Bears Weekly #19: with Fresh Blood, Bears Head to Canada
February 13, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA)-The Hershey Bears will head to Canada this week, bringing their 19-25-3-4 record north of the border for three contests. The Bears finished a three in three last week, only winning once thanks to a ferocious comeback on Sunday versus Rochester. The Chocolate and White sit 12 points out of a playoff spot with 25 games to play, but the club made a big move to spark the offense last week, obtaining three-time AHL All-Star Joe Whitney from the New York Rangers organization.
Last Friday, Hershey started the weekend with a 5-1 loss at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The loss dropped the Bears to 0-5-0-0 at the PPL Center in Allentown this season and the club has lost four straight games overall in the season series. Nic Aube-Kubel opened the scoring for the Phantoms with just 5.5 seconds left in the opening period, and the Phantoms used that momentum to explode for four goals in the second period. Dustin Gazley had Hershey's lone goal in the road loss.
On Saturday, Hershey trailed 4-0 to Hartford on home ice less than nine minutes into the game. Hartford scored on four consecutive shots in the first period, and chased Pheonix Copley from the game after three tallies on five shots. Dustin Gazley and Liam O'Brien scored for the Chocolate and White.
Sunday saw Hershey win an overtime thriller as the Bears topped the Rochester Americans, 3-2, at Giant Center. Riley Barber scored in the first period for Hershey, but a late Eric Cornel goal for Rochester forced the Bears to rally from a 2-1 deficit. Wayne Simpson tied the game for the Bears with 2.8 seconds left in regulation, and new addition Joe Whitney scored his first goal with the Bears, capping off a three-point night with the overtime winning goal.
UPCOMING GAMES/PROMOTIONS:
-Friday, Feb. 16 at Laval, 7:30 p.m
-Saturday, Feb. 17 at Belleville, 7 p.m.
-Monday, Feb. 19 at Toronto, 3 p.m.
HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES
MAKING MOVES: On Friday, the Washington Capitals organization obtained forwards Joe Whitney and Adam Chapie in a trade, while the New York Rangers organization nabbed forward John Albert and defender Hubert Labrie. Whitney and Chapie made their Hershey debuts on Saturday versus their former club as Albert and Labrie visited the Giant Center as members of the Wolf Pack.
WHITNEY'S BIG WELCOME: On Sunday, Hershey forward Joe Whitney made a grand impression on his new fan base. In just his second game with the Bears, Whitney registered three points, tallying a pair of assists and adding the overtime winning goal in Hershey's 3-2 victory over Rochester. The overtime goal was the 300th point in Whitney's AHL career and the contest was his first three-point performance since Dec. 12, 2016. The Reading, Mass. native has 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) on the season.
NORTH OF THE BORDER: Hershey heads to Canada this week for three games on the road. Friday's game will mark the club's first ever game versus the Laval Rocket, the new affiliate of Montreal. Saturday also marks Hershey's first visit to Belleville. The two teams did play in Hershey's home opener at Giant Center on Oct. 14 with the Senators earning the win. On Monday, the Bears battle Toronto in the afternoon at the Air Canada Centre, the home of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs.
BOURQUE AT OLYMPICS UPDATE: Forward Chris Bourque and Team USA open play at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea on Wednesday. The Americans battle Slovenia in a preliminary game at 7:15 a.m. The game may be seen on NBC Sports Network. USA also plays Thursday vs. Slovakia at 10:15 p.m. and Saturday vs. the Olympic Athletes from Russia at 7:15 a.m.
BEARS BITES: Hershey scored the first goal in Sunday's win, notching the opening marker for the 21st time this year. The Bears are 12-4-1-4 when they score first...The Bears recalled defender Tommy Hughes from South Carolina (ECHL) on Tuesday...Riley Barber has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past five games...Barber is fourth in the AHL with 147 shots this season...Former Bears Jim O'Brien and Erik Burgdoerfer are members of Belleville...Former Hershey and current Capitals broadcaster John Walton is calling Women's Olympic Hockey for NBC. Hershey's Zack Fisch will fill in for Walton in D.C., making his NHL debut for the Capitals on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
American Hockey League Stories from February 13, 2018
- Colorado Avalanche Recall Forward Rocco Grimaldi from San Antonio - San Antonio Rampage
- Tokarski 40-Save Shutout Pushes Win Streak to Four - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Charlotte Dominates Wolf Pack 6-0 - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Monsters Claim Second Straight Win, Top IceHogs 3-1 - Cleveland Monsters
- Canes Recall Brown from Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- Nedeljkovic Snags Second Straight Shutout in 6-0 Win - Charlotte Checkers
- Bridgeport records at least 40 shots for the fifth time this season, but falls to 0-3-2-0 against Lehigh Valley - Bridgeport Islanders
- Anaheim Ducks Announce Roster Move - San Diego Gulls
- Colorado Avalanche Recall Defenseman Duncan Siemens from San Antonio - San Antonio Rampage
- AHL Hands Down Suspension to Callahan - Bakersfield Condors
- Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Syracuse Crunch
- Canucks Recall Philip Holm, Comets Sign Frankie Simonelli - Utica Comets
- Time for Valentine's Day, Admirals Style - Milwaukee Admirals
- Bears Weekly #19: with Fresh Blood, Bears Head to Canada - Hershey Bears
- American Hockey League Announces Suspension - AHL
- Samuel Laberge Reassigned to Idaho Steelheads - Texas Stars
- Rockford Seeks to Right the Ship against Monsters - Rockford IceHogs
- Bears Recall Defender Tommy Hughes from South Carolina - Hershey Bears
- Iowa Wild Recalls Jack Walker, Reassigns Forward Pavel Jenys - Iowa Wild
- Barracuda Sign Forward Caleb Herbert to PTO - San Jose Barracuda
- San Diego Gulls Recall Alex Dostie - San Diego Gulls
- San Antonio Recalls Forward J.C. Beaudin from Colorado Eagles - San Antonio Rampage
- Moose Sign Lotz, Release Hildebrand - Manitoba Moose
- Monsters Sign Forward Michael Kirkpatrick to Pro Tryout Contract - Cleveland Monsters
- St. Louis Blues Recall Oskar Sundqvist from San Antonio - San Antonio Rampage
- Phantoms Return to PPL Center this Saturday, Sunday - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- T-Birds Assign Downing, Beauchemin to Manchester (ECHL) - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Weekly: Penguins Return from New England Maintaining First - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Sound Tigers Add Benoit from Blue Jackets - Bridgeport Islanders
- Monsters Announce Roster Moves - Cleveland Monsters
- Sound Tigers Complete Homestand Tonight - Bridgeport Islanders
- American Hockey League Announces Suspension - AHL
- Amerks Recall Danforth from Cincinnati - Rochester Americans
- Red Wings Reassign Sadowy to Griffins - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Monsters Weekly - Cleveland Monsters
- Iowa Downs San Antonio 3-2 for Third Consecutive Win - Iowa Wild
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