Weekly Release: Bears Gear Up for Three-Game Homestand

January 2, 2024

The first-place Hershey Bears (27-6-0-0) are back at GIANT Center this week for a three-game homestand, as they look to build on an eight-game winning streak against three Atlantic Division foes. Hershey hosts the Charlotte Checkers on Wednesday before welcoming the Hartford Wolf Pack to Chocolatetown for the first time this season on Saturday, and on Sunday the Bears host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the world-famous GIANT Teddy Bear Toss.

TEAM LEADERS:
Goals: Pierrick Dube (17)
Assists: Mike Sgarbossa (26)
Points: Mike Sgarbossa (32)
Power-Play Goals: Ethen Frank (7)
Shorthanded Goals: Hendrix Lapierre, Bogdan Trineyev (1)
Plus/Minus: Ivan Miroshnichenko (+13)
Wins: Hunter Shepard (14)
GAA: Clay Stevenson (1.70)
SV%: Clay Stevenson (.937)
Only includes qualified players

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

-        Wednesday, Dec. 27 - Hershey 4 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1
-        Friday, Dec. 29 - Hershey 4 at Rochester 2
-        Saturday, Dec. 30 - Hershey 4 at Lehigh Valley 1

LOCAL PRACTICE SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF JAN. 1:

Monday, Jan. 1
DAY OFF

Tuesday, Jan. 2
Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center

Wednesday, Jan. 3
Morning skate at 10:15 a.m. at GIANT Center

Thursday, Jan. 4
DAY OFF

Friday, Jan. 5
Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center

Saturday, Jan. 6
Morning skate, 10:15 a.m. at GIANT Center

All practices are open to the public. Practice dates and times are subject to change.

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE:

Wednesday, Jan. 3 - Hershey vs. Charlotte Checkers, 7 p.m. - BUY TICKETS

• Berks Dollar Dog Night - Berks hot dogs can be purchased for $1 on the concourse at select locations

Saturday, Jan. 6 - Hershey vs. Hartford Wolf Pack, 7 p.m. - BUY TICKETS

• Corona & Modelo Hawaiian Shirt Night - The first 5,000 fans 21-and-over will receive a Bears Hawaiian shirt, courtesy of Corona and Modelo
• Halfway to Summer - Break out your swim trunks and your flippy floppies and join us for a halfway to summer bash!

Sunday, Jan. 7 - Hershey vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 3 p.m. - BUY TICKETS

• 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.

TV Coverage: FOX43 (Sunday only); Video Coverage: AHLTV; Radio Coverage: Bears Radio Network, Capitals Radio Network; Tickets: HersheyBears.com

All times Eastern

TEAM NEWS AND NOTES:

DOMINANT DECEMBER FOR STEVENSON:
Goaltender Clay Stevenson was named the AHL's Goaltender of the Month for December earlier this afternoon, after going 6-1-0 in seven games with a 1.73 goals-against average, a .942 save percentage and two shutouts. The rookie netminder leads all goalies this season with a 1.70 GAA, a .937 save percentage, and five shutouts; his five shutouts have tied a franchise mark for most shutouts by a rookie goaltender, previously shared between Ron Hextall (1985-86) and Vitek Vanecek (2016-17). Stevenson also leads all rookie netminders with 12 wins.

SGARBOSSA KEEPING POINT-PER-GAME PACE:
Mike Sgarbossa's offensive production continues to hover at a point-per-game, as the forward enters the week leading the Bears with 32 points (6g, 26a) in 32 games. The veteran forward's 32 points are tied for third in the league, trailing only Texas Stars forwards Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque, who each have 38 points. Sgarbossa's 26 assists are tied for the league lead with Chicago Wolves defenseman Matt Donovan. Hershey is 21-1-0-0 this season when Sgarbossa records at least a point; the team is 5-5-0-0 when he does not get on the scoresheet.

DUBE OVERTAKEN...FOR NOW:
After enjoying a season-high goal-scoring streak of four games, forward Pierrick Dube no longer sits in first place in the race for the Willie Marshall Award, as the second-year pro was leapfrogged by Chicago Wolves forward Rocco Grimaldi last week. Dube currently leads the Bears and sits second overall with 17 goals, while the veteran Grimaldi paces the circuit with 18.

FISCH TO HIT 500TH GAME:
Bears manager of media relations and broadcasting Zack Fisch is slated to work his 500th regular-season game as the play-by-play "Voice of the Bears" on Saturday against Hartford. The Kansas City native and St. Cloud State University alumnus came to the Bears at the start of the 2016-17 season after one season working in professional hockey with the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays. Since joining the Chocolate and White, Fisch has also worked as part of the radio crew for the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic in Springfield and has called 18 regular-season NHL games for the Washington Capitals, along with one game during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Additionally, Fisch was named the recipient of the AHL's Ken McKenzie Award for the 2020-21 season. Fisch has also served as play-by-play announcer for all televised Bears games on FOX43, which captured the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award in 2022-23 for outstanding media coverage.

PLUSH PANDEMONIUM ON SUNDAY:
The Bears get set to host their 22nd world-famous GIANT Teddy Bear Toss on Sunday against Lehigh Valley. Last season, the team collected a hockey world record of 67,309 plush toys. As part of the club's Hershey Bears Cares initiative, which showcases the philanthropic activities and volunteer efforts of Bears players and staff members throughout the community, teddy bears and stuffed animals are collected and donated to more than 30 local organizations, including Catherine Hershey Schools, Vista Autism Services, Harrisburg School District, Cocoa Packs, Hershey Food Bank, Helping the Harrisburg Family, Palmyra Lions Club, Milton Hershey School, and Autism Society Greater Harrisburg Area.

CHECKING IN ON CHARLOTTE:
Charlotte defenseman Lucas Carlsson is one of only three defensemen in the AHL - and the only one in the Eastern Conference - currently leading his team in scoring, with 24 points (10g, 14a) in 30 games. His 10 goals are also tied for the league lead among defensemen with Springfield's Dylan Coghlan.

HARTFORD'S NEW MAN IN TOWN:
Longtime Hartford head coach Kris Knoblauch was named the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers on Nov 12, prompting the New York Rangers to name Hartford assistant coach Steve Smith as interim head coach of the Wolf Pack. Smith, a three-time Stanley Cup champion as a player with the Edmonton Oilers, has served as an assistant coach in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres, and was originally named an assistant coach with Hartford's staff prior to the 2021-22 season. Since the change behind the bench, Hartford has gone 9-4-4-0, good enough for third place in the Atlantic Division entering the week; with the fewest games played of any team in the division, Hartford's .661 points percentage is second in the Atlantic to only Hershey (.818).

WOLVES AT THE GATES:
The Bears get set to face the Hartford Wolf Pack for the first time this season on Saturday. It will also be the first time Hershey takes on Hartford since sweeping the Wolf Pack three games to none in the 2023 Atlantic Division Finals. During the 2022-23 campaign, Hershey went 4-2-0-0 against Hartford in the regular season; since-departed forward Henrik Borgstrom led the Bears in regular-season scoring against the Wolf Pack with five points (3g, 2a) in six games, while Hunter Shepard posted a 3-0-0 record with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .964 save percentage.

MENACING THE PHANTOMS:
Sunday's match with Lehigh Valley will be the second of three times in a five-game stretch that Hershey will face its I-78 rival. The Bears are off to a 4-1-0-0 record this season against the Phantoms, including a 4-0 blanking at PPL Center last Saturday.

PUSHING THE PACE:
Sunday's game against the Phantoms will officially mark the halfway point of the 72-game 2023-24 campaign. With 27 wins and 54 points already accrued through 33 contests, the Bears are already ahead of the club's previous mark for most wins through 36 games (2009-10; 26-8-0-2) and need only three points this week to equal the franchise record for most points by the 36th game (2006-07; 25-4-3-4, 57 points).

BEARS BITES:
The Bears are third in the AHL with a home power play that is converting at a 26.2% (16-for-61) clip, while Hershey's penalty-killing unit at GIANT Center ranks tops in the AHL at 90.2% (56-for-61)...The Chocolate and White lead the league with the fewest goals against per game (2.06), along with the fewest shots against per game (25.94)...Hershey is a league-best 21-0-0-0 when leading after two periods...The Bears boast a league-leading 15 wins when being outshot by opponents, and is a league-best 13-1-0-0 in games decided by one goal...Ethen Frank is tied for second in the AHL for power-play goals with seven...Mike Sgarbossa is second in the AHL for power-play assists with 15...Pierrick Dube is tied for second in the AHL with five game-winning goals.

THEY SAID IT:

"It was definitely nice to hear. It's always nice to get recognition and it's definitely a good honor for our team as a whole - just how we defend and everything like that [...] I think the way I am approaching the game is really positive right now. I think I'm seeing [the puck] well, managing my depth well, giving myself room to operate, and really giving myself the best opportunity to make second and even third saves in tight situations. And I think that's been a big progression this year, especially tracking well, getting eyes on the pucks first, and just getting ready when the puck's coming to me." - Bears goaltender Clay Stevenson on being named AHL Goaltender of the Month and his progression since the start of the season.