Triple Treat of Hershey Bears Action

Following on from the previous entry, we took in 3 games at the Giant Center over the following couple of weekends. Hershey would concede a game to the Binghamton Senators, in a 5-2 loss that resulted from not necessarily a lack of effort, but a lack of chemistry. With a tied game after one period, a combination of missed opportunities, poor puck distribution and penalty woes pushed the Bears into a hole from which they would not recover.

The next evening at Hershey saw the Bears host the Portland Pirates. Just like the Manchester game from the week prior, the game would be a tight, defensive affair. Goaltender Jason Bacashihua would make his home debut for Hershey, and looked pretty calm and collected between the pipes. Down by 2-1 after two periods, Andrew Gordon would level the score just six minutes into the third period. Six minutes later, gritty winger Steve Pinizzotto would not only score the game winning goal, but would do so short-handed whilst killing a high sticking penalty assessed against the Bears. Pinizzotto would earn number one star honors for his efforts, and hopefully the victory would steer the Bears back to their winning ways.

One week later, and back at the Giant Center once more to host the Albany River Rats. With a combination of confidence and momentum, the Bears made short work of their opponents, downing the River Rats by a score of 4-1. Jason Bacashihua was once again solid in goal for Hershey - a great off-season signing who can not only perform, but will be a great mentor for both Michael Neuvirth and Braden Holtby. Andrew Gordon would score the game winner during a Bears power play, and Francois Bouchard would take the first star honors after recording one goal and two assists.

Binghamton 4, Hershey 1: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (well, 2 days late)!

With the Christmas break behind them, the Hershey Bears took to the ice last night at the Giant Center against the Binghamton Senators. What Hershey did not know, however, was that the Grinch would also be at the Giant Center. The Grinch in question was a referee by the name of David Banfield - a referee who seemed bent on ruining any post Christmas celebrations for the Bears.

I am not taking anything away from a Senators team who played a strong sixty minutes of hockey, but the Bears were royally screwed last night! With a remarkable effort between the pipes, Brian Elliot stopped all but one of the 44 shots on goal (the lone score coming from Keith Aucoin in the first period) and left Chocolatetown with a comfortable 4-1 victory. Unfortunately for the Senators, however, their almost-perfect performance was both overshadowed and undermined by some terrible officiating from the Grinch.

Banfield would assess nine penalties against Hershey, while the Senators were called for five. Alas, for the Bears, it would be a string of missed blatant infractions that would prevent any opportunity to come back down the stretch. With this fine display of terrible officiating, it was clear that Banfield never received his copy of "Hockey for Dummies" in his Christmas stocking this year. He most likely failed to get his eyes tested too, missing the tripping call from the stick that was literally thrown at the feet of Chris Bourque on a breakaway. I had never seen a crowd this hostile at the Giant Center, but it was completely justified. One man was ruining the game for everybody, and 10,000 plus were letting him know about it.

Behind the Bears bench, the normally mellow Bob Woods reached his boiling point after the aforementioned non-call. Tossing water bottles across the ice at Banfield in protest, Woods was ejected from the game, and faces a hefty fine and possible suspension for his actions. While I do not condone the way in which Woods vented his frustration, I felt that his complaint was more than justified. The Senators had capitalized on the non-call against Bourque, and put the game out of reach for the Bears. Woods, as the coach and leader of the team, stood tall and made sure that the officiating crew were informed of just how terrible they were. Worth every cent of his imminent fine and suspension, in my opinion.

So Binghamton left the Giant Center with the win, and thanks to the Wilkes-Barre Penguins taking a win over Bridgeport, no damage was done at the top of the division. The Bears and the Sound Tigers remain tied for first place, albeit in a division that has become tightly contested right now as we head towards the New Year.

And I thought Ottawa were bad this year...

Hershey hosted the Binghamton Senators on Sunday evening, and what an evening it turned out to be. After a quick offensive effort by the baby Senators in the first, it was the Bears who took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission after a goal from Alexandre Giroux. Given that this was the third consecutive game in as many nights for both teams, nobody could have envisioned the utter thrashing that Hershey were about to dish out in the second period.

The Bears came out on fire in the second, with a six goal tally from Andrew Gordon, Francois Bouchard, Keith Aucoin, Kyle Wilson, and Graham Mink (2). The Wilson goal in particular was a result of the powerhouse shooting skill of Josh Godfrey. I get very excited when the Bears are in the offensive zone, and Godfrey is set up at the point - his 100mph slapshot has to be seen to be believed. The shot from Godfrey was deflected at the goal by Wilson, but Josh proved that he is more than an ECHL caliber player with his overall effort last night. I was also impressed with the overall ability of Andrew Joudrey during the game. What he lacks in points, he makes up for in effort on the ice. Several times last night I saw him break up plays on defense, set up playmaking opportunities on offense, and play consistently all evening with his great positioning and ability to know where the puck would be.

With Giroux and Perrault adding bonus goals in the third period, Daren Machesney earned the shut-out with a 9-0 drubbing of the boys from Binghamton. Jeff Smith was a welcome relief as a competent referee, letting the guys just play the game (please ban Nygel from the Giant Center). A great game overall, and the Bears claimed all 6 of the available points from the 3 consecutive games this weekend.

Congratulations also to the Reading Royals, who eeked out a much needed victory over the Cyclones on Sunday. I am sorry to see Jeff Corey leave town, but given that he has been traded to the Stingrays, there remains the chance that he could be a call-up at Hershey if his play continues to improve.