The Hershey Bears (17-5-3-0) continue the 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health, with three games this week, including televised road games at Hartford and Syracuse and hosting the Charlotte Checkers at home this Saturday. Hershey enters the week riding a three-game winning streak.
2024-25 TEAM LEADERS:
Goals: Ethen Frank (18)
Assists: Mike Sgarbossa (19)
Points: Ethen Frank (25)
Power-Play Goals: Chase Priskie (5)
Shorthanded Goals: Bogdan Trineyev (1)
Plus/Minus: Ethan Bear (+14)
Wins: Hunter Shepard (13)
GAA: Hunter Shepard (2.63)
SV%: Hunter Shepard (.902)
Only includes qualified players
LOCAL PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Monday, Dec. 9
Day Off
Tuesday, Dec. 10
Practice, 9:30 a.m. at Hersheypark Arena
Travel to Hartford
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:
- Wednesday, Dec. 4 - Hershey 6 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1
- Saturday, Dec. 7 - Hershey 3 at Lehigh Valley 2 (OT)
- Sunday, Dec. 8 - Hershey 5 vs. Lehigh Valley 4
UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE & PROMOTIONS:
Wednesday, Dec. 11 - Hershey at Hartford Wolf Pack, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 13 - Hershey at Syracuse Crunch, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 14 - Charlotte Checkers, 7 p.m. - BUY TICKETS
Television Coverage: Antenna TV (Wednesday and Friday); Video Coverage: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio Coverage: Bears Radio Network, Capitals Radio Network
All times Eastern
TEAM NEWS AND NOTES:
ROAD TRIP RUMBLE:
With a 10-0-2-0 road record this season, Hershey continues to rewrite its own record book for both the longest road point streak from the start of the season and overall road point streak, and will have the opportunity to add to its impressive run on Wednesday at Hartford. The Bears have already surpassed the previous franchise record for best road point streak to begin the season (2006-07, 8-0-0-1), and broke their record for best overall road point streak with last Wednesday's 6-1 win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton; the 2005-06 Bears went 6-0-2-2 over 10 road games from Oct. 29 at Toronto - Dec. 9 at Binghamton. The AHL's single-season record for longest road point streak is held by the Milwaukee Admirals, which went 10-0-4-2 over their final 16 road contests in the 2010-11 season. Hershey is 55-17-5-7 (.726) as a road club since Todd Nelson took over as bench boss prior to the 2022-23 season.
SUPREME SGARBOSSA:
Veteran center Mike Sgarbossa turned in another pair of assists for Hershey in Sunday's win over Lehigh Valley, extending his team-leading assist/point streak to six games (0g, 9a). Sgarbossa's surge gives him 19 helpers on the season and has vaulted him into a tie for the league lead in assists with Milwaukee's Vinnie Hinostroza. The last time a Bear led the league in assists was in 2012-13, when Jeff Taffe's 53 tied with Rockford's Brandon Pirri; the last time a Hershey player led the league in assists outright was in 2011-12, when Chris Bourque dished out 66.
FEARSOME FRANK:
Ethen Frank's pair of goals on Sunday has vaulted him into sole possession of first in the AHL goal-scoring race, with 18. Hershey has posted an 10-2-1-0 record this season in games when Frank lights the lamp, and his four game-winning tallies are also tied for the league lead. Frank's 78 goals in the regular season since his first career strike on April 15, 2022 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are the most of any AHL skater.
RYBINSKI REVERBERATIONS:
Henrik Rybinski is tied for the team lead in scoring for the month of December with five points (2g, 3a), and has 10 points (2g, 8a) over his last 10 games. Through 25 games played this season, the third-year pro has already established a new career-high for goals (6) and matched his previous best for points (18) in less than half of his prior minimum games played (51). Rybinski's breakout campaign is partially aided by a career-high shooting percentage, going 6-for-30 (20%). The Bears are 6-0-0-0 when he finds the back of the net, and 12-2-1-0 when he gets at least a point.
STEVENSON STABILIZING:
After a slow start to the season punctuated by missing six games with an upper-body injury, Clay Stevenson's recent performance suggests a return to the form he displayed during a remarkable 2023-24 campaign. The third-year pro initially went 2-2-1 in his first five outings with a 3.78 goals-against average and a save percentage of .867, but over his last two starts, Stevenson has posted an impressive 1-0-1 record with a 1.95 goals-against average and save percentage of .918.
PIPELINE PERFORMANCE:
All three organizations within the Washington Capitals system enter the week occupying first place in their respective leagues. Washington is tied with Minnesota for the NHL lead with an identical 40 points in 27 games but owns the regulation wins tiebreaker 17-15; Hershey sits atop the AHL standings with 37 points in 25 games; at the ECHL level, South Carolina is tied with the Florida Everblades with 33 points in 21 games, and owns the tiebreaker of regulation wins 14-11.
DOWN ON THE FARM:
The South Carolina Stingrays have juggled three goaltenders for much of the campaign, and have reaped the results. Netminders Garin Bjorklund, Mitch Gibson, and Seth Eisele have each made at least six appearances, earned at least five wins, and posted save percentages at or greater than .922. Capitals prospect Ryan Hofer scored in back-to-back games against Rapid City on Saturday and Sunday for his first career ECHL goals, including South Carolina's Teddy Bear Toss goal on Saturday.
BEARS BITES:
Hershey's power play ranks third in the AHL at 22-for-99 (22.2%)...Jon McDonald made his AHL debut with Hershey in Sunday's win over Lehigh Valley and assisted on Ethen Frank's game-winning goal...Bogdan Trineyev netted Hershey's first shorthanded goal of the season on Sunday, and leads the club since last season with four total shorthanded markers...The Bears have scored an average of 3.64 goals per game through 25 contests, the fourth-best mark in the AHL...Hershey is tied with Calgary for a league-best 12 wins when leading after two periods...The Bears own a league-leading 11 wins in games decided by one goal; last season the club set a franchise record with 24 victories earned by a single goal...Hunter Shepard is tied for the league lead among goaltenders in appearances (17) and wins (13)...Hershey's 9.84 penalty minutes per game are the second fewest in the AHL...Former Bear Brad Malone (2016-17) was named interim head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Oshawa Generals earlier today.
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