley Barber scored his 1st of the season, from Chandler Stephenson & Chris Bourque. That was Barber's first AHL goal, and Bourque's 500th AHL point. 12 seconds later, the Falcons would get on the board. Craig Cunningham scored his 1st of the season, from Brendan Shinnimin & Derek Smith. The Bears' penalty kill would stand tall later on in the period, as they would kill a 5-on-3 advantage. After the 1st, the Bears had the 8-7 shot advantage.

In the 2nd, the Bears would take full control of the game. At the 11:09 mark, the lead was back to two. Connor Carrick scored his 1st of the season, from Garrett Mitchell. A little more than three minutes later, the lead went to three goals. Riley Barber scored his 2nd of the night, from Carter Camper (2nd point of night) & Ryan Stanton. The focus this period was the domination of the Bears in shots. Dan Ellis only saw two shots in the period, and due to it, the Bears went into the 3rd with the 25-9 shot advantage.

The 3rd would be less dominating for the Bears, due to some penalties. However, that wouldn't change much on the scoreboard. Ellis stood tall and saved all 11 shots in the period, including some on a 5-on-3 advantage (the 2nd that the Bears penalty kill survived). At the 13:09 mark, the lead increased to four. Chris Bourque scored his 1st of the season (2nd point of night), from Aaron Ness & Jakub Vrana (2nd assist of night). The final shot tally was 30-20 in favor of the Bears.

Next Game: Saturday at Portland, 7:00

Bears Announce Team Captains

The Bears have announced who their team captains will be for the 2015-16 season. Garrett Mitchell, who was an alternate captain last season, will be team captain this season. He has played all of his career AHL games in Hershey. There will be three alternate captains this season. Mike Moore, who was an alternate captain last season, will once again be one. Chris Bourque, who returns to the Bears after playing for Hartford last season, will be one. And the last one is Zach Sill, who is one of the new Bears this season. If you would like to read more about each player, here is the article on the announcement from the Bears' website: http://www.hersheybears.com/news/detail.php?id=4739

Bears Preseason Games

Thursday, October 1st: Albany 2, Hershey 1
HER: Walker (5:49, 2nd)
ALB: Novak (:46, 2nd), Coleman (13:27, 3rd)

Saturday, October 3rd: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 5, Hershey 3
HER: Vrana (12:16, 1st), Barber (14:28, 2nd), Vrana (18:38, 3rd)
WBS: Marcantuoni (4:33, 2nd), Bakker (17:35, 2nd), Seymour (5:24, 3rd), Sundqvist (15:23, 3rd), Gill (19:26, 3rd)

I was at the game on Saturday, and you could definitely see some good signs from this team. If they get their power play going, they will be just fine with how quick some of their players can shoot. You could tell that there are some things that have to be improved, but that is what training camp is for. The season begins in 5 days!

Plan for Preseason Games

Hello everyone! The regular season is only 9 days away! For the preseason games, I will be doing the same thing I did last season. As the games are usually not on TV or radio, I will get the stats after each game and put them in one post after they are done. As I will be attending one of them, I will try to take a couple photos from the game to share. Go Bears!