AHL Hershey Bears

Bears and Avalanche officially part ways as season ends

Published on April 18, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


Last Week: HERSHEY began the week with a 4-1 loss at Philadelphia against the Phantoms on Friday night. Jon Sim scored the game's first goal for the Phantoms in the final minute of the first period to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead after one period. Philly would run the score to 3-0 during the second period with goals from Ben Stafford and Freddy Meyer before Nicolas Corbeil scored his first lamp-lighter in a HERSHEY uniform. Mark Murphy added his 13th goal of the season in the third period to round out the scoring. Peter Budaj suffered the loss, allowing four goals on 40 Philadelphia shots. Saturday night, the BEARS traveled to Binghamton to face the Senators. With the East Division Championship on the line for the Sens, the BEARS and Binghamton battled to a scoreless first period before the Senators began their scoring attack. Denis Hamel scored three goals and assisted on a fourth as Binghamton won 5-2 to clinch the title. Ryan Steeves and Mike Souza scored third period goals in the losing effort Tom Lawson made his final appearance of 2004-05 in the game, making 35 saves on 40 Binghamton shots. On Sunday, the BEARS played the final game of 2004-05 and dropped a tough 3-2 shootout decision to Bridgeport at the Arena at Harbor Yard. HERSHEY led 2-0 late in the third period on goals from Brett Clark and Jeff Ulmer, but the Sound Tigers rallied with two late goals from Joe Tallari and Rob Collins to send the game to overtime. After a scoreless OT period, the BEARS and Tigers battled to a nine-round shootout. Bridgeport won it in the bottom of the ninth round of the shootout for the 3-2 victory. HERSHEY finishes the season at 39-37-2-2, good for fifth place in the American Hockey League's East Division.

Notables: The shootout loss Sunday was only the second time in nine decisions that HERSHEY lost following overtime this season. Sunday's game marked the end of the Colorado Avalanche's nine-year run as HERSHEY'S NHL affiliate. The BEARS expect to announce a new NHL partner sometime this spring. Mathieu Darche finished the season as HERSHEY'S leading goal scorer with 29. Eric Perrin led the team in assists and points with 49 and 73 respectively. Peter Budaj led the team in wins during 2004-05 with 29. Budaj also led the club in goals against average with a 2.65 mark. The BEARS finished ten points behind fourth place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the final playoff spot in the East Division standings. Dennis Bonvie finished the season with 357 penalty minutes, the second highest single season total in HERSHEY BEARS history. Only Steve Martinson, who amassed 432 minutes for HERSHEY during the 1985-86 season, had more PIMS in one season. HERSHEY finished the season with six straight defeats, the first time since the 1958-59 season that the club finished a campaign winless in six games in a row. The BEARS used 42 players during the 2004-05 season, with Nicolas Corbeil being the final player added to the roster this past Friday. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk, center Eric Perrin and right wing Jeff Ulmer all played in Sunday's game to give them all 80 games played during the 2004-05 season. They become the first player since Brett Clark to play in all 80 since Clark achieved the feat during the 2002-03 season. It's the first time that three players for HERSHEY have played in every game since Tim Tookey, Corey Foster and Bill Armstrong played in all 80 games during the 1992-93 season. Defenseman Dean Arsene, who missed the last quarter of the season due to injury, served as the team's unofficial assistant coach Sunday in Bridgeport. The BEARS suffered a 1-6-0-1 April to finish the season after four consecutive winning months. Peter Budaj's 59 games played this season was the most by a HERSHEY goaltender since Phil Sauve appeared in 60 games during the 2002-03 season. The BEARS finished the season with a 23-16-1-0 record at GIANT Center in 40 games played. The 23 wins was the most by HERSHEY at home since moving to GIANT Center in the fall of 2002. HERSHEY finished the season with a 26-23-2-1 record against East Division opponents, including a perfect 8-0-0-0 record against Albany, a 3-3-0-0 record against East Division Champion Binghamton and a 6-4-0-0 record against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Season Tickets for 2005-06 are available by calling (717) 508-BEAR.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 18, 2005


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