The Reading Royals are just two wins away from from their first ECHL Kelly Cup championship. The Royals won game two of the best of seven finals in convincing fashion, a 4-0 win over the Stockton Thunder. All the scoring came from players who have seen playing time with the Hershey Bears. Coming off a thrilling 6-5 overtime win, the Royals dominated game two, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 4,693.

The Royals jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead on a goal by Alex Berry just 8:33 into the game. Just over five minutes later Brett Flemming made it 2-0. T.J Syner added a power play goal with less than two minutes left in the period. Stockton was out of the game when Evan Barlow added an insurance goal late in the second period. Royals goalie Riley Gill got the shutout for Reading.

“It was nice to get those three goals in the first period,” said Royals coach Larry Courville. “For the most part I thought our guys played well for all 60 minutes. In the end they protected the lead and played smart hockey which was the right thing to do.”

Now the Royals get a short night rest before taking early morning flights to the west coast, for game three, four and if needed game five in Stockton.

“This will be the longest we’ve traveled all year,” said Royals defenseman Brett Flemming. “It’s a pretty quick turnaround and we only get one day off. We are going to have to get our legs under us real quick.”

Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee and Hershey Bears President and General Manager Doug Yingst sat together at Sunday’s game, observing their prospects and likely discussing coaching candidates for the Hershey Bears. Royals coach Larry Courville is considered to be one of the potential coaching candidates.

Game three on Tuesday night begins at 10:00pm eastern time.

It was a long time in waiting, but Saturday the Reading Royals for in the Kelly Cup Finals for the first time in their franchise’s history. After three division tittles, and a 2013 Eastern Conference crown, the Royals looked to open their first Kelly Cup Finals series on the right foot.

The opponent standing in Reading’s way from hoisting Kelly is the Stockton Thunder. The Thunder opened the game displaying sloppy breakout pass attempts through the defensive and neutral zone. Those passes were intercepted multiple times by Royal skaters, leading to chances against Stockton goaltender Olivier Roy.

With the game tied 3-3 ten seconds before the 15 minutes mark of the final frame, Nikita Kashirsky tallied his fourth goal of the postseason off a centering pass from T.J. Syner. It gave Reading a lead which would last only 18 seconds. The opposite direction, Nathan Deck scored his first of the postseason to bring the score even again at 4-4.

Overtime looked promising until the Royals were awarded a power play with 2:22 left in regulation. The Sovereign Center crowd erupted when with 48 seconds left, Alex Berry squeaked a soft shot through the five-hole of Roy. Game 1 looked to be in Reading’s favor, but a miraculous game for the ages had another surprise left.

Amazingly, in the final minute, Stockton stormed down ice and tallied a tying goal with 22 seconds left in the third period. 5,000-plus spectators looked on in disbelief as the Thunder stormed back to tie the game only seconds after the roof was about to come off.

But in sudden death overtime, Kashirsky won the game for the Royals and clinched the franchises first win ever in the Kelly Cup Finals.

In the game, former Bears Nikita Kashirsky, Patrick Wellar, Evan Barlow, Alex Berry and T.J. Syner all combined for four goals and six assists.

The Royals have a chance to open a 2-0 series lead before heading to Stockton with Game 2 Sunday evening.

After four seasons behind the Bears bench, Mark French will not return as coach for the 2013-14 season. The announcement was made Friday morning by the Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee. The move comes after the Bears failed to win a first round playoff series against the top seeded Providence Bruins, after winning the first two games of the best-of-five series.

French came to Hershey as an assistant in January 2008, when Bob Woods took over as head coach, following the promotion of Bruce Boudreau to the Washington Capitals. He then became head coach when Woods went to Washington as an assistant coach. French won 202 regular season and playoff games while in Hershey. He lead the Bears to their 11th Calder Cup, while winning 60 games in the regular season.

No replacement has been named. Assistant Coach Troy Mann and Reading Royals coach Larry Courville are likely candidates to become the Bears new head coach.

It was a matter of we had them, but we lost them. It was a matter of a week-long layoff between game’s two and three. It was a matter of the eighth seed trying to pull off a stunning upset over the AHL Regular Season Champions. But in the end, it was the Providence Bruins winning games three, four and five, winning the best of five, first round series 3-2. Game five concluded in a 3-2 defeat Wednesday night.

We think back to a stunning overtime win in Game 2 to bring home a commanding series lead. And we smile back at Tom Wilson’s first professional goal with 4:40 left in regulation in Game 4 to give Hershey a 4-3 lead. By far those were the top two moments for the Chocolate and White this postseason that make the short-lived run worth while.

The Bears dominated the opening minutes of Game 5 and drew first blood for the fourth time in the series. 79 seconds in, Casey Wellman scored off a snap shot, beating Niklas Svedberg to the top shelf. But the relentless Providence Bruins quickly responded, as they did in Game 4.

At the period’s 5:04 mark, Justin Florek tallied his first of the playoffs on a shot Philipp Grubauer never saw. One thing that made the Bruins extremely tough to defend this series was their willingness to throw pucks on net from any inch of the ice surface. Florek slapped a shot from the boards near the right face off circle that glazed iron, Grubauer’s equipment and glanced into the back of the net. A shot from a low percentage area quickly tied the hockey game.

The game remained a 1-1 deadlock until the 15:08 mark of the second stanza. After the ice was tilted towards Hershey’s defensive end for the majority of the period, Jordan Caron finally cashed in. Caron gave Providence their first lead of the night when he scored on Grubauer from point-blank range in the slot. It’s an area of the ice Head Coach Mark French often refers to as “The Third Circle.” That is the space of ice between the two face off circles where teams look to dictate control.

Joey Crabb tied the contest early third period with 16:04 left in regulation, but only to be counter punched right back. After an initial shot from center point, Jamie Tardif jammed home a loose puck with 10:40 left in regulation. It proved to be the knockout blow to Hershey’s 75th anniversary season, as they fell by a 3-2 count.

For the third consecutive season, the Bears exit the Calder Cup Playoffs in the very first round. For the second straight year, the Bears’ final postseason game comes in the finale of a best of five series.

The Providence Bruins advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals to square off against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Sunday evening the Hershey Bears battled in what could of been there final game at Giant Center this postseason. In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarter Finals, Bruins’ Carter Camper completed a hat-trick by scoring with 1:04 left in regulation to down Hershey, 5-4.

It was a depressing opening frame for the Bears who trailed the Bruins 2-0 after 20 minutes. Only 8:01 in, Carter Camper tallied his third of the postseason with another deflection goal on Philipp Grubauer. The night before, the first two P-Bruins goals came via redirection.

4:09 later, Graham Mink scored again against his former team on the power play. Hershey fans boo’d Chris Bourque every time he touched the puck and also when the public address announcer belted the names of Mink or Christian Hanson.

But in the middle period, referees Terry Koharski and Dave Lewis blessed the Bears with four power play chances. With 18:02 left on the clock, Joey Crabb crashed the net and cashed in on Niklas Svedberg. Ryan Potulny fed Crabb with a pass as he rushed uncontested towards the goal.

The Chocolate and White out shot Providence 12-4 in the middle period, but still trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes of hockey.

What transpired in the third stanza turned out to be the most bazaar period the entire season. Both teams combined for six goals, including three in the final five minutes.

First 3:42 in, Crabb capitalized on his second goal of the night to tie the game at 2-2. Then with 11:50 left in regulation, Carter Camper matched Crabb with his second of the night after batting a puck out of mid air and into the net. The puck took a Providence bounce across the blue paint leaving Philipp Grubauer hung out to dry.

3:35 later, Casey Wellman again tied the game for Hershey. Right off an offensive zone face off, Peter LeBlanc pulled the puck back for Wellman to blast top-shelf into the cage.

Tom Wilson made his professional debut the night before and skated in his second AHL playoff game. All game long he showed off his tremendous speed, and with 4:40 to go in regulation, his speed gave the Bears their first lead of the night. Wilson beat Chris Bourque to a loose puck near the face off circle and scored his first professional goal.

Unfortunately minutes later, Hershey hearts would be broken with a furious Bruins comeback. The game tying goal with 2:34 left was fueled by a delay of game penalty by Nicolas Deschamps at the 16:07 mark. Craig Cunningham tied the game on a perfect one-timer off a cross ice pass from Torey Krug. Chris Bourque leaped into the air and tackled his goal scoring teammate as he did many times for Hershey during the 2009 and 2010 postseasons.

It set the stage for Carter Camper with 1:04 remaining to stun the Bears and force a Game 5 with a slap shot past Grubauer.

There will be a handshake on Wednesday night at the conclusion of the series between the Hershey Bears and Providence Bruins. Game 5 will occur in Rhode Island at 7:05 pm.

More photo’s from tonight’s game

Providence struck first with two goal in the first period

Philipp Grubauer and Julien Brouillette try to make a save on Craig Cunningham’s game tying goal

For the first time since the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs, the Hershey Bears hosted a postseason game in the month of May. Saturday the Bears sought an unexpected three game series sweep over the AHL Regular Season Champion, Providence Bruins. Chris Bourque returned to Giant Center and claimed first star honors in a 5-1 rout over the Bears.

For the third consecutive game in the playoff series, the Bears score first early in the opening frame. With the Giant Center crowd at its loudest all season, Michael Latta brought them to their feet only 3:44 in. Transitioning on a 3-on-2 offensive rush, Latta crashed the net and capitalized on a juicy rebound after the initial shot from Nicolas Deschamps was kicked aside.

But less than five minutes later, once Hershey fan favorite Chris Bourque tied the game for Providence. He deflected a Garnet Exelby shot past Philipp Grubauer from the low-slot. Interesting enough, once Bourque’s name was announced for the tally, a rain of boos from the Hershey faithful fell onto the ice.

After 20 minutes both teams were deadlocked at 1-1. The Bears showed great net presence and were constantly a threat with several good scoring chances off zone transitions. Shots were 14-9 in favor of the Bears at the period’s break. Tom Wilson made his professional debut with the Chocolate and White, appearing in a few first period shifts. Wilson did not hesitate to show off his speed in dump and chase situations, and tested Niklas Svedberg with one shot on goal.

The following stanza, the Bruins took their first two goal lead of the series as the Bears were flooded by a parade of tough breaks. It was obvious to the entire arena from the period’s get-go, the Chocolate and White had less jump in their step from the first frame. The lack of speed throughout the ice and crisp breakouts led to a Providence goal only 3:06 in.

Grubauer was beaten once more by a deflection in the low slot. Bobby Robins slipped by the Hershey defense and easily deflected a shot from Craig Cunningham into the cage. Later with 9:41 left on the clock, Bourque made his former team pay via the power play. Bourque from center point faked a shot and went to a backdoor slap pass right to the stick of teammate Jamie Tardif. He tallied his second of the postseason to gain a 3-1 lead.

The Providence tally came moments after Wilson was whistled for his first professional penalty. It was a questionable offensive zone tripping penalty while he was nearly on his backside after losing balance.

Hershey’s chance to shrink the deficit before intermission was after back-to-back P-Bruins minors only 45 seconds apart. The first was a four minute high stick infraction to Tommy Cross. The full two minute 5-on-3 power play was wasted, and the remainder of Cross’ double minor was killed off with ease.

Shots after 40 minutes were 23-18 Hershey.

Providence quickly tacked on two third period goals to put the game out of reach at 5-1. Bourque tallied his second of the night after capitalizing on a 2-on-1 rush and Carter Camper stuck the final nail in Hershey’s coffin with a fifth goal on Grubauer. Both teams return to the ice for Game 4 the very next night at 5pm.

More photos from tonight’s game

Michael Latta scores Hershey’s only goal

A weird sight for some Bears fans…

Friday night in the Eastern Conference finals of the OHL playoffs, the London Knights and Plymouth Whalers faced off in a game that London would win and eliminate the Whalers. On that Whalers team was Washington Capitals prospect, Tom Wilson.

After the loss, Wilson and teammate Connor Carrick were informed they were going to Chocolate town USA to join the Bears in their run at Calder Cup number 12.

The 19-year-old Wilson was drafted 16th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by Washington. Since then, he has been drawing a lot of attention. In 48 games with Plymouth, Wilson scored 58 points, with 35 assists. In the 12 games during the playoffs, Wilson also had 17 points for the Whalers, nine of which came in the series against London. “Played an awful lot every game. Great minutes for me and we had a pretty good run,” Wilson told abc27 after his first practice in Hershey Tuesday. “I had a pretty good individual series. London’s a great hockey team and it was unfortunate we lost. ”

Wilson would be joined by teammate defenseman, Connor Carrick. “I was excited when I heard he was coming, too. It’s always good to have a friend along,” said Wilson. “He’s great so far. We’re rooming together and it’s been a fun time.”

But Carrick isn’t the only guy this highly touted prospect knows on the Bears. “I roomed with (Cameron) Schilling at (Capitals) main camp. He’s a great guy and has been great.

“(Philipp) Grubauer I played against. (Michael) Latta has been great. I played against him when I was a rookie in the OHL. He has pretty much taken me under his wing these first couple of days.”

Caps fans got their first look at Wilson during their training camp right after the NHL Lockout ended. “I just wanted to go in there and lean as much as I could, and the guys were great with that. I played pretty well in the practices and the exhibition. It’s pro hockey. The NHL is a huge step. I was just happy to get up there an get the experience I got.

“That was unbelievable. I came back and had a pretty good run with Plymouth, lost in the conference finals, and now I have the opportunity to come here which is basically a win-win-win all year. I’m just looking forward to seeing around the new place and getting to know it.”

These two youngsters got their first taste of Hershey when they participated in Bears practice at Hersheypark Arena. “A couple of guys were saying it’s a pretty old barn. Definitely pretty cool to come in here. I’m pretty sure there’s tons of history. Definitely a cool arena.”

So what does Wilson want to accomplish in Hershey? “Be the best I can be, help the team in anyway I can, practice hard and we’ll see what happens.”

Wilson will wear the number 10 for Hershey’s playoff run.

The Bears are back home Saturday night, looking to close out their first round series against the Providence Bruins. Puck drop is at 7:00pm in Giant Center.

Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals is in the history books with another stunning Hershey Bears victory. With the hockey game tied at 4-4 after 60 minutes, Jon DiSalvatore played the role of hero for Hershey and heart breaker for Providence. DiSalvatore scored only 3:05 into extra time to give his club a surprising 2-0 series lead over the top seeded Providence Bruins.

In the best of five, first round series, the Chocolate and White are just one win away from advancing to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2010.

Only 3:14 into the Sunday matinee, Ryan Stoa drew first blood for the Bears. After a pass connected through the neutral zone from Peter LeBlanc, Stoa turned on his jets and walked in all alone. He quickly pulled to his backhand and beat Niklas Svedberg to put Hershey on top 1-0.

But over five minutes later, former Bear Graham Mink answered the bell to even the game. In his first postseason game with the P-Bruins, Mink scored on Philipp Grubauer after contact appeared to be made in the blue paint. Grubauer kicked out an initial shot, but Mink corralled the loose rebound as the Hershey goaltender was collided with.

However the story of this series continues to be the excellent production produced by Hershey’s power play unit. Two more power play goals followed in game two with the first coming late in the first period. Nicolas Deschamps tallied with 5:04 left in the stanza to regain his club’s lead at 2-1. Shots after 20 minutes were 25-8 in favor of the Bruins.

Into the second period, Providence countered with two goals of their own and held the Bears to just one. Carter Camper tallied only 69 seconds into the middle period to again tie the game. At the 10:33 mark, Garrett Mitchell answered following a rare defensive zone giveaway by Chris Bourque. Mitchell slapped a shot past Svedberg to reclaim his teams lead and continue the back and forth tilt.

Sure enough, however, Bourque wasted little time to make up for his own mistake. Only 21 seconds after Mitchell’s tally, Bourque scored with a laser of a shot from the center-point that cleanly beat Grubauer low to the ice.

3-3 was the score after 40 minutes, as Providence continued to pile on to their shot totals, 41-17.

With just 6:42 left in regulation, Graham Mink struck again with his second of the night. On the power play after a Michael Latta hooking minor, Mink scored off a centering pass Grubauer had no chance on. It was the Bruins’ first lead of the series at 4-3 with the clock ticking down to the final minutes.

The clock ticked under two minutes and Grubauer raced to the bench for the extra attacker as the Bears buzzed the offensive end. Then with 1:29 remaining, Joey Crabb heroically tied the game at 4-4 after catching Svedberg out of position. The Dunkin Donuts Center for the second game in a row was silenced with the game heading to sudden death overtime.

It set the stage for the final power play goal of the contest, and it came at the game’s climax. Jon DiSalvatore beat Svedberg stick side after a shot near the right face off circle. The bench cleared to mob DiSalvatore and celebrated a 2-0 series lead over the AHL regular season champions.

Final shot totals were 58-29 in favor of the P-Bruins, but in the end it only benefits the save percentage of Philipp Grubauer.

The Hershey Bears return home for Game Three and a chance to sweep the first seed out of the postseason in the opening round. Game Three will take place at Giant Center on Saturday, May 4.

On a night when the Chocolate and White punched their ticket to the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs, the players also accepted their awards for their accomplishments in a Bears uniform this season.

Many Bears received awards for actions like “Unsung Hero,” awarded to Patrick McNeill, and the “John Travers/Steve Summers Memorial Award” for highest plus-minus, presented to Captain Boyd Kane. Kane also would receive “Man of the Year” as well as being named a finalist for the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as AHL Man of the Year.

Cameron Schilling would take home “Rookie of the Year,” and Garrett Mitchell would be named most improved player for the second year in a row. “You look back on the franchise we have here and the group of guys we have here this year,” said the 21 year old forward Mitchell. “It’s a huge honor to receive that.”

Jeff Taffe would take home the most hardware as he was named team MVP and AHL Second team All-Star. “It’s nice,” Taffe said after the ceremony. “They say they’re individual awards, but it’s a team out there. I had some good line mates though out the year and it’s nice to get a little leeway from the coaches.”

A former Bear, and now current Washington Capital, Steven Oleksy, made a special appearance to accept the Top Defenseman award for Hershey. “It was defiantly unexpected,” said the NHL defenseman. “I had no idea coming back here. I was actually just coming back to watch the game. It worked out where we had a day off and I just game down to say ‘Hi’ to the guys and to receive an award like that is an unbelievable feeling especially with the great defenseman we have back there.”

The Bears start their playoff run Friday night in Providence against the Bruins.

Photos from the event:

Kane receives Man of the Year from Doug Yingst

Doug Yingst presents Jeff Taffe with his second team all-star award

The battle of the Bears and the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs kicked off Friday with a tremendous 5-2 win over the Providence Bruins. Continuing from late regular season success, the power play unit tallied a trio of goals including two on both ends of a 5-on-3 advantage.

In the best of five series, Hershey quickly jumps to a 1-0 lead and has stolen home ice advantage from the AHL regular season champions.

Immediately out of the starting gate, the Chocolate and White flooded the offensive zone with a great sense of urgency and intensity. Playing with urgency should be a common postseason expectation regardless of playoff seeding. But scoring four goals and running future NHL netminder Niklas Svedberg was far from expected Friday night.

The scoring outburst started with 6:23 left in the opening stanza on the power play. Hershey went to work on their first man advantage of the Calder Cup Playoffs after Jordan Caron was whistled for an interference infraction.

Towards the back end of the power play, Bruins’ penalty killer Garnet Exelby gave the puck away via a lazy clear attempt from the corner boards. The puck was quickly gobbled by Jeff Taffe in the slot, and centered a pass to a wide-open Joey Crabb. The turnover fooled Svedberg out of position, leading to Crabb’s first goal of the postseason into an empty net.

The Bears entered first intermission leading 1-0 and carried a 14-11 shot advantage into the dressing room.

But quickly into the middle frame, the playoff opener would not remain close for much longer. Only 4:43 into the stanza, Casey Wellman capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play to open a two goal deficit. Following minors 23 seconds apart, the Bears were handed a glorious opportunity to hit pay-dirt once more against the All-Star Svedberg.

From the bottom of the left face off circle, Wellman banked a shot off the skate of Bruins’ defender Matt Bartkowski and into the cage.

Then moments later with 17 seconds remaining on the secondary Providence minor, Jon DiSalvatore cashed in to quickly open his team’s lead to a 3-0 margin. Following a Tomas Kundratek shot from the point, DiSalvatore deflected the biscuit into the cage. 6,541 spectators in Providence were stunned to silence, as they watched the American Hockey League top regular season team fall into a 3-0 hole. DiSalvatore’s goal later proved to be the game-winner.

Finally with 10:37 left in the middle frame, Niklas Svedberg received the hook after being scored on for a fourth time. Right off an offensive zone face off, Dmitry Orlov tallied his team’s first even-strength goal of the contest. Michael Hutchinson entered the game in relief and denied all 11 shots he faced through 29 minutes of game action.

The P-Bruins finally broke into their goal column with 6:04 left in the stanza to trim the Bears’ lead back to three. Jamie Tardif beat Philipp Grubauer with a laser of a shot to awaken the Dunkin’ Donuts Center crowd. Following a questionable and lengthy goal review, the tally was confirmed minutes later by referees David Banfield and Trevor Hanson.

Former Bear Christian Hanson then made the game interesting with a strike only 3:54 into the third period. Hanson used his speed to punish Hershey’s defense after a flubbed clearing attempt. Although the two-goal lead is infamously known as the worst lead in hockey, the Bears continued to pursue an offensive attack to cut remaining time.

Grubauer stymied the Bruins for the rest of the game, as Michael Latta added an empty net shorthanded goal in the final seconds to cap a 5-2 Hershey victory. The Bears take over home ice advantage with a road victory in game one. Both teams will rematch this Sunday for game two at 3:05pm before traveling to Chocolate Town USA for the third meeting on May 4.