It will be Sweet Cuddly Mayhem today as the Hershey Bears host the Providence Bruins for the club's annual GIANT Teddy Bear Toss at 3 pm.
Hershey Bears (20-10-3-0) vs. Providence Bruins (17-11-3-1)
Jan. 5, 2025 | 3 p.m. | GIANT Center
Referees: Alex Lepkowski (44), Kurtis Pare (94)
Linespersons: Justin Johnson (57), Robert Peterkin (51)
Tonight's Promotions:
GIANT Teddy Bear Toss- During the GIANT Teddy Bear Toss, all fans are encouraged to bring new, stuffed items to the game to toss onto the ice as the Bears score their first goal. All items collected will be donated to local charities.
BUY TICKETS NOW VIA TICKETMASTER (Limited tickets remain)
Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, former Bears captain Garrett Mitchell, and FOX43's Todd Sadowski on the call
TELEVISION: Antenna TV (WPMT FOX 43.2, Xfinity Ch. 247 and 1178, Verizon FiOS Ch. 463, Blue Ridge Ephrata Ch. 91, and Blue Ridge Newberry/Duncannon Ch. 88)
RADIO: WFVY-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, Capitals Radio, In-arena on 88.9 FM
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream, Caps Radio 24/7
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 2:30 p.m.; Television coverage starts at 3 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears opened 2025 with a 4-3 victory over the Providence Bruins at GIANT Center. The Bears are now 3-0-0-0 versus Providence this season, heading into the final head-to-head matchup of the season today. Hershey jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period of yesterday's game, getting goals from Pierrick Dube at 6:33, Spencer Smallman at 13:09, and Mike Sgarbossa at 15:39. Providence cut the lead to 3-1 before the period ended, and the Bruins tied the game in the second period on goals from Riley Tufte and Vinni Lettieri. After a scoreless third period and overtime, Luke Philp posted the lone goal of the shootout in the bottom of the fourth round to give Hershey the win.
TEDDY BEAR TOSS TIDBITS:
The Bears will host their world-famous GIANT Teddy Bear Toss today vs. Providence, as Hershey looks to supplant its own ice hockey world record. Last season's Jan. 7 game against Lehigh Valley saw Bogdan Trineyev score Hershey's Teddy Bear Toss goal at 4:15 of the second period, prompting fans to throw a club-record 74,599 teddy bears and stuffed animals to the ice that were ultimately collected and donated across over 35 local organizations. The event has grown in scale each year since it was first held by the Bears in 2001, and the club has collected in total 464,107 stuffed animals since then. Since 2001, Hershey has posted a record of 14-3-0-2 along with two ties in Teddy Bear Toss games hosted by the club. The organization also hosted a drive-thru event in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fastest Teddy Bear Toss goal in club history was scored by Steve Oleksy just 39 seconds into the game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Dec. 7, 2014, while the latest Teddy Bear Toss goal was Liam O'Brien at 13:27 of the second period against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Dec. 3, 2017.
PRIMED FOR PROVIDENCE:
Today marks the second time the Bears have hosted the Bruins for the club's Teddy Bear Toss, with the previous occurrence coming on Dec. 1, 2013. After a scoreless first period, Matt Watkins tallied his first goal as a Bear at 4:52 of the second period to send 12,890 teddy bears flying to the ice. The Bruins earned the victory that night via the shootout in a 3-2 final in front of 9,601 at GIANT Center. Current Hershey assistant coach Patrick Wellar played in the contest for the Bears while Providence head coach Ryan Mougenel was serving as an assistant coach for the Bears at the time.
WHO BRINGS THE MAYHEM?:
Bogdan Trineyev is the only player on the active roster to have scored a Teddy Bear Toss goal for the Bears, although Matt Strome scored a Teddy Bear Toss goal in his major junior days with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League. Chase Priskie and Hardy Haman Aktell assisted on Trineyev's Teddy Bear Toss goal last season, while Mike Sgarbossa and Aaron Ness have previously assisted on Teddy Bear Toss goals for Hershey in the past, with Sgarbossa assisting in both 2018 and 2019.
POWERED BACK UP:
Hershey snapped a seven-game stretch without a power play-goal with Mike Sgarbossa's marker last night. Hershey went just 1-for-32 on the power play in the month of December, but after sitting at 0-for-18 in the first five games of an eight-game homestand, Sgarbossa righted the ship with his second power play-goal of the season last night. Should Hershey connect for the Teddy Bear Toss goal on the power play today, it would mark the first-time since Axel Jonsson-Fjallby struck on the man-advantage at 6:13 of the first period in a 5-0 win over Hartford on Jan. 22, 2022.
BEARS BITES:
Mike Sgarbossa enters tonight's game one assist from 300 in his AHL career...Pierrick Dube is one point away from 100 in his AHL career...Ethan Bear is three assists away from 100 pro assists...Hershey set a season-high with 40 penalty minutes last night, while Brennan Saulnier's 24 penalty minutes were a new season-high...Spencer Smallman's goal last night was his first tally in 10 games...Hunter Shepard's 15 wins are the most in the Eastern Conference...Todd Nelson earned his 117th win with Hershey last night, passing Murray Henderson (1952-56) for sole possession of ninth in club history for wins by a head coach...Providence's Vinni Lettieri has 22 points (12g, 10a) in 25 career games versus Hershey.
ON THIS DATE:
Jan. 5, 1975 - The Bears waged their own skirmish in the Cold War, as they squared off against Soviet Union-based club HC Krylya Sovetov ("Wings of the Soviet") at Hersheypark Arena. Despite the Soviet club boasting six members of the gold medal U.S.S.R. team from the 1972 Olympics, Hershey came away with a 10-7 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 7,273. Hershey led in the game 6-1, but the Wings rallied in the second period to tie the game at 6-6. The Bears then won it for the Red, White, and Blue with four goals in the third period. Bernie Lukowich and Billy Inglis each netted hat tricks in the game.
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