The Hershey Bears (26-11-5-0) continue the 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they wrap up a four-game road trip on Wednesday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins before returning home to host the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday and Saturday at GIANT Center.
2024-25 TEAM LEADERS:
Goals: Mike Vecchione (11)
Assists: Mike Sgarbossa (22)
Points: Mike Sgarbossa (29)
Power-Play Goals: Chase Priskie (8)
Shorthanded Goals: Grant Cruikshank, Bogdan Trineyev (1)
Plus/Minus: Ethan Bear (+16)
Wins: Hunter Shepard (16)
GAA: Hunter Shepard (2.71)
SV%: Hunter Shepard (.897)
Only includes qualified players on active roster
LOCAL PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Monday, Jan. 27
Day Off
Tuesday, Jan. 28
Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center
Wednesday, Jan. 29
Morning Skate, 10:15 a.m. at GIANT Center
Travel to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Thursday, Jan. 30
Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center
Friday, Jan. 31
Morning Skate, 10:15 a.m. at GIANT Center
Saturday, Feb. 1
Morning Skate, 10:15 a.m. at GIANT Center
Practice schedule is subject to change. Please check HersheyBears.com daily for updates.
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:
- Wednesday, Jan. 22 - Hershey 2 at Laval 3 (OT)
- Friday, Jan. 24 - Hershey 3 at Belleville 4 (OT)
- Saturday, Jan. 25 - Hershey 5 at Belleville 3
UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE & PROMOTIONS:
Wednesday, Jan. 29 - at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 7:05 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 31 - vs. Bridgeport Islanders, 7 p.m. - BUY TICKETS
Saturday, Feb. 1 - vs. Bridgeport Islanders, 7 p.m. - BUY TICKETS
Television Coverage: Antenna TV (Wednesday); Video Coverage: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio Coverage: Bears Radio Network, Capitals Radio Network
All times Eastern
TEAM NEWS AND NOTES:
HOT AND HUNGRY BEARS:
Hershey enters the week riding a season-high seven-game point streak (5-0-2-0). Since the calendar year flipped to 2025, the club has gone a scorching 7-1-2-0, and scored an average of four goals per game while allowing only 2.9 goals against. Over their last 10 games, the Bears have also enjoyed improved success on the power play, going 9-for-42 (21.4%) after previously going 22-for-124 (17.7%) through their first 32 contests.
SCORING CHANGE FROM JAN. 25 GIVES LIMOGES THREE-POINT NIGHT:
Alex Limoges has retroactively been credited with Hershey's first goal of last Saturday's game that was originally credited to Ethan Bear. The goal gives Limoges his 10th of the season, while Bear now has five goals and 20 assists for the campaign. Limoges was also retroactively credited with an assist on Hershey's second goal of the contest; along with an assist earned on Mike Vecchione's tally in the third period, Limoges achieved his second three-point game of the season. As a result of the scoring changes, both Ivan Miroshnichenko and Spencer Smallman saw their pair of assists in the game reduced to one apiece.
POWER SURGE FOR PRISKIE:
Defenseman Chase Priskie added a pair of power-play goals last week, finding the net on Wednesday in Laval and Saturday at Belleville to give him eight on the season. Although Priskie dressed as a forward for Saturday's game, his power-play marker came with him being deployed as a defender for Hershey's 5-on-3 man advantage. Priskie's eight power-play markers are the most by a Bears defender since Lawrence Nycholat collected 10 with the man advantage in 2005-06. Hershey's single-season mark on record for power-play goals by a defenseman is 11, achieved by Patrick Traverse in 1997-98.
VECCHIONE FINDING THE NET:
Mike Vecchione enters the week with six goals over his last six games to lead the club in goal-scoring for the month of January. Vecchione's two-point (1g, 1a) performance against Belleville last Saturday also included a team-best nine shots on goal to establish a new team-high by an individual skater this season, and matched his career-high after previously generating nine shots in a game with the San Antonio Rampage on Jan. 5, 2020 vs. Grand Rapids. Hershey's record for shots on goal by an individual player is 14, set by Milos Holan on Nov. 10, 1994 at Adirondack, which is also tied for the league mark.
500TH AHL GAME FOR SMITH LOOMING:
Dalton's Smith's next game will mark his 500th career AHL game. The bruising forward has amassed two assists in nine games with the Bears this season, and has 74 total points (33g, 41a) across 499 AHL games with Springfield, Syracuse, Providence, Lehigh Valley, Rochester, Colorado, and Hershey. Along the way, Smith has also racked up considerable time in the penalty box, accruing 938 penalty minutes.
NELSON POISED TO PASS DINEEN:
At 432 career wins in the AHL with Oklahoma City, Grand Rapids, and Hershey, Bears head coach Todd Nelson's next victory will allow him to pass Kevin Dineen for sole possession of fifth place on the league's coaching wins list. Up next in fourth place is former Bears bench boss John Paddock, who earned 181 of his 590 career AHL victories behind the bench for the Chocolate and White over four seasons from 1985-89 and led the club to the 1988 Calder Cup title. Nelson is also two wins away from earning his 600th career win as a head coach across the NHL, AHL, and the defunct United Hockey League.
I-81 RIVALRY HEATS UP:
Three of Hershey's next six games will be against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, starting with this Wednesday's visit to Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza. The Bears earned a 6-1 win in their last trip up I-81 on Dec. 4. Chase Priskie and Mike Sgarbossa are tied with Ethen Frank (recalled to Washington) for the team lead in scoring against the Penguins with four points apiece. Hunter Shepard has started all four games for Hershey against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, going 2-2-0 with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
ISLE-BE SEEING YOU:
Hershey closes out the home portion of its season series with the Bridgeport Islanders this weekend, after dropping. The road team has won every game so far this season, with the Bears taking its Oct. 16 meeting at Total Mortgage Arena by a 3-2 score and then earning a 5-4 road triumph on Nov. 12. Hershey's 6-1 home loss to Bridgeport on Nov. 15 still stands as the team's largest margin of defeat in a game the current campaign and for a regular-season contest during the Todd Nelson era.
DOWN ON THE FARM:
The South Carolina Stingrays required extra hockey for all three of their games last week, splitting shootout victories in their first two-games and triumphing in overtime on Sunday over Reading thanks to another goal from Bears-contracted player Micah Miller, who leads the ECHL with six game-winning goals this season.
BEFORE THE BREAK:
Following Saturday night's game against Bridgeport, Ethan Bear and Alex Limoges will head to Palm Desert, California, where they will represent the Bears as part of the Atlantic Division Roster for the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic at Acrisure Arena. Last season the Bears blanked the Islanders 4-0 in the final game prior to the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic in San Jose. Since the AHL's modern mid-season showcase was first introduced in the 1994-95 season, the Bears have posted a record of 18-9-0-0-1 in their final game prior to the event.
BEARS BITES:
Ethan Bear (0g, 10a) and Alex Limoges (4g, 6a) lead Hershey's skaters for the month of January with 10 apiece...Forward Pierrick Dube will now be available to dress again after serving a five-game suspension. Hershey has gone 22-8-3-0 this season with Dube in the lineup, and 14-2-1-0 when he records at least a point...Bogdan Trineyev's next game will mark his 100th as a Bear...Hershey's performance last week improved the club to 8-2-3-0 this season against North Division clubs. The Bears are 17-9-1-0 against Atlantic Division opponents.
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