Schedule is out, and player movement heats up
August 8, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
Friday afternoon saw the release of the 2005-06 schedule, with a larger variety of opponents for HERSHEY than in recent years. As released earlier this summer, the Toronto Marlies, Chicago Wolves, Grand Rapids Griffins and Hamilton Bulldogs all will be at GIANT Center this season, but now we know exactly when that will happen. The Marlies will make their first-ever appearance on HERSHEYPARK Drive on Wednesday, March 1, while the Chicago Wolves will be here for the first time since the 2003 Western Conference quarterfinals on Sunday, February 19. Grand Rapids comes to town on Sunday, February 26, and the Hamilton Bulldogs will be here on Saturday, December 17. It will be Hamilton's first appearance in HERSHEY since the 2001-02 season. The home schedule looks terrific, mostly Saturdays, but the biggest thing I like about the docket is that there are only 10 "three-in-three's" all season long. That may sound like a lot, but it's the fewest that HERSHEY has had in a long, long time. From a competitive standpoint, that's a huge advantage. Only two of the ten are entirely on the road, with a Wilkes-Barre/Toronto/Hamilton away in October, and a Portland/Portland/Providence threesome on the road in March.
Trips to keep in mind if you're traveling on the road to see the Chocolate and White this season: October 29-30 will be the team's only trip to Canada this season, playing at Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday and Copps Coliseum on Sunday. (I'd skip the Friday Wilkes-Barre leg of that weekend, that's a hard ride to make. Enjoy a night in Toronto and see the BEARS come Saturday night.) Another trip to keep in mind would be Grand Rapids and Chicago December 22-23. I don't like the timing of this trip, mostly because it makes our holiday season feel like it's about 10 minutes long, but what's not to like about doing last minute Christmas shopping on Chicago's Magnificent Mile? You can head to Water Tower Place to shop during the day on Michigan Avenue, and head to Allstate Arena on Friday night. One trip I REALLY like is a Wednesday/Friday two-game series in Norfolk January 25-27. Norfolk is one of my favorite cities to visit anyway, but in the middle of January when it's 20-something degrees here in central PA, you might catch a break there and see temperatures into the 50's or even the 60's. (I've seen it happen before. Honest!) Finally, there's the seafood-lovers trip, with a weekend in Portland when the BEARS play the Pirates March 10-11. With a road game in Lowell on Wednesday to start the trip and a game in Providence on Sunday to finish it, it's a great chance to see four games in five days. It's also a great chance to wolf down a metric ton of lobster and any other seafood you wish while in Portland. Just a few suggestions, I'm sure you all have your favorites as well.
A couple of significant player moves at the AHL level last week, with former league MVP Jason Ward signing with the New York Rangers. Ward skated last year for the Hamilton Bulldogs, scoring 20 goals. Also signing a deal last week was defenseman Kurtis Foster. Foster, who registered a slapshot at the 2003 AHL All-Star Classic over 100 MPH, signed a contract with the Minnesota Wild on Friday. He played last season in Cincinnati with the Mighty Ducks.
The Providence Bruins have their coaches back in place for another season Head coach Scott Gordon and assistant coach Rob Murray both received two-year contract extensions last week after leading the P-Bruins to the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals. In other coaching news related to both Providence and HERSHEY last week, former BEARS defenseman Brent Thompson was named the new assistant coach of the Peoria Rivermen. Tommer dropped the curtain on a 15-year playing career by captaining the P-Bruins last season and leading them deep into the playoffs. Congratulations to the former BEARS on-ice leader on what will hopefully be a long and rewarding coaching career.
Gotta talk about what's gone on in the NHL over the last week or so. The player movement this off-season will perhaps be the most active in the history of the game, and it's been fun to watch. Paul Kariya to Nashville, Chris Pronger to Edmonton, Ziggy Palffy to Pittsburgh over the weekend, Peter Forsberg now calls Pennsylvania home with a deal with the Flyers. All of it has been almost impossible to follow, as moves seem to be happening hour-by-hour. What is perhaps the most amazing part of the movement up to this point is that it appears to be just the tip of the iceberg. Many teams still have cap room to play with, and almost every NHL team still has a roster to fill out before the start of the season on October 5. I'm guessing there will come a point into September before camp gets underway that the movement will slow down, but it's going to get more active in the NHL marketplace before that time comes.
One more thing this week: If the NHL wants to jump back onto the sports landscape with both feet after taking a year off, seeing Wayne Gretzky in a head coach's role has to be a good thing. The Phoenix Coyotes will name the Great One their new bench boss later today in a press conference in Glendale. He will take over for interim head coach Rick Bowness...
The column takes a week off next week, but I'll be back two weeks from today with the latest scoop. There's an excellent chance of some monumental player movement at all levels between now and then. It still may feel hot outside, but this might cool you off: HERSHEY'S first regular season games is two months from today in Wilkes-Barre. See ya in two weeks!
American Hockey League Stories from August 8, 2005
- Sharks Sign Fahey And Davison - Cleveland Barons
- Bruins Set Pre-season Schedule - Providence Bruins
- Bears announce new online ticketing availability - Hershey Bears
- Monarchs Hire New Coaching Staff - Manchester Monarchs
- Schedule is out, and player movement heats up - Hershey Bears
- Penguins to hold five days of training camp in Wilkes-Barre - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Penguins Sign RW Dennis Bonvie - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Keefe signs with Manitoba Moose - Manitoba Moose
- Wolves Launch 12th Season in Omaha on October 7 - Chicago Wolves
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
