It’s no secret that the road to the Washington Capitals is paved by the Chocolate and White colors of the Hershey Bears. Prospects in the team’s system truly have to earn the right to play in the National Hockey League playing in one of the most decorated organizations in the sport of hockey. The Bears, who won the Calder Cup in dramatic fashion this summer, will be honored by their parent club before Friday’s game, but the team’s 12th title has already begun to bear fruit in the Nation’s Capital.
Carbery’s Crew
The Capitals are in the midst of a tough start to their season. Under new head coach Spencer Carbery, the team lost four of its first five games and struggled to find the back of the net. It’s a story that is similar to Carbery’s first year as head coach of the Bears back in 2018-19, where it took the team a few months before going on an unprecedented unbeaten streak to claim a playoff spot. The Caps have lofty expectations while captain Alex Ovechkin and company are in their prime and attempt to win the Stanley Cup once again.
Washington went a different route than usual this summer, opting to infuse youth to their lineup. One such example of that was in the lineup out of necessity, as goaltender Hunter Shepard made his NHL debut and made 18 saves in a 6-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Shepard, who was the MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs only months prior, became the fourth Capitals goaltender in the last ten years to win his debut game. Forwards Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas tallied points in the game with home grown talent taking center stage at the highest level.
Chocolate Covered Capitals
The Bears will make an appearance at Capital One Arena on Friday to show off the Calder Cup. The team’s leadership group of Mike Vecchione, Aaron Ness, and Dylan McIlrath will drop the puck in a ceremonial faceoff before the game against the Minnesota Wild. It’s a nice way to honor the championship after the Bears honored graduating members of their championship team during opening night.
Hershey will get back to business on the ice a day later at Giant Center with a pair of weekend games against their closest rivals. The Bears are looking to bounce back after their road trip ended in a 5-1 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Three wins out of four is far from the worst outcome of a difficult swing that included ending a lengthy losing streak in Providence. It does create an interesting storyline as the Bears face their interstate foes five more times before December arrives, leaving the overall season series halfway completed.
Same State of Mind
One nice note to come from Hershey’s latest game was a new line with a unique backstory. The Bears’ second line of Joe Snively, Garrett Roe, and Alex Limoges, coined the Old Dominion line by broadcaster Zack Fisch, features players hailing exclusively from the state of Virginia. Roe, playing in his first game as a Bear and his first in the AHL since April 21, 2013, tallied an assist on Hershey’s only goal for Snively. He was able to play due to one of Hershey’s other veterans, Aaron Ness, still out with injury, allowing the Bears to remain compliant with the veteran rule.
“Garrett Roe making his Hershey debut, we chatted about the opportunity to come to the Chocolate and White,” Fisch said on the air. “Many, many moons ago, he played at St. Cloud State University, and the broadcaster there was some punk kid named Zack Fisch. Pretty cool to reunite with him all these years later.”
The trio of players were pictured together over the summer during Snively’s day with the Calder Cup, a sign of things to come when hockey season started. Roe’s connections to Hershey extend to the Voice of the Bears, as he teamed up with Fisch during their days at St. Cloud State University. The two were reunited in Hershey and shared their first interview since those days that was aired during second intermission.
“It’s very unique,” Roe said of the connections. “If you’re from Minnesota or New York or one of the other hotbeds, it’s probably a lot more common. Being from Washington, it’s pretty special…we get to spend some time together and play together. To have some of those guys together, it’s very special.”
