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AHL Hershey Bears

Historic Regular Season Ends With Win Over Philadelphia

April 8, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


Game One – Friday, April 12: Bears at Norfolk – 7:30 PM
Game Two – Saturday, April 13: Bears at Norfolk – 7:30 PM
Game Three – Wednesday, April 17: Norfolk at Bears – 7:30 PM
Game Four – Friday, April 19: Norfolk at Bears – 7:30 PM (if necessary)
Game Five – Saturday, April 20: Bears at Norfolk – 7:30 PM (if necessary)

For ticket information on home playoff games, phone the HERSHEYPARK Arena Box Office at (717) 534-3911.

Last Week: The Bears concluded their final regular season at HERSHEYPARK Arena with a pair of weekend wins over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Philadelphia. Following consecutive 3-1 road losses in Norfolk on Wednesday and Friday, the Bears posted a 6-4 victory over the Penguins on Saturday. HERSHEY matched season-highs for goals in a game and power play goals in a game (three). On Sunday, before a season-high crowd of 8,147, the Bears played their final-ever regular season game at HERSHEYPARK Arena. HERSHEY's 3-1 win over the Phantoms secured sixth place for the Bears and set up a first-round series against third-seeded Norfolk. The best-of-five game series begins Friday at Norfolk Scope.

Notables: Renowned hockey broadcaster Mike Emrick served as Master of Ceremonies during Sunday's pre-game festivities. The Bears and their fans honored 11 former players: Frank Mathers, Mike Nykoluk, Mitch Lamoureux, Tim Tookey, Willie Marshall, Paul Ronty, Obie O'Brien, Ralph Keller, Bob Bilodeau, Dave Fenyves and Mike McHugh. Ken Kullman stood in for his late father, Arnie Kullman. The Bears concluded the regular season with six straight home wins and they are unbeaten in their last eight home contests (7-0-1-0). The Admirals won the 10-game regular season series from the Bears, going 6-2-1-1 against HERSHEY. Fairchild has 4-9-13 numbers in his last 11 games played. Yuri Babenko, who had four assists in the last two games, has points in seven of eight games (2-8-10). Brett Clark tied for the league lead with a plus 28 rating. Phil Sauve finished third among AHL goaltenders with a 2.13 goals against average. He ranked tied for fourth with a .928 save percentage. Sauve posted the second-lowest goals against average in franchise history (among goaltenders who played more than just a few games in a season). Only Alfie Moore, in the Bears' inaugural 1938-39 AHL season, had a lower GAA (1.93). The Bears, with a penalty kill percentage of 85%, set the highest PK percentage since the club started tracking that statistic in 1979-80. In their last 31 games of the regular season, the Bears went 23-4-2-2. HERSHEY ranked tied for third in the AHL with a 2.41 team goals against average.

Roster Update: The following players remain on recall in the NHL: Bryan Muir (Colorado), Jordan Krestanovich (Colorado), Riku Hahl (Colorado) and Brad Norton (Florida). Hahl has scored two goals during his most recent recall, which occurred on March 31.

Practice Schedule (Subject to Change):
Tuesday, April 9: Optional Workout at Penn State Sports Medicine – 2:00 PM.
Wednesday, April 10: Practice – Twin Ponds East – 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM.
Thursday, April 11: Practice – HERSHEYPARK Arena – 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM. Bus to Norfolk following practice.
Friday, April 12: Game One at Norfolk – 7:30 PM.
Saturday, April 13: Game Two at Norfolk – 7:30 PM. Bus to HERSHEY following game.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 8, 2002


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