The Hershey Bears hit the midway point of their season on Sunday afternoon’s dramatic Teddy Bear Toss game. Alex Limoges scored in overtime to improve Hershey’s record to 29-7-0-0, perfect beyond regulation and well atop the AHL. The Bears have two separate nine-game winning streaks this season, and have ten wins in their last eleven games. Hershey has positioned themselves incredibly well at this point, eleven points above the next best team in the league. It’s been a total team effort from every player on the ice each game.
“Solid goaltending, it starts with that,” head coach Todd Nelson said after Sunday’s win. “Our special teams have been strong. Just the hunger from the guys coming back from last year as well as new guys who want to be part of something special. If someone is having a tough game or a couple lines are having a tough game, the other two lines pick them up and contribute. It’s someone different all the time. Bogdan scores tonight, last game it was Rybinski scoring for us. Everybody is contributing, and that’s a sign of a good team.”
Total Team Effort
Hershey’s strong start is underscored by the amount of club records being broken. The team set the mark for the best start through 30 games in franchise history – all 86 years of it. It’s impressive given the amount of roster turnover from a championship season and the number of question marks going into play. Returning forward Mike Sgarbossa is among the AHL leaders in points with 33 in 34 games, but as Nelson said, Hershey is far from top-heavy. Each forward on Hershey’s roster has multiple goals, and it all adds up to one of the most potent offenses in the league at 123 tallies. Only the Texas Stars have as many goals.
The team has had a stout defensive presence led by their goaltending. Rookie Clay Stevenson leads the AHL with a 1.79 goals against average and a 0.934 save percentage in 18 games played. At times, he’s been the star of the show in net with Hunter Shepard earning frequent flyer miles to Washington. The reigning Calder Cup MVP is off to another strong start in Hershey with a 2.28 goals against average and a 0.908 save percentage in 16 games. In his absence, rookie netminder Mitch Gibson stepped up to take the win on Sunday in his first game at Giant Center. Shepard and Stevenson combine to be the AHL’s top tandem at the midway point this season.
It’s hard to complain defensively, either. The Bears have nine healthy defenders on the roster right now, with insane depth to boot. Players like Logan Day and Jake Massie, returning from Hershey’s championship team, have sat out due to the numbers. It’s a pleasant problem to have, and they’ll be called upon when the Bears will no doubt see injuries or recalls in the second half.
Impressive, Most Impressive
At the halfway mark, the Bears have yet to lose a game that’s gone beyond regulation time, seven in total. They’ve won five games in overtime as well as two shootout decisions. Hershey has yet to lose on back-to-back nights, something they staved off in Sunday’s comeback. Despite having the most games played as of January 8, the Bears have allowed the fewest goals in the AHL at just 76. Currently, they’re tied with the Bakersfield Condors for that mark, but the Bears have played ten more games overall. The next closest team is the Milwaukee Admirals, who have allowed 81 goals with six fewer games played.
That mark extends to special teams, where the Bears rank fourth on the power play and second on the penalty kill in the AHL. They’ve had timely goals on the power play and endured some critical penalty kill situations that have proven to be the difference between winning and losing. Hershey’s Vice President of Hockey Operations, Bryan Helmer, believes this team could go even further beyond.
“What’s kind of scary is that we haven’t played a full sixty minutes yet. If we get consistency of playing sixty minutes every night, we’re going to be really scary. There’s going to be a spot in the season where we’re going to dip. It happened last year in February and it didn’t hurt us, it probably helped us. You’ll go through adversity in the playoffs, too. The thing I love about this team is that the guys who went through getting to Game 7 in overtime, they never get rattled. They’ve been through the most pressurized game that you can go through in the AHL, they believe in themselves and believe in their teammates.”
“(Nelson) and I talk about it all the time. We’re going into the third period down a goal and not playing well. No one’s rattled, they’re talking on the bench. They know they’re going to get that goal. When that’s the way you think, it’s a recipe for success.”
Bears History in the Making?
Helmer knows a thing or two about winning. He played in Hershey for two seasons as the team’s captain from 2008-2010 and lifted the Calder Cup both times. His second season in 2010 saw the Bears have one of their best single years in their history en route to a title. It’s been nearly ten years since Helmer rejoined the Bears back in 2014 first as an assistant coach before moving to his current role in 2016. The ties to those years extend behind the bench, with assistant coach Patrick Wellar patrolling the blue line with him. After leaving Hershey, Helmer played for Nelson in Oklahoma City.
“That team was special,” Helmer said about those years. “When you’re going through it, you don’t realize how good you are. You’re having a great time coming to the rink, love playing the game. It didn’t matter if we were down in the third period, we knew we could win the game. We believed in each other totally, and that’s exactly what this team is doing. What’s scary about it is, our record right now is better than that team. These guys are just playing hockey and having fun doing it. When it’s like that, it’s a recipe for success.”
This year’s iteration of the Bears is off to a flying start, and although direct comparisons are hard to make (the Bears played 80 games in 2010 compared to 72 now, for example), impressing a champion is hard to do. That year’s team had a pair of comparable win streaks to the pair this year’s team has and was the pinnacle of an unparalleled era of success in Hershey. The Bears won the Calder Cup three times and went to the finals four times in five total years. 2023 was a payoff for many years of trying to get the Bears back to that type of success, but this year’s team is angling for greatness on par with Helmer’s group.
The Secret For a Strong Second Half
Both Nelson and Helmer had the same sentiment when it came to the remaining 36 games of the season: staying the course and building through adversity. Last season, the Bears went through a rough patch just after hitting the midway point that ultimately helped them. The team was tested, but ultimately the test built them into a resilient group – a crucial element of their Calder Cup win. Ultimately, the second half will be a test in its own way for this year’s team.
“That’ll be the challenge, definitely,” Nelson said of the second half. “I think against Hartford (on Saturday), just to see how they came in here and outworked us. It was a good wake-up call for our hockey team. I talk about inviting adversity so you can go through those tough times. We haven’t had a whole lot yet, but there will be part of the season where it does happen. We’re excited and happy with where we’re at, but it’s only halfway through yet. A lot can happen, we just want to put ourselves in a good spot for the playoffs.”
The biggest challenge will be winning on the road. Only 15 of Hershey’s remaining 36 games will be in the friendly confines of Giant Center. The Bears have always been good at home and this year is no exception with 17 wins in 21 games. They’ll open the second half with three straight games on the road against divisional foes, but other challenges await. A trip through Canada, sets against Cleveland and Charlotte, and a trip to Iowa represent unique tests to pass. It’ll be a tall task, but one this group is more than capable of facing and finding success in.
