Game Preview: Bears vs. Thunderbirds, 5 p.m.
Published on October 19, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA) - The Hershey Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Springfield Thunderbirds this evening to close out Pink the Rink Weekend.
Hershey Bears (1-1-1-0) vs. Springfield Thunderbirds (0-2-0-0)
Oct. 19, 2025 | 5 p.m. | GIANT Center
Referees: Stephen Hiff (46), Luke Stork (54)
Linespersons: J.P. Waleski (14), Patrick Dapuzzo (57)
Tonight's Promotions:
Pink the Rink Weekend Jersey Auction - Fans are invited to join the Bears and Penn State Health by wearing pink in support of the fight against breast cancer.
Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, AHL Hall-of-Famer Mitch Lamoureux, and in-arena host Jim Jones on the call
RADIO: WFVY-100.1-FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, In-arena 88.9-FM
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports 1460-AM Stream
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 4:30 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears earned the club's first win of the season last night, striking for a 5-1 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds at GIANT Center. The victory marked Derek King's first win as Hershey's head coach, and his 100th career head coaching win. Hershey got first-period goals from Sheldon Rempal at 4:07 and Patrick Thomas at 19:17, and Henrik Rybinski, Ilya Protas, and Ryan Chesley tallied markers in the third period in the victory. Goaltender Clay Stevenson turned aside 22 shots to post his first win of the season, and the victory pushed Hershey's home winning streak against the Thunderbirds to 14 games, dating back to March 13, 2019; Hershey has out-scored Springfield 55-26 over the course of the streak.
THOMAS TAKES FLIGHT:
Hershey forward Patrick Thomas made his professional debut last night, and he became the first Bear to score in his first pro game since teammate Ryan Chesley did it last season on April 6 versus Hartford. Thomas' goal proved to be the deciding marker last night, making him the first Bear since Joe Snively to score the game-winning goal in his pro debut. Snively, who went on to help Hershey to back-to-back Calder Cups in 2023 and 2024, scored in his first pro game out of Yale University on March 30, 2019 in a 2-1 victory over Providence at GIANT Center.
FIRST FOR PRO:
Forward Ilya Protas collected the first two points of his pro career last night, notching an assist on Patrick Thomas' marker in the first period, and adding an empty-net goal in the third period for his first professional tally. With his goal, he and older brother Aliaksei became the first set of brothers to score at least one goal for the Bears since Chris and Ryan Bourque. After his success last night in his third professional game, Ilya has bragging rights on Aliaksei, as it took the elder Protas four games to score his first AHL tally, and five contests to post his first multi-point game.
STRIKING FOR SHORTIES:
The Bears have gone 8-for-9 (88.8%) on the penalty kill over the past two games, and they've scored a shorthanded goal in each of those contests. Bogdan Trineyev struck last Sunday versus Syracuse, and Ryan Chesley tallied an empty-net shorthanded marker in last night's win. With two shorthanded goals through the first three games of the season, Hershey has already matched its shorthanded goal output for the entire 2024-25 season. Trineyev scored one of those two goals last year, and he now has five shorthanded tallies in his AHL career. Hershey's two shorthanded goals this season are tied for the league lead with Laval and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
BEARS BITES:
Forward Henrik Rybinski was a career-best +4 in last night's win...Forward Ludwig Persson and defenseman Leon Muggli made their season debuts last night for Hershey in the win, while forward Ivan Miroshnichenko missed last night's contest due to an upper-body injury...Spencer Smallman made his season debut last night, recording an assist, after missing the first two games of the season due to an upper-body injury...Defender Ryan Chesley has points in five of his first seven professional games with Hershey...The Thunderbirds did not record a single penalty minute last night, marking the first time the club has gone penalty-free on the road in franchise history...Springfield forward Kale Kessy played parts of four seasons with Hershey from 2019-23, receiving the team's Man of the Year award in 2019-20. If he dresses tonight, it would mark his first game back at GIANT Center since he was traded to Colorado on March 8, 2023.
ON THIS DATE IN BEARS HISTORY:
Oct. 19, 2002 - The Bears ushered in a new era with their first game at GIANT Center. The new 10,500-seat facility saw Hershey defeat the Rochester Americans 4-1 in front of a standing-room only crowd of 10,789 to set a then-record single-game attendance mark. Cail MacLean forever etched his name in club history by scoring the first goal in GIANT Center history, and Philippe Sauvé earned the first win in the new building over Rochester's Tom Askey, making 32 saves.
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