It’s a new year, but the same winning ways for the Hershey Bears. The league-leaders are the only team to win nine games in a row at any point this season, and on Wednesday, they did it twice. Hershey took a 4-1 decision over the Charlotte Checkers behind a 28-save performance from Clay Stevenson. The rookie goaltender recently earned the AHL’s Goaltender of the Month award for December.
New Problem, No Problem
For the first time in this streak of wins, the Bears had to overcome an early deficit. The Checkers got on the board first when Justin Sourdif deflected a shot past Stevenson for his sixth of the season. A similar situation played out in Hershey’s last loss at the hands of Charlotte back on December 10. This time, the Chocolate and White equalized on their first power play. After Alex Limoges hit the post from in close, Mike Vecchione stuck with it at the side of the net and stashed it home.
The list of active Hershey Bears players who haven’t scored a goal this season is a short one. Among the more surprising faces on the list is forward Henrik Rybinski, whose season has been plagued with injuries. Healthy again, he tallied his first goal of the year on an unselfish passing play with Aaron Ness and Jimmy Huntington. The goal came one second after a four-against-four ended, with the Bears technically shorthanded at the time of the goal. It’s Rybinski’s second career shorthanded goal, which coincidentally both turned out to be game-winning goals.
Don’t Doubt Dubé
Bears forward Pierrick Dubé must have found out that Chicago Wolves forward Rocco Grimaldi took over the league lead in goals. Dubé responded in a big way by scoring two goals to draw even with Grimaldi at 19. His first tally saw Huntington win a battle along the boards, handing the puck to Dubé. Hershey’s leading goal scorer made no mistake wiring the shot to the top corner to give the Bears some breathing room.
Fresh off of a game in which the Bears scored a bizarre goal, it’s true that lighting can strike the same place twice. Dubé found himself on a breakaway off a lead pass from Alex Limoges. Expertly juggling the aerial pass over the blue line, Dubé rifled a shot that missed the net and hit the glass. This time, the puck bounced back into the blue paint and off of Spencer Knight’s leg for his 19th of the season.
Balancing Work and Health
“It’s an everyday process,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson said. “The first two games after Christmas, we didn’t play that well but we won. We saw bad habits creeping in, that’s human nature. As a staff, we got after them and at the Lehigh Valley game we were better defensively. When we broke down, Clay was there for us. It was a good, solid win for us.”
Nelson’s commitment to the betterment of his team doesn’t stop at tweaking bad habits. He spoke at length on the importance of getting rest as much as hard work on the ice. Hershey’s bench boss works closely with the team’s strength and conditioning coach, Kurtis Freter, to monitor workloads and sleep habits. There’s plenty to be said about the work on the ice, but Hershey’s excellence extends to all aspects of being an athlete.
Winning Ways and Tests Ahead
Hershey moves to 28-6-0-0 on the season, matching their season-best nine wins in a row. The Bears have won 19 of their last 21 games and are a whopping 18 points up on second place Providence. Even the AHL’s second best team, the Cleveland Monsters, trail Hershey by 11 points. It’s just another remarkable metric for this outstanding run by the Bears.
This weekend represents a new test as the Bears face the Hartford Wolf Pack for the first time this season. Hartford had a hot start followed by a cooldown but still ranks third in the division. The new opponent is another test for Hershey to prove their mettle in a rematch of the Atlantic Division Finals this past spring. Then, the Bears take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Teddy Bear Toss Night, looking to exorcise some demons after last year’s shutout loss. It was the first time the Bears have ever been blanked in the event, and despite a new record of 67,309, a more traditional version of the event is in order. That starts with getting some “Sweet Cuddly Mayhem” early and often.
