Although the Hershey Bears just raised the Calder Cup less than three weeks ago, it’s time to look forward. The American Hockey League has released the schedule for the 2024-25 season. Hershey is set to raise their 13th Calder Cup banner on October 12 at Giant Center against the Cleveland Monsters. It’ll be a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals on back-to-back nights in Hershey. They’ll play every team in the Eastern Conference at least twice, once at home and on the road.
Instant Rivalry
The regular season starts off with a grudge match between the Bears and the Monsters. It’ll be an early test against the team that Hershey beat by a single goal in overtime in Game Seven. Hershey’s first foray into Atlantic Division play happens a few days later against the Bridgeport Islanders. The Islanders, fresh off a light rebranding, appear on the schedule six times in an increased number this year.
Hershey returns to Giant Center to face off against the Chicago Wolves for a pair of games. The Wolves are the lone Western Conference visitor during the regular season, with the teams facing off four times. Chicago inherits the role from the Iowa Wild, who played the same number of games in 2023-24. It’ll be their first visit to Hershey since February 19, 2006, a 3-1 win for the Bears. The two teams are the most recent to win the Calder Cup.
Thankful for Hockey
From October 25 until November 15, the Bears will play exclusively Atlantic Division opponents. They’ll hit the road to play distant foes Providence and Springfield over three games before returning home for five straight. Hershey plays the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the first time before a pair of games against both Charlotte and Springfield.
The first oddity on Hershey’s schedule is a 10:30AM EST school day game in Bridgeport on November 12. It will likely be a school day game for the Islanders, who draw well for those games. Bridgeport hosted the Syracuse Crunch in November of 2023. The two teams will move the rivalry to Hershey a couple days later.
Hershey knocks out some travel to their North Division foes. They’ll go from Allentown to play Toronto, Rochester, and Syracuse in that order. A Hershey tradition of a home game on the day before Thanksgiving will return in a November 27 tilt against Laval. The next five games are a Pennsylvania rivalry series of sorts, with the Bears playing the Phantoms and Penguins.
It’s an important early stretch for the Bears to find their footing. The team did a lot of winning and learning in the first two months of the season. Although there are many familiar faces, the Bears will have some younger players finding their way in the AHL. It’ll be essential to rack up some points against divisional foes in particular. A playoff spot can’t be won so early, but it does afford some breathing room in March.
All I Want for Christmas is Bears Hockey
The Bears play eight consecutive games at home from mid-December to early January. One big item for the Bears to reveal is their promotional calendar, but one date sticks out. January 5, a Sunday game scheduled for 3:00 PM EST, seems to be an early favorite for the team’s annual Teddy Bear Toss. The time frame is very similar to the scheduling from a year ago. The opponent in that case is the Providence Bruins.
One noticeable difference this year is the way games are scheduled. Hershey plays a lot of opponents in pairs, with Charlotte and Belleville trips in January. In exchange, the Bears play only two sets of “three-in-threes”, or three games in three days. That style used to be a staple of the AHL but is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. This year, the sets are towards the beginning and end of the season in October and April.
February is a very light month for the Bears with only six games on the slate. The AHL All-Star events are set to take place during the month, and the Bears will enjoy a break.
Historic Road Swing
March moves at a breakneck pace for the Chocolate and White. Of the 30 days in the month, the Bears will be in action on 14 of them as their busiest month of the campaign. The headliner is a stretch of ten straight games on the road, the longest such swing in team history. It’s a trip that features stops in Cleveland and Chicago as well as upper Atlantic teams like Bridgeport and Hartford. Hershey finally gets home on March 30 in the back half of a home-and-home series versus Utica.
The road stretch is a massive test for the Bears, who will be in the midst of the push for the playoffs at that time. There are some fierce opponents in that span and major points on the line. The team’s mettle will be tested in a major way in that stretch.
Once the Bears return from the road, they won’t need to leave the state of Pennsylvania. They’ll be home for five of eight, with the three road games wrapping up series with the Phantoms and Penguins. A stretch of three straight at home will conclude the 2024-25 season on April 19, nearly the exact time as it did a year ago.
Whirlwind Summer
It’s a short turnaround for the Bears this summer. After lifting the Calder Cup on June 24, the team has gone through the building process for 2024-25. That includes shaping their roster with re-signings and new additions as well as moves during the draft. The puck is now set to drop on October 12 for the new season with a banner raising ceremony. All fans in attendance will receive a mini banner as the team adds another to the rafters.
Before the season starts, the team will reveal their preseason slate as well as a promotional calendar. The 87th season of Hershey Bears hockey will soon be underway. This year, the team aims to become the second team in AHL history to lift the Calder Cup in three straight years.
