Weekly Release: Bears Battle Rocket, Phantoms, and Penguins

November 25, 2024

The Hershey Bears (13-4-2-0) continue the 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health, as they conclude their schedule for the month of November this week with three games, including two on home ice at GIANT Center. The Bears play their fourth consecutive game against a North Division opponent when they welcome the Laval Rocket to town on Wednesday. Hershey then returns to an Atlantic Division slate by visiting the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday before returning home on Saturday for its annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night.

2024-25 TEAM LEADERS:
Goals: Ethen Frank (12)
Assists: Alex Limoges, Mike Sgarbossa (10)
Points: Ethen Frank (18)
Power-Play Goals: Pierrick Dubé, Ethen Frank, Chase Priskie (3)
Shorthanded Goals: N/A
Plus/Minus: Ethan Bear (+13)
Wins: Hunter Shepard (10)
GAA: Hunter Shepard (2.44)
SV%: Hunter Shepard (.909)
Only includes qualified players

UPCOMING LOCAL PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

Monday, Nov. 25
Day Off

Tuesday, Nov. 26
Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center

Wednesday, Nov. 27
Morning Skate, 10:15 a.m. at GIANT Center

Thursday, Nov. 28
TBA

Friday, Nov. 29
Morning Skate, 10:15 a.m. at GIANT Center

Saturday, Nov. 30
Morning Skate, 10;15 a.m. at GIANT Center

Sunday, Dec. 1
Day Off

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

-        Wednesday, Nov. 20 - Hershey 3 at Toronto 4 (OT)
-        Friday, Nov. 22 - Hershey 4 at Rochester 3 (OT)
-        Saturday, Nov. 23 - Hershey 5 at Syracuse 4 (OT)

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE & PROMOTIONS:

Wednesday, Nov. 27 - Hershey vs. Laval Rocket, 7 p.m. - BUY TICKETS

• Pre-Game Happy Hour - Fans 21-and-up can enjoy a $5 16 oz. select beer special, available from doors to puck drop.
• Canteen Vending Turkey Shoot Night - All fans are welcome postgame to take part in the Canteen Vending Turkey Shoot on the ice.

Friday, Nov. 29 - Hershey at Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 30 - Hershey at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 7 p.m. - BUY TICKETS

• Hockey Fights Cancer Night - Joining the efforts of the National Hockey League, Hockey Fights Cancer united the hockey community in support of cancer patients and their families.
• Penn State Health Hockey Fights Cancer Jersey Rally Towel Night - All fans in attendance will receive a Hockey Fights Cancer jersey rally towel, courtesy of Penn State Health.
• Hockey Fights Cancer Jersey Auction - Players will wear Hockey Fights Cancer themed jerseys that will be auctioned off postgame.

Television Coverage: FOX43 (Wednesday), AntennaTV (Saturday); Video Coverage: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio Coverage: Bears Radio Network, Capitals Radio Network

All times Eastern

TEAM NEWS AND NOTES:

NOVEMBER LEADERS:
As the month of November draws to a close, three Hershey skaters find themselves tied in the team scoring lead for the month, as Ethen Frank (5g, 3a), Mike Vecchione (4g, 4a), and Pierrick Dube (3g, 5a) have each conjured eight points through 10 games. Goaltender Hunter Shepard has accrued five wins in November, good for a tie for the second-most wins for the month with Coachella Valley netminder Nikke Kokko.

WORKING OVERTIME:
Thanks to all three of last week's games requiring more than 60 minutes of regulation hockey, nearly a third of Hershey's games this season have gone to overtime or a shootout. The Bears have skated to two overtime wins, two overtime losses, and two shootout victories; the club's six overtime games are tied for the third-most in the AHL. The game-winning goals in both sudden-death games won by the Bears this season have come via the stick of Mike Vecchione, who is one more overtime goal away this season from matching the franchise record for overtime goals in a single season, currently shared by Alex Limoges (2023-24), Eric Perrin (2003-04), Willie Marshall (1959-60), Dunc Fisher (1953-54), and John Sorrell (1942-43). Curiously, none of Sorrell's overtime goals were game-winners, as the AHL did not employ sudden-death in regular-season games from 1936-43. The last time Hershey played three consecutive games requiring overtime was Jan. 7-15 of the previous season, with Hershey earning one victory and two shootout losses; the franchise record for most consecutive games to go to overtime is five, set during the 2021-22 campaign from Oct. 23 - Nov. 5, with the club going 2-0-2-1.

TURKEY TALK:
Wednesday night's game against Laval marks the return of the traditional home Thanksgiving Eve game for the Bears. The first instance of the Chocolate and White hosting such a game came in the 1961-62 campaign. Since then, Hershey has hosted a total of 56 games the day prior to Thanksgiving, with the longest run of games in consecutive seasons being a 31-year stretch from 1987-2017. Hershey owns a lifetime record of 29-20-4-2-1 (.580) in home games played on Thanksgiving Eve. The Bears defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by a 2-1 score in last season's Thanksgiving Eve game, and the club has played seven Thanksgiving Eve contests in the past 10 years, going 5-1-0-1. Wednesday's match also marks Hershey's first time facing a Canadian opponent on Thanksgiving Eve since the 2013-14 season, when the Bears fell 4-2 to the St. John's IceCaps.

CHANCE TO ADD TO ROAD RECORD:
Thanks to an 8-0-1-0 record on the road this season, this year's edition of the Bears has matched the franchise record for the longest road point streak from the start of the season, joining the 2006-07 Bears (8-0-0-1). Friday's game at Lehigh Valley marks an opportunity for the current Hershey squad to re-write the record book.

HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER:
Saturday's game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton marks the team's Hockey Fights Cancer Night. As an evening that typically holds important significance for players, coaches, staff, and fans, the night will allow all present to unite with the rest of the hockey community in the battle against cancer. Throughout the club's history, several Bears have battled various forms of cancer. Among them:

• Team captain Gordon "Bucky" Hollingworth was forced to retire at the age of 28 after collapsing during a game in February of 1962 and receiving a diagnosis of leukemia.
• Defenseman Murray Balfour played his final season of pro hockey with Hershey in 1964-65 before a lesion was discovered on his lung in April, and he passed away from lung cancer that May at the age of 28.
• Forward Bruce Draper played parts of three seasons in the mid-1960s with the Bears before he was forced into retirement and passed away at the age of 27 in 1968 following a diagnosis of testicular cancer.
• Barry Ashbee, who starred on the Bears blue line throughout the 1960s, passed away in 1977 at the age of 37 following a leukemia diagnosis while serving as a coach with the Philadelphia Flyers.
• Forward Yanick Dupre passed away in August of 1997 at the age of 24 following a 24-month battle with leukemia, after playing parts of four seasons in Hershey while a prospect in Flyers organization. The AHL's Yanick Dupre Memorial Award is presented each year to the league's man of the year for service to their local community.
• Defenseman Paul Jerrard, an alternate captain on Hershey's 1997 Calder Cup championship squad, passed away in February of 2023 at the age of 57 after a lengthy battle with cancer while serving as an assistant coach with the University of Nebraska Omaha.
• Defenseman Logan Pyett suited up for Hershey the 2018-19 season after previously missing two seasons of his hockey career due to a diagnosis of synovial sarcoma in 2015.
• Ivan Miroshnichenko has played in parts of the last two seasons in North America with the Bears after previously battling Hodgkin lymphoma in the spring of 2022.

BEARS BITES:
Ethen Frank is second in the AHL with 12 goals and is tied for seventh in overall scoring with 18 points...Alex Limoges is tied for third in the AHL with seven power-play assists and is two assists away from his 100th in pro hockey...Pierrick Dube is second in the league with 65 shots on goal...Garrett Roe is fourth in league shooting percentage among qualified skaters at 3-for-8 (37.5%) and is three games away from his 600th pro game...Ethan Bear is tied for first in the league in plus-minus at +13 and is tied for ninth in league scoring among defensemen with 11 points...Brennan Saulnier leads the Eastern Conference with four major penalties for fighting and is one of three skaters to have converted on a penalty shot this season...Hunter Shepard is tied for the league lead with 10 wins and ranks third with 318 saves...Hershey has averaged the third-lowest penalty minutes per game this season (10.00)...The Bears and Grand Rapids share an identical and league-leading 10-0-1-0 record when leading after two periods...Hershey has a league-leading nine victories in games decided by one goal...Matt Strome's next game will mark his 100th as a Bear.