Bears Weekly Recap
Before this week's games started, the Washington Capitals recalled Ethan Frank because the Caps put forward Pierre-Luc Dubois on IR following an injury. It is no surprise that Frank got recalled, as he was the last one to get sent down from training camp.
Defenseman Vincent Iorio was placed on waivers and was claimed on Thursday, October 16th, Iorio was claimed off waivers by the San Jose Sharks and ended his time with the Capitals. Some argued that Vincent should have stayed in DC or traded to get something back for him. However, Iorio was a different case; he was put on waivers because there was no more room for him on the Capitals' defensive core. With four defensemen locked up long-term (Jakob Chychrun, Matt Roy, Rasmus Sandin, and Martin Fehervary), along with others on short deals or fan favorites like Dylan McIlrath.
Photo Credit: Leah Hollenbach/Olde City Sports Network
Iorio had nowhere to go in DC, and in Hershey, they have a young corps of defensemen, in Ryan Chesley, Leon Muggli, Cam Allen, and more. Plus, Iorio is a two-time Calder Cup champion with the Bears. What else can he do in Hershey at the age of 22, it was best for him to get claimed and get NHL time in San Joe or as I call it, NoCal (Northern California).
If you want my expanded thoughts on these moves, check out my Hershey Bears podcast, The Grit and Bear It Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.
Who is up for some hockey? The Hershey Bears were back at it on Saturday, October 18th, as they welcomed the Springfield Thunderbirds to town. The Thunderbirds are the affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, and it was Pink the Rink weekend at Giant Center, with plenty of activities centered around Breast Cancer Awareness.
The Bears would waste no time getting on the board as Sheldon Rempal skated down the near boards and sniped a short-side goal to give the Bears the early lead. It was Rempal's first as a Hershey Bear with Spencer Smallman and Calle Rosen with assists. Later in the first period, the first of many first goals came with Patrick Thomas getting a beautiful feed from Ilya Protas from behind the net to make it 2-0.
In the second period, the Bears faced penalty trouble, taking four straight penalties that led to an extended 5-5 power play for the Thunderbirds. It would be on the 4th penalty as Nikita Alexandrov deflected Matt Luff's slap shot to get on the board and make it 2-1.
In the third period, the Bears would try to hold onto a 2-1 lead and would get an insurance marker as Henrik Rybinski took a pass from Bogdan Trineyev to make it 3-1. Hershey would get two empty net goals, while Protas and Ryan Chesley would score their first pro goals, marking coach Derek King's first win as a head coach for Hershey.
The rematch took place the next day as Hershey and Springfield faced off on a Sunday afternoon, with the roles this time reversed. Springfield came out and dominated the Bears, as Jakub Stancl would get his first professional goal in the first period. Hunter Skinner would get a late goal with 24 seconds to go to make it 2-0 after one.
Springfield would tack on two more goals as Matt Luff scored on a breakaway and Dalibor Dvorsky tallied the fourth goal from Springfield. The Bears would get one back as Rybinski scored on a pass from Jon McDonald, making it 4-1 and inspiring some hope for the fans at Giant Center.
Springfield would crush any hope of a comeback later in the period when Theo Lendstein scored a power-play goal to make it 5-1. That would be the final score as the Thunderbirds split the weekend series, and the Bears will wrap up Hershey's four-game homestand to start the season.
The Bears sit sixth in the Atlantic division with 3 points at the time of this article and are still experiencing growing pains as they adjust to the first half of the season. The defense has two 19-year-olds, and Andrew Cristall is still adjusting to the pro game after dominating the WHL last year.
Hershey will have its first road game of the season as it travels to the PPL Center at the corner of 7th and Hamilton to take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this Friday night. The Phantoms will come to Giant Center for a trick-or-treat night on Saturday for the rematch before the Bears go on a three game Northeast road trip to end the month of October.
- Richard Blosser/Olde City Sports Network
- Photo Credit/Leah Hollenbach/Olde City Sports Network
