The past three seasons of Hershey Bears hockey were arguably three of the most successful for not just the Bears, but for any American Hockey League team in history.

Two Calder Cups with the back to back wins in 2023 and 2024, a 141-53-22 record in those three season and nine straight playoff series victories. That last stat there is a AHL record. The 2023-24 season stands out as the best of the bunch. A 53-14-5 season that saw the Bears set AHL records and dominate their way to their 13th Calder Cup.

That era came to a halt though this past May, when the Charlotte Checkers completed their three game sweep of the Bears in the Atlantic Division Finals. The offseason then truly brought an end to this era.

Todd Nelson, the Bears stalwart leader behind the bench the last three years, was the first domino to fall, leaving for an assistant coach role with the Penguins. Then, the Capitals included the expiring contract of Chase Priskie in a trade that brought Declan Chisholm to Washington, signaling the organization would not be bringing Priskie back.

Finally, many of the dominoes fell in free agency. On the back end, Jake Massie joined Barys Astana of the KHL, as Ethan Bear and Brad Hunt also joined new teams. But the real losses were felt in the forward group. Longtime players in Mike Sgarbossa and Mike Vecchione, who will be forever known as the man who started ‘The Roar’, left for opportunities in Switzerland and the KHL respectively. The Bears losses to the KHL didn’t stop their either- Pierrick Dube, Alex Limoges and Riley Sutter all left for new opportunities in the KHL. Then, in net, Hunter Shepard said his goodbyes, joining up with the Ottawa Senators, where he will suit up for their AHL affiliate in Belleville this season.

A New Group of ‘Baby Bears’

This years team will not be defined by the strong veteran depth like it has been for much of the past three seasons. That’s not to say there’s no veteran presence on this roster. Spencer Smallman, Matt Strome and Aaron Ness all return, as Smallman and Strome are expected to take on larger leadership roles this year. You also have younger returners in Henrik Rybinski and Bogdan Trineyev who will take larger roles as well this season.

But the big returns came from the end of Capitals camp. Ivan Miroshnichenko had a strong camp, but was the odd man out after the slightly stronger camps had by Sonny Milano and Hendrix Lapierre, the latter of whom seems to be stuck in DC for good this year. It also meant the return of Ethen Frank, the fastest man in hockey, who cleared waivers and will be the Bears leader on offense, along with goalie Clay Stevenson, who will be the Bears number one goalie this season. Add in the savvy signings of Sheldon Rempal, Calle Rosen, Graeme Clarke and Louie Belpedio, coupled with a few others, and there’s a strong group of AHL experience here again.

As stated above though, this years group will be defined by the success and development of this years crop of ‘Baby Bears’.

Hershey starts the season with three 19-year-olds on the opening night roster for the first time in many years, with Ilya Protas, Leon Muggli and Eriks Mateiko all expected to play important roles. You also have fellow highly regarded prospects in Ryan Chesley and Andrew Cristall starting their first full season in Hershey. Youngsters Cam Allen, David Gucciardi and new backup Garin Bjorklund will also be making their full time Hershey debuts this year.

These prospects will be given the time to grow and get better, but the expectations have stayed the same. The veterans understand what it means to play here in Hershey. The fanbase expects this group to compete for that 14th Calder Cup. And they will be led by new Head Coach Derek King, who comes to Chocolatetown after nearly a decade in the Blackhawks organization, and will be expected to bring this team of veterans and prospects together to get this team to championship level.

The Chocolate Roar is excited to be your main stop for Hershey Bears coverage in our second year. We can’t wait to bring you live coverage from every Bears home game, and a couple of road visits sprinkled in there as well. We’ll see you tonight as the 2025-26 season officially gets underway.