Happy New Year, Bears Fans

The holiday break is over, and it is time to get back to work as the hockey season rolls on.

The Bears end the 2025 calendar year with a rare Wednesday matinee game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.  Here's how it's been: 3-1 against the orange and black, with all games being 1-goal affairs, with one requiring an extra OT period.

Hershey has had a nasty habit of slow starts over the past several games, and this game was no exception.  Hershey came out flat against the Phantoms, and they were burned for it as Lane Pederson would net two goals for his 10th and 11th of the season in the first 10 minutes.  The Phantoms would continue to dominate the period as they held Hershey to 2 shots in the first half of the period and just seven shots overall in the period.

The Bears would wake up in the 2nd and push the play as they outshot the Phantoms the rest of the game 24-14, but goaltender Alexsi Kolosov would stand tall.  The Phantoms would get an empty net goal from Maxence Guenette to seal the deal and win, 3-0.    This game was the worst game of the first half of the season, by far, and is a sign of problems with the Bears heading into the new year.

In the first game in the year of our Lord, 2026, on January 3rd, the Bears welcomed the Rockford Icehogs to Hershey for the first time since 2018.  Hershey hoped for a quick response in the first period, and they would get it in the form of a shorthanded goal from Henrik Rybinski just 2:10into the game.  However, the Icehogs would respond just 2 minutes later as Dominic Toninato would get his sixth of the season.  Jamie Engelbery would give Rockford the lead just 30 seconds in the second period as the Bears surrendered their 10th odd-man rush of the game.  

Rockford would add to their lead as Dmitry Kuzmin would deflect a centering feed past goaltender Mitch Gibson to make it 3-1.  But the Bears would respond and clean up a rebound on the powerplay to make it 3-2 with his 13th of the season.  However, the Icehogs would restore their 2-goal lead as Brett Seney would pot his 10th of the season to make it 4-2.  Hershey would respond yet again as Brett Leason would laser a puck past the goalie late in the 2nd period to make it 4-3.  

In the third period, rookie defenseman Cam Allen would get his 2nd goal of the season as he wrestled a puck into the net to tie the game.  Aaron Ness would give Hershey the lead for good as he netted his first goal of the season to make it 5-4.   Hershey would hold off a late flurry from the Icehogs to seal the win and snap the 3-game losing streak in the victory.

January 4th was a special date for the Hershey Bears as it was the annual Teddy Bear Toss game.  Last year, the Bears threw over 100,000 bears onto the ice, and expectations were high for this game.  There was a light fear in the air that the Bears would not get the first goal before the 2nd intermission.

The Bears would get the Teddy Toss going early as Louie Belpedio threw a knuckler at goaltender Laurent Brossoit, who never saw the puck or reacted until the Bears were flying.   It was Belpedio’s fourth goal of the season and a rush of Teddy Bears flying from all over the Giant Center.  Parents, kids, and staff were all throwing Teddys onto the ice, and it is an experience I cannot describe here.    

After a 45-minute delay from clean-up and a dry scrap, a hockey game resumed, and Rockford would tie the game late with Gavin Hayes getting his 5th of the season.  Gavin would add another less than thirty seconds into the 2nd period to give the Icehogs the lead, 2-1.   But Hershey would respond with Graeme Clarke, fresh off the Spangler Cup the previous weekend, getting a power-play goal to tie the game at two.  Graeme would get another less than a minute after as Brossite lost track of the puck and Clarke sneakily shot the puck in for his second of the game and his 8th of the season.  

In the third, Hershey would get an insurance marker as Ryan Chesley would get his fourth of the season on an odd man rush of their own to make it 4-2.  To cap off the afternoon, Clarke would get an empty net goal for the hat trick to seal the weekend win for Hershey on the Teddy Bear Toss game.  It was Clarke’s nineteenth of the season and a win for the Bears.  

This pair of wins would put the team in fifth place in the Atlantic with 33 points (16-14-1-0)  on the season, as the Bears welcome the Cleveland Monsters this weekend for a pair of home games.  Go Bears.

-Richard Blosser/ Olde City Sports Network

-Photo Credit- OCSN