AHL Hershey Bears

Bears season ends in bizarre and heartbreaking fashion

April 12, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


Last Week: The BEARS fought the good fight to try and come from behind to claim the final East Division playoff spot by winning at Albany on Wednesday 4-2. Agris Saviels and Mikhail Kuleshov scored second period goals to help lead HERSHEY to the victory. Gavin Morgan was named the game's number one star with a goal and an assist to pace the offense. Peter Budaj earned his second straight victory on Wednesday, making 21 saves. Saturday night, the BEARS hosted Norfolk in another must win game and emerged victorious again 3-1. Chris Bala scored a pair of first period goals to give HERSHEY the lead, and Steve Brule finished off the game with an empty net goal in the game's final minute. Phil Sauve returned to the goal crease and earned his third win of the season in a HERSHEY uniform, making 33 saves on 34 Admiral shots. The BEARS had a playoff spot within reach on Sunday needing a victory to earn a trip to the Calder Cup playoffs for the 11th consecutive season, but lost in overtime to Philadelphia 3-2 to miss the postseason. HERSHEY rallied from two different one-goal deficits to send the game to overtime. In sudden death, the BEARS pulled goaltender Phil Sauve to try to push for the game winner they so desperately needed. Shane Willis got the puck in the right wing corner and tried to bank a shot of Philadelphia goaltender Antero Niittimaki's legpad. The puck missed the goaltender and careened off the far dasher board all the way down ice for an empty net goal to win it for the Phantoms. Niittimaki was credited with the goal, the first goalie to ever score a goal in HERSHEY BEARS recorded history. The Philadelphia netminder also becomes just the seventh goaltender in AHL history to be credited with scoring a goal. The heartbreaking goal ended the BEARS season with twelve losses to Philadelphia.

Notables: The BEARS gave out 2003-04 player awards prior to the game Sunday night. Brett Clark was named HERSHEY'S defenseman of the year, the third straight year that he has taken the honor. Marc Busenburg hauled down two awards on Sunday night. The BEARS' second year defenseman was named as HERSHEY'S unsung hero for 2003-04, and was also given the award for the best plus/minus rating on the club this season. Eric Perrin was named the team's Most Valuable Player for his inspiring season before being called up to Tampa Bay on March 27th. Perrin's wife, Karen, accepted the award on behalf of her husband. Tom Lawson was named as HERSHEY'S rookie of the year. The American Hockey League ruled late Sunday night that HERSHEY'S loss to the Phantoms will go in the all-time records as an overtime loss, not a regulation defeat. AHL rules state that if a goaltender is pulled in four on four overtime, no point shall be given to the losing team if an empty net goal is scored. Therefore, HERSHEY'S final record is 33-34-8-5, but for only 78 points. The BEARS miss the postseason for the first time since 1992-93, and for the first time while affiliated with the Colorado Avalanche. The end of the season Sunday night also brings to an end the secondary affiliation agreement that HERSHEY had in 2003-04 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa will be the primary affiliate of the Springfield Falcons in 2004-05. The game last night was also the final broadcast for the BEARS on 92.7 FM WSJW. The BEARS hope to announce a new flagship radio station sometime in early summer. Eric Perrin remains on recall to the Tampa Bay Lightning after being named as an American Hockey League First Team All-Star in 2003-04. Perrin also led the BEARS in scoring in 2003-04 with 75 points. Steve Brule finishes the year as the team leader in goals with 29 after scoring his final goal of the season on Saturday night against Norfolk. Pascal Trepanier led the team in points by a defenseman with 44. Tom Lawson led the team in goals against average in his rookie season with the BEARS at 2.30. Peter Budaj led the team in victories with 17.

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