Restoring The Roar: How Hershey Will Return to Calder Cup Caliber
The standard for the Hershey Bears is a Calder Cup title. It’s something they’ve experienced 13 times in Chocolatetown, and anything short of that is a failure. Last season, by that measurement, was a failure. They earned the best record in the Atlantic Division but got swept in the Atlantic Division Final by the Charlotte Checkers.
Then the offseason came and went with the Bears being in a tough spot. They look to return to the top of the mountain, to win the Calder Cup again, in a division that’s wide open. The Bears are also doing it with a different team and more turnover than usual.
Who Must Hershey Replace?
The American Hockey League (AHL) is where the only thing that stays the same is change. Rosters are different every season and every night as development is at the forefront. The Bears, however, lost many staples of the back-to-back Calder Cup runs, including some of the key names below.
- Jake Massie was a pivotal defenseman on the blue line.
- Mike Scarbossa was a depth forward who consistently added to the offense.
- Riley Sutter leaves a big void at the fourth-line center, with him and Matt Strome eliminating the top-scoring lines from the other team and also adding a few clutch goals.
- Alex Limoges scored three overtime winning goals in the 2024 Calder Cup run.
- And Mike Vecchione scored the Game 7 overtime winner in the 2023 Final.
- Hunter Shepard was the goaltender for both of those playoff runs, and in a big game, he shut the door on opponents.
The talent drain is noticeable but more importantly, the Bears are replacing Todd Nelson as their head coach. Nelson made the right adjustments and knew how to get the most out of the group. In the 2025 series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he went with Clay Stevenson for Game 4, with the team on the brink of elimination, and returned to Shepard for the clinching Game 5.
After Game 5, I asked Nelson why Sutter and Strome, two fourth-line skaters, were given more ice time than usual and he noted “Their line of Wisdom, Gaucher, and Lychsell was a pretty dominant line, so I tried to get Sutter and Strome out there as much as I could against them,” and with the last change he used it to his advantage. “Their job tonight was to keep this line off the scoresheet, and they take that role seriously. They are a line that shuts opponents down,” Nelson continued.
The Bears have a lot of talent to replace and a coach who only comes along once in a decade. The Bears are always the standard in the AHL but only a few coaches can take them to the next level. Nelson did. But if there’s any team that could replace the losses from the offseason, it’s the Bears.
The Elite Talent Hershey Acquired
Hershey, by AHL standards, is a destination and not because of the roller coasters or chocolate (although having the miniatures in the press box is always appreciated). It was mentioned multiple times in both the exit interviews and the August head coach introduction presser that the Bears are about as close to an NHL team as it gets, and they are an “Original Six” franchise. It gives them an edge to acquire the elite veteran talent in the league.
Louie Belpedio, for example, is a defenseman they know all too well. The former Phantom plays a physical brand of defense while also contributing on the offensive end. After three seasons in Allentown, Belpedio will be a key part of the blue line as a top pair or second pair option.
So will Calle Rosen. The 31-year-old veteran is coming off a season where he scored a career-high 10 goals and added 24 assists to the offense. The Bears struggled on the power play last season, especially in their series against the Checkers, and Rosen is the answer.
The Bears also added scoring to the forward group with the Graeme Clarke signing. The journeyman AHLer has bounced around from Utica to Iowa but everywhere he’s gone, he’s added to the offense, scoring 84 goals and adding 102 assists in 282 AHL games, making him a valued part of the offense this season.
The trio will join an already talented group in Hershey that is only getting better. Bogdan Trineyev and Ivan Miroshnichenko made significant strides last season, and the Russian duo can make the NHL roster out of training camp. So can Hendrix Lapierre, a playmaker who got a few cups of coffee with the Washington Capitals in the last two seasons. Speaking of the Capitals, they have plenty of depth on their roster, so there’s a good chance the above-mentioned players are making their biggest impact with the Bears next season.
How Derek King Gives The Bears an Advantage
If there’s any coach capable of following up Nelson, it’s Derek King. He coached at the AHL level and was the interim for the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks. The young NHL team had a lot of parallels to an AHL team, and it prepared King for the Hershey job. He’s been surrounded by young talent and knows how to get the most out of it.
King doesn’t fit the typical AHL coach mold. Most teams bring in younger coaches who like the players, are also developing and learning the game. Likewise, many of them are recently retired and can relate to the younger players. King is 58, and his experience says a lot about what Hershey wants in their next head coach, someone who can win.
The Bears have a tough road back to the Calder. That said, they’ll be in the discussion again, with King leading the way. They’ll be a disciplined team but also a team that can push the pace and overwhelm opponents. They saw how the Checkers beat them in the playoffs last season and know that speed is taking over the game and King was hired to have the team playing a fast yet disciplined style. It’s what will have them near the top of the standings and in the Calder Cup discussion.
-Mike Fink/ Ice Time/ Olde City Sports Network
-Photo Credit- Casey Saussaman/ Hershey Bears