AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Close To Playoff Spot With 20 Games To Go

March 1, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The HERSHEY BEARS Hockey Club won three of four games last week to enter the final quarter of the 2009- 10 regular season with the league's best record. The BEARS scored nine goals in the first two periods Saturday night against Bridgeport in a 9-2 win before edging the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2-1 in a shootout Sunday. HERSHEY now has 46 wins on the season against just 12 regulation defeats.

Another busy week awaits for Mark French and company this week, as the BEARS head to Bridgeport to take on the Sound Tigers at the Arena at Harbor Yard Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. HERSHEY then will host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Adirondack Sunday at 5:00 p.m. A very limited number of tickets remain for Saturday's game with the Penguins, and the lower bowl is already sold out for Sunday's game with the Phantoms.

Tickets for Saturday and Sunday's game are on sale now at the Giant Center box office or by calling (717) 534-3911.

The magic number is eight: HERSHEY enters Tuesday's game in Bridgeport with a magic number of eight to become the first AHL team this season to clinch a playoff spot. Any combination of points earned by the BEARS or not earned by the Providence Bruins (potential Atlantic Division crossover team) totaling eight will officially put HERSHEY in the field of 16 for the 2010 Calder Cup playoffs. The BEARS currently enjoy a 24-point lead over second place Albany in the East Division standings.

Caps recall three to D.C.: Washington recalled defenseman Tyler Sloan, left wing Quintin Laing and goaltender Semyon Varlamov to D.C. on Monday. All three players were assigned Saturday and saw game action for HERSHEY in two wins this weekend. Sloan and Laing, who both won a Calder Cup with the BEARS last season, came down on conditioning from the Capitals. Varlamov played Sunday and won at Wilkes- Barre/Scranton to improve his AHL record this season to 3-0-0.

Practice schedule: The BEARS will practice outside Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at Milton Hershey School, and Friday at 10:00 a.m. at HERSHEYPARK Arena in preparation for Saturday's home game against Wilkes- Barre/Scranton.

Streak lives at 21 straight: HERSHEY'S 9-2 win over Bridgeport Saturday at Giant Center extended the team's home winning streak to an AHL record 21 straight games.

Comparing then and now: The 2006-07 BEARS, coached by current Washington Capitals bench boss Bruce Boudreau, holds the franchise record for wins in a single season with 51. With 20 games to go in 2006-07, HERSHEY had just 37 wins, nine fewer than this year's team. Last season's Calder Cup champions won 49 games during the regular season, and had 37 wins at the same point in the campaign.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 1, 2010


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