The new look Bears had moments of success in their first weekend series of the season against the Syracuse Crunch last weekend, but ultimately came up short both nights.
Syracuse got the better of the Bears physically on opening night Saturday, taking down Hershey 5-2, and a much stronger performance on Sunday only produced a point as Syracuse took the weekend sweep with a 3-2 overtime win.
Now Hershey welcomes the Springfield Thunderbirds, the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, who are also looking for their first win of the season, though the Thunderbirds have only played one game so far.
Thunderbirds to Watch
When talking about the Thunderbirds, you have to start with their captain, Matthew Peca. Peca is the leader of this Thunderbirds forward group, and led the team in goals, assists and points last season, putting home 31 goals and adding 32 assists.
He’s joined by fellow returners Nikita Alexandrov, who had 49 points in only 48 games last season and the 10th overall pick from the 2023 NHL Draft Dalibor Dvorsky, who put up 21 goals and 45 points last season.
They’ve also been joined by veteran winger Chris Wagner, who’s played over 400 NHL games in his career, who came over from the Colorado Eagles, where he had 31 points in 44 games last year.
There may also be a familiar face on the other side this weekend. Kale Kessy, who played parts of four seasons with the Bears, suited up for Springfield on opening night and seems likely to get into at least one game this weekend for the Thunderbirds.
Waiver Claims Hurt Both Teams
On Wednesday afternoon, Vincent Iorio was placed on waivers by the Washington Capitals to send Iorio back to Hershey. On Thursday afternoon, Iorio was officially claimed by the San Jose Sharks, ending his tenure with the Capitals organization at this moment in time.
The loss of Iorio damages the organizations depth at the right handed defensemen position, but Hershey is well set up, thanks to the additions of Calle Rosen and Louie Belpedio in the offseason.
Springfield has also been hurt by a waiver claim this season, though to a much larger scale. Planned number one goalie Colten Ellis, fresh off a career year by putting up a .922 save percentage in 42 games last season, was claimed by the Buffalo Sabres.
With the loss of Ellis, the Thunderbirds now have a fully Russian tandem, led by Vadim Zherenko and Georgy Romanov in net. Zherenko got the start on opening night for Springfield, but Hershey will likely see both goalies with the back to back on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.
Frank Back to DC
Hershey lost some top six experience for this weekend after Ethen Frank was called back up to Washington.
Frank was called up to be forward depth as Pierre-Luc Dubois is currently injured. It shouldn’t be long before Dubois is back (he skated in a non-contact jersey during practice for the first time since getting hurt last week) and Frank will hopefully be back in Chocolate and White soon. Frank will have to clear waivers again before returning to Hershey.
Pink The Rink
It’s Pink the Rink night today, as all fans will get a light up Penn State Health baton, as the Bears support the fight against breast cancer.
The Bears will wear the above jerseys both night’s this weekend, and they’ll be auctioned off after Sunday’s game.
Hershey Announces 2025 Hall of Fame Class
The Bears announced the 2025 Hall of Fame inductees yesterday. Three heroes of the 2000s will be inducted in Chris Bourque, Alexandre Giroux and Boyd Kane, along with Mike McHugh and William “Tiny” Perry.
Fans will remember the great players that Bourque, Giroux, Kane and McHugh are and what they contributed to the team, but they shouldn’t forget Perry, who covered the team for 45 years as a writer and sports editor for the Lebanon Daily News. His coverage helped grow the game and the fanbase in Central Pennsylvania and it’s great to see the Bears honor people outside of the main organization through the Hall of Fame as well.
The Chocolate Roar 