AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Open Atlantic Division Semifinals against Checkers

Published on April 25, 2023 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


(Hershey, PA) - The Hershey Bears begin the Atlantic Division Semifinals this week against the Charlotte Checkers, as part of the 2023 playoffs, presented by Penn State Health. The Bears, who finished the regular season in second place in the Atlantic Division, now face the third-place Checkers in a best-of-five series that begins on the road at Charlotte.

FINAL 2022-23 REGULAR SEASON TEAM INFO:

Record: 44-19-5-4

Standings Position: 2nd in Atlantic

FINAL REGULAR SEASON TEAM LEADERS:

Goals: Ethen Frank (30)

Assists: Mike Sgarbossa (37)

Points: Mike Sgarbossa (58)

Power-Play Goals: Ethen Frank (9)

Shorthanded Goals: Beck Malenstyn, Henrik Rybinski, Riley Sutter (1)

Plus/Minus: Gabriel Carlsson (22)

Wins: Zach Fucale (21)

GAA: Hunter Shepard (2.18)

SV%: Hunter Shepard (.916)

Only includes qualified players on active roster

LOCAL PRACTICE SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF APRIL 24:

Monday, April 24

Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center

Tuesday, April 25

Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center

Wednesday, April 26

Travel to Charlotte

All practices are open to the public. Practice dates and times are subject to change.

UPCOMING SERIES SCHEDULE:

- Game 1: Friday, April 28 at Charlotte Checkers, 7 p.m.

- Game 2: Saturday, April 29 at Charlotte Checkers, 6 p.m.

- Game 3: Wednesday, May 3 vs. Charlotte Checkers, 7 p.m. - BUY TICKETS

- *Game 4: Thursday, May 4 vs. Charlotte Checkers, 7 p.m.

- *Game 5: Sunday, May 7 vs. Charlotte Checkers, 5 p.m.

* If necessary

Video Coverage: AHLTV; Radio Coverage: Bears Radio Network, Capitals Radio Network; Tickets: HersheyBears.com

TEAM NEWS AND NOTES:

HOW WE GOT HERE:

The Bears completed their 85th regular season campaign in the American Hockey League with a record of 44-19-5-4, good for 97 points, its best season since a 97-point effort in 2016-17. Hershey's 44 wins was the most by the club since the 2014-15 campaign, when the club went 46-22-5-3 in a 76-game schedule en route to winning the East Division title. Hershey began the season with a remarkable 8-0-1-0 stretch on home ice, the longest point streak to start the season since GIANT Center opened. The team also enjoyed a nine-game point streak (7-0-2-0) from March 15 through April 2 that propelled the Bears towards clinching its first-round bye.

WAITING IS OVER:

With a first-round bye, the Bears have had over a week to prepare for their eventual opponent in the Atlantic Division Semifinals. By virtue of Charlotte winning its best-of-three opening round series with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Bears were locked into facing the Checkers as the highest-seeded team to advance out of the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Charlotte trailed the Phantoms after losing Game 1 of the series, but rallied with a 5-4 win in double overtime in Game 2, and then blanked Lehigh Valley 6-0 in the decisive Game 3.

HEAD-TO-HEAD FACTS:

The Bears played the Checkers a total of eight times in the regular season, posting a 3-3-1-1 record. Mike Vecchione led Hershey in scoring against Charlotte with nine points (4g, 5a) in seven games, while Riley Nash paced Charlotte with 11 points (4g, 7a) over eight contests. Zach Fucale recorded each of Hershey's three wins, while Mack Guzda also logged three victories for Charlotte. The Bears split a pair of home games with Charlotte earlier this month in the final two weeks of the regular season; Hendrix Lapierre recorded three goals on April 8 for his first pro hat trick. Both teams' power play operated at roughly 25 percent efficiency - Hershey went 8-for-32, while Charlotte was 7-for-27. The Bears have previously faced Charlotte twice in postseason competition; Charlotte won the 2019 Atlantic Division Finals in a four-game sweep, and took the 2011 East Division Semifinals 4-2; current Checkers forwards Riley Nash and Zac Dalpe were both rookies during the latter series.

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE:

As the Bears begin their pursuit of their 12th Calder Cup title, Hershey's players and staff will call upon their previous championship experience to help lead them to a championship. Captain Dylan McIlrath captured the 2017 Calder Cup with Grand Rapids, where he was coached by current Bears bench boss Todd Nelson. Defender Aaron Ness is the lone player on the roster to reach the Calder Cup Finals with Hershey, doing so in 2016.

In addition to McIlrath's Calder Cup, the Bears roster includes the following notable professional, major junior and college championship experience:

- #5 Lucas Johansen - won 2015 WHL title with Kelowna

- #10 Shane Gersich - won 2016 NCAA title with University of North Dakota; appeared in two games with Washington during their 2018 Stanley Cup run

- #13 Beck Malenstyn - won 2018 WHL title with Swift Current

- #19 Mike Vecchione - won 2014 NCAA title with Union College

- #22 Bogdan Trineyev - won 2021 MHL title with MHK Dynamo Moscow

- #25 Henrik Borgstrom - won 2017 NCAA title with University of Denver

- #26 Logan Day - won 2015 NCAA title with Providence College

- #30 Hunter Shepard - won 2018 and 2019 NCAA titles with the University of Minnesota - Duluth

- #35 Zach Fucale - won 2013 QMJHL title and Memorial Cup with Halifax

- #40 Aliaksei Protas - won 2019 WHL title with Prince Albert

- #45 Matthew Strome - won 2018 OHL title with Hamilton

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE BEHIND THE BENCH:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson has the rare distinction of winning the Calder Cup as a player (1994, Portland), assistant coach (2008, Chicago), and head coach (2017, Grand Rapids), in addition to claiming the now-defunct United Hockey League's Colonial Cup with the Muskegon Fury once as a player/assistant coach and twice as a head coach. Assistant coach Patrick Wellar suited up for Hershey's 2010 Calder Cup squad, and captured three ECHL Kelly Cup titles. First-year assistant coach Nick Bootland previously guided the Kalamazoo Wings to a Colonial Cup in 2006 as a player, and served as Kalamazoo's head coach when they reached the Kelly Cup Finals in 2011. Charlotte head coach Geordie Kinnear won the Calder Cup with the Albany River Rats, the predecessor of the Checkers, in 1995 during his days as a player; his teammate that year was current Bears vice president of hockey operations Bryan Helmer. Checkers assistant coach Bobby Sanguinetti won the 2019 Calder Cup with Charlotte and the Swiss Cup with EHC Kloten in 2017.

BEARS BITES:

Aaron Ness is the Bears' active leader for playoff games with Hershey, with 36; he notably led the entire Calder Cup Playoffs with 12 assists during Hershey's run to the championship round against Cleveland in 2016...Ethen Frank tied for first in the regular season with six insurance goals ...Gabriel Carlsson tied for 13th in the AHL in the regular season in plus/minus (and tied for eighth among all defensemen) with a +22...Hendrix Lapierre tied for third in the AHL in the regular season with eight first goals.

Check out the Hershey Bears Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from April 25, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central