Hershey Bears Weekly #1: Hockey Is Back - Bears Open 2020-21 Season
February 9, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA) - After nearly an 11-month hiatus, the Hershey Bears are back. The Chocolate and White returned to the ice this past weekend, opening the shortened 2020-21 season. The Bears are skating in the North Division this year, playing a reduced, 36-game schedule, with all games coming versus geographic rivals Lehigh Valley (14 games), Binghamton (12 games) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (10 games).
Hershey's new season was supposed to start this past Friday at Binghamton (in Newark, New Jersey), but the game was rescheduled for Feb. 17 due to league COVID-19 protocols affecting the Binghamton Devils staff.
After Friday's postponement, at long last, the Bears finally returned on Saturday afternoon. The contest marked the club's first game in 335 days. Coming into the season opener, the Bears last game came on Mar. 8, 2020, a 3-2 shootout loss at Providence. That contest unexpectedly would be Hershey's final game of the 2019-20 season, which was ultimately cancelled in May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the Bears took the ice at GIANT Center last Saturday, it was the club's first home game since Mar. 1 of last year. In front of a crowd of 403, the Bears dropped the season opener to Lehigh Valley, 2-1 in overtime. Kody Clark had Hershey's lone goal, striking in the second period to give Hershey a 1-0 lead. The Bears held the advantage until the final minute of regulation when Lehigh Valley tied the game at 19:15 on an extra-attacker goal from Wyatte Wylie.
The game progressed to overtime and Ryan Fitzgerald ended the affair at 1:59 of the extra session, snapping a shot that deflected off a Hershey stick and past the glove of Pheonix Copley to give the Phantoms the 2-1 win. The defeat was Hershey's fourth straight loss in the club's home opener.
UPCOMING GAMES:
-Thursday, Feb. 11 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5 p.m.
-Sunday, Feb. 14 vs. Lehigh Valley, 1 p.m.
HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES:
CLARK MAKES MARK: Hershey forward Kody Clark notched the Bears lone goal in last Saturday's contest versus Lehigh Valley. He also led the team with five shots on goal. It was an encouraging start for the second-year winger who had three goals and nine points in 31 contests as a rookie in 2019-20. Last season, it took Clark 10 games to strike for his first goal of the season. Clark was a 2nd round selection of Washington in the 2018 NHL Draft.
EXCELLENT EDDIE: Defender Eddie Wittchow started the new campaign off strong, providing an assist on Kody Clark's second period goal last Saturday. The helper came in a milestone contest for Wittchow as the loss to Lehigh Valley was his 200th professional game. Wittchow has played 120 AHL games with Springfield and Hershey, 33 ECHL games with Manchester and South Carolina, and 47 games in Finland with KooKoo. In 23 career games with the Bears, Wittchow has tallied 10 points (five goals, five assists).
McMICHAEL DEBUTS: Last Saturday's contest marked the AHL debut of top prospect Connor McMichael. With the Ontario Hockey League season not yet started, the 20-year-old was able to be assigned to the Chocolate and White for the time being. McMichael was the Washington Capitals 1st round selection, 25th overall, in the 2019 NHL Draft. He is the first Capitals forward prospect drafted in the 1st round to play in Hershey since Jakub Vrana. McMichael posted 102 points in 52 games last season for London (OHL) and just won a silver medal, serving as an alternate captain for Canada, at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships. He made his NHL debut for Washington on Jan. 24.
WELCOME ABOARD: The Bears added veteran forward Blake Pietila on a professional tryout agreement on Monday. The winger has played 38 NHL games with the New Jersey Devils, and scored 20 goals for Binghamton during the 2018-19 campaign. Pietila has skated in 266 career AHL games, tallying 142 points (71g, 71a). He will wear #39 for Hershey.
BEARS BITES: Matt Moulson was named the 44th captain in franchise history on Jan. 27. He is the first Bear to wear the "C" since Garrett Mitchell in 2018...Garrett Pilon and Paul LaDue served as alternate captains in the season opener...Saturday's game marked the 200th career AHL contest for forward Kale Kessy...Last season, Hershey went 6-3-0-1 versus Thursday's opponent Wilkes-Barre/Scranton...Former Bears netminder Vitek Vanecek was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for January, going 5-0-2 with a 2.78 goals against-average and .918 save percentage in seven games for the Capitals.
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