HERSHEY, PA – Joel Rechlicz waves to the crowd after his second period fight in his return to the Hershey Bears during the Bears 2-1 loss to Syracuse (Tim Stough – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Saturday night the Hershey Bears re-matched the Syracuse Crunch at Giant Center in the final meeting of the campaign between the two sides. Opening night only rolls around once every hockey season when newer faces make their very first impression to the Hershey faithful. However in the first home game ensuing a busy trade deadline, this game had the feel of a second home opener with all the new faces.
Nate Schmidt, Michael Latta, and Dane Byers all made their Giant Center debut. Also returning to the lineup was the fan favorite enforcer, Joel Rechlicz. Rechlicz last played for Hershey last season totaling 267 penalty minutes and was not resigned during the off season. A player swap last week involving Matt Clackson and the Portland Pirates brings Rechlicz back to Hershey for his third season.
In the Bears’ second home opener of the season, it was a similar result to their first on October 20. Joey Crabb scored Hershey’s lone tally and fell to the Syracuse Crunch by a 2-1 count.
HERSHEY, PA – Zach Hamill plays the puck in front of St. John’s net during Hershey 2-1 loss to the Ice Caps (Tim Stough – Sweetest Hockey On Earth)
Hershey Bears fans welcomed an old friend back to Giant Center, but his new team wasn’t very friendly. Former Bears defenseman Dean Arsene returned as a member of the St John’s IceCaps and helped beat the Bears 2-1 at Giant Center on Saturday night.
Hersheypark Arena fire. Photo by Sean Simmers of the Patriot News.
Yes, I know this is a day late. Yes, I know that there wasn’t one last week either. There was plenty of material, but it was a holiday. 
Because of all of that here is an extra jam packed version of Chocolate Fix. Continue reading
With the Hershey Bears season coming to a close, most Bears fans will be putting all of their focus on the NHL playoffs. One of those teams left in the NHL playoffs are the Washington Capitals, the Bears affiliate. Monday night the Capitals will face off against the New York Rangers in game two of their series, but you could see some recalls before that. Those recalls are called “Black Aces,” named after holding the “Dead Man’s Hand” (two black aces) in a game of poker. So who could some of those “Black Aces” be?
The outcome of Mark French’s frustration (All photos by Kyle Mace)
Dany Sabourin has been living by the motto “No Rest” these past couple of weeks. Out of the last 13 Bears game Sabourin has started 12 of them. The one he didn’t start, he was backing up Braden Holtby in Washington. After all of the games and travel for Mr. Sabourin, he might need some rest after tonight’s game. It wasn’t a busy game, but one that felt like it was going to go on forever. Connecticut only had 26 shots on the night, but one got through. The one that got through would be the only puck that saw the back of the net as Hershey would lose, 1-0.
Ryan Potulny picture from our Instagram.
Another eventful week in the books for us. Last Wednesday night we had our first ever viewing party. We had quite a few people come out to Fire Alley to watch the game and help us raise some money. It also helped that the Bears won against Binghamton extending the winning streak to seven. Sadly, that streak came to an end on Saturday against St. Johns. Fortunately the Bears got a little help from other losses that night and clinched a playoff spot. Thanks in part to an effort from Ryan Potulny that earned him AHL Player of the week honors, the Bears came back from a deficit on Sunday against Binghamton. That effort proved to fall just a little short when the Bears lost in 13 rounds of shootout. Before you move on to the rest of the links from around the web, check out the pictures from autograph night taken by Kyle.
Yesterday’s AHL Clear Day deadline has come and gone. From now til the end of the season, these will be the players in the Bears lineup. Exceptions of course for call-ups and injuries. Take a look at who made the list after the jump.
We are in the midst of a long road trip. So far, it has been met with mixed results. The Bears started off the trip with a bad loss to the Bruins. The next night they came back with a win over the Monarchs. Along came Sunday and a shootout loss to the Sound Tigers.
And even more bad news from the weekend, Christian Hanson is out for hand surgery. [PennLive]
Ryan Potulny acknowledges his #1 Star honors.
Fresh off of being on the wrong side of a shutout, the Bears seemed determined that tonight’s game against the Manchester Monarchs would not suffer the same fate.
Unfortunately, the Monarchs did take the lead just over a minute into the game. Justin Azevedo chipped a shot over Braden Holtby‘s glove hand on the first shot of the game.