Ness Ready to Lead Bears as Captain

October 24, 2024

There have been over 1,300 players to lace up their skates for the Hershey Bears in the history of the American Hockey League's most decorated franchise. But there has only been a select few who have had the honor of wearing the captain's 'C' stitched onto their sweater.

Count defenseman Aaron Ness as the latest member to join this distinguished group, following the team's announcement on Wednesday that the 14-year veteran is the latest to lead the Chocolate and White, which featured Ness' family - wife Samantha and sons Carter and Henrik - on hand to celebrate the occasion in the Bears locker room following that morning's practice, helping head coach Todd Nelson make the announcement to the roster.

It marks the second time in Ness' career that he will wear the 'C,' after serving as the captain of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2014-15, the season immediately before he joined the Bears, where he eventually became a full-time member of the team's leadership group, wearing an alternate captain's 'A' during two stints with Hershey. He's donned the Chocolate and White sweater 381 times - the most with any team he's played for - in a career that has spanned 805 combined regular-season games in the AHL and NHL.

Rule 6 of the AHL rulebook outlines the captain's role (and any alternate captains) as it pertains to on-ice play, and it is fairly straightforward: only the appointed captain may discuss any interpretation of the rules with the referees. But the scope of a captain's duties extends far beyond the rulebook, as both a leader within the locker room and a figurehead of the organization to the fanbase and community, especially for a team such as Hershey.

The honor was not lost on Ness as he addressed the media present shortly afterwards.

"It's one of the top [moments], for sure. You wear a 'C' for any team - it's pretty special, right? But then to wear it for this team, this organization, and a lot of the names [that have come] before you, it's something really cool and something I won't take lightly and I'm excited to represent this team."

The ascension to the captaincy of the Bears is a testament to Ness' longevity with the organization, and his status both within the locker room as a vocal presence and leader, as well as on on the ice as a stabilizing two-way presence on the blue line as part of a core that has been responsible for back-to-back Calder Cups.

The Bears opened the 2024-25 season without their captain of the previous two campaigns, as Dylan McIlrath had made the opening night roster for the NHL's Washington Capitals. The case for Ness to succeed McIlrath as captain - who is off to an impressive start this season, logging meaningful minutes on a 5-1-0 Caps team and notably recorded the first multi-point game of his NHL career in Wednesday's win over Philadelphia - became the logical choice for the coaching staff.

"As it shaped out, as we're going along here, we just thought we needed a point-man. We selected Aaron because he's been a captain before, he's always been a voice in the locker room," Nelson explained. "I feel as a head coach that he's a great fit. We have tons of leaders in that room and tons of character, but Aaron stands out just because of how vocal he is, and he holds guys accountable."

When you look at the history of the Bears franchise and their championship success, there's an impressive lineage of defensive captains who have helped lead the team to the Calder Cup in the last five decades: Ralph Keller (1974), Bob Bilodeau (1980), Dave Fenyves (1988), Bryan Helmer (2009 and 2010), and McIlrath (2023 and 2024) all wore the 'C' when they hoisted the Calder Cup with Hershey.

Ness will not be alone, however, as the Bears navigate another grueling 72-game season that will largely be played against an always competitive Atlantic Division. Nelson will lean on Ness, and alternate captain Mike Vecchione, along with rotating alternates Riley Sutter and Brad Hunt, in addition to veteran players such as Mike Sgarbossa and Garrett Roe, to help preserve the culture in the locker room that has been a catalyst for the team's recent run of success during Nelson's tenure behind the bench.

"I know it's cliche, but you go down the list of some pretty incredible people and players that have had the 'C,' and it's really special. It means a lot," Ness said. "And obviously when you have a group like that, it's an easy group to lead. We've got a lot of leaders in there, so it's going to be a lot of fun. I think we're all looking forward to the year."

Ultimately, the responsibility of leading the next group of Bears to the title now rests on the shoulders of the 34-year-old father of two from Roseau, Minnesota. The veteran defenseman has been with Hershey long enough over his two stints to know that championship expectations are the norm every season in the Sweetest Place on Earth, regardless of the composition of the roster or what teams within the league are on the rise.

Don't expect Ness to change who he is, however.

"I think a lot of times, there's nothing that needs to be changed or done differently. I think once you do that you get away from the reason you were picked in the first place, right?" Ness pondered. "I think for me, it's just continuing to do everything I can for this team, win as many games as we can, and then see what happens again this year.

"I am also at a point now where, to be honest with you, there's one goal - and then once you've done it a couple times, that's the only goal - so to me, that's always the goal," Ness elaborated about the team's championship aspirations when asked about his goals for the season. "That's always what I'm thinking about. And again, I've said this a hundred times, but we're really early, still - there's a lot of things that are gonna happen, have to happen, a lot of ups and downs - that's the main goal I have every day: it's to get this team back there and have these guys feel that again and do it again."

Captaincy aside, Ness and the organization have already shown their commitment to each other, as evidenced by the defenseman signing an extension last week that will keep him with the Chocolate and White through the 2025-26 season.

"I grew up in a smaller town and [Hershey] just has a great family atmosphere. It's great for my kids. My wife loves it here. It just makes sense for us," Ness said. "It truly feels like home and we can't wait to be here this season and the next as well. All around, it's a privilege to be in that room."

Written by Jesse Liebman, Bears media specialist.