AHL Hershey Bears

Syracuse, Norfolk Visit This Weekend

December 21, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The HERSHEY BEARS Hockey Club storm into the holidays with a four-game winning streak and a five- point lead in the East Division standings over the Albany River Rats. The Chocolate and White took all six points available this past weekend, winning in Rochester on Friday 3-1, and defeating the Americans 5-4 Saturday at Giant Center. HERSHEY capped off the weekend and the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule by thumping the Toronto Marlies Sunday 5-1.

HERSHEY returns to action this Saturday night, welcoming the Syracuse Crunch to town for the first time in 2009-10. Face-off is at 7:00 p.m. Norfolk returns to Giant Center Sunday at 5:00 p.m., with the team giving away replica Calder Cup ring key chains, courtesy of Jack Williams Tire. Tickets for both games are on sale now at the Giant Center box office or by calling (717) 534-3911.

Winning more than most: The BEARS head into the Christmas holiday break this week with the best winning percentage (.710) in the American Hockey League. HERSHEY is tied with the Manchester Monarchs for the most wins in the AHL with 21, and have played two fewer games than the Atlantic Division leaders.

Something special: The BEARS lead the AHL in penalty kill at the break, killing off 92.0 percent of the opposition's power plays through 31 games. HERSHEY has also risen to sixth in the AHL on the power play, scoring a goal with the man advantage 18.6 percent of the time.

Practice schedule: The team is off for the Christmas holiday, and will not return to the ice until Saturday morning at Giant Center at 10:00 a.m.

Giroux reaches a milestone: Left wing Alexandre Giroux became the 77th player in American Hockey League history to accumulate at least 500 points in his career on Saturday night. Giroux assisted on Oskar Osala's lamp-lighter late in the second period to reach the plateau. Ironically enough, Rochester's Chris Taylor picked up his 1,000th point in the same game Saturday night at Giant Center in a 5-4 BEARS victory.

Washington update: After a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night at Rexall Place, the Capitals are back in D.C. this Wednesday night. Buffalo provides the opposition at Verizon Center. After a short break for Christmas, Washington welcomes the New Jersey Devils to D.C. Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. The Caps are 22-8-6 heading into Wednesday's game with the Sabres, reaching the 50- point plateau for the season in just 36 games.

Check out the Hershey Bears Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 21, 2009


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