The Hershey Bears became the first AHL franchise to record 3,000 wins with their 4-3 overtime victory over the Bridgeport Islanders, Tuesday.
The Bears are only the fifth hockey franchise in the history of hockey and the first in AHL history to reach the mark.
“For the organization to accomplish a milestone like that is pretty amazing,” former player and current VP of Hockey Operations Bryan Helmer told InsideAHLHockey.com. “If you look at the teams that did it in the NHL, there’s a handful that did it. To be the first minor league team to do that it’s pretty special. To be a part of it for two years to be a part of the 3000 wins as a player, as a coach, and now as the VP of hockey operations is pretty neat, to be honest with you.”
Scoring goals in the game were Kody Clark, Eddie Wittchow, and Brett Leason.
For the 3000th time in franchise history, the Hershey Bears are victorious.
Enjoy the highlights of the historic win from the Island of Bridgeport! pic.twitter.com/jnvJ29aOeG
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) April 5, 2022
Clark tallied early in the first and grabbed the eventual overtime winner. In pretty typical AHL fashion, the game-ending marker was almost immediately followed by a mini-brawl as the Hershey bench cleared to celebrate the historic win.
HISTORY.
Kody Clark's OT goal gives us our 3000th win in franchise history pic.twitter.com/0JynDNkgVO
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) April 5, 2022
After the game, the players took a photo with the milestone win puck.
The win ends a seven-game road losing streak for a struggling Hershey team that has only won three of their last ten games. They currently sit fourth in the AHL’s Atlantic Division with ten games remaining on their schedule.
Most wins, pro hockey history:
3,492 – @CanadiensMTL
3,285 – @NHLBruins
3,045 – @MapleLeafs
3,015 – @DetroitRedWings
3,000 – @TheHersheyBears https://t.co/vXhnMd7WQx— AHL Communications (@AHLPR) April 5, 2022
Congrats to the legendary franchise!
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
