The Hershey Bears are back in the Calder Cup playoffs and their fans are showing up in a historic manner.
Saturday night’s attendance at Giant Center — 10,520 fans mostly adorned in chocolate and white — is the new Bears’ franchise record for the largest home crowd at a first or second-round playoff game. For a frame of reference, Hershey was founded in 1932 and has played in the AHL since 1938.
The Bears have called Giant Center their home since 2002 and have won four Calder Cups since moving into the arena.
Tonight’s attendance of 10,520 is the largest home crowd for a first or second round playoff game in Bears history.
Bear Nation, you rock! 🤟#RepeatTheRoar pic.twitter.com/PADNCrBZoU
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) May 5, 2024
“It was up to us to get the fans into the game but they were already in the game at the start,” head coach Todd Nelson said postgame. “It was nice coming out and scoring a couple there in the first, getting the fans going, but it’s pretty electric once again. It felt like Eastern Conference Finals.”
Multiple Capitals players with ties to the Bears were mixed in among that record-setting amount of fans. 2023 Calder Cup champions Connor McMichael and Beck Malenstyn were in attendance and Dylan Strome was also there to support his brother Matt, a fourth-line winger on the team.
“It’s huge,” Matt Strome said. “If you watch some of the NHL games the fans are cheering for everything, and that’s what our fans did tonight and on Wednesday. Everybody gets a boost of energy when we hear the crowd cheering. It was so loud in there I couldn’t even hear myself think. It was awesome and next home game, whether it’s Game Five or next series let’s hope we have some more fans.”
Per the Bears, the previous first or second-round attendance record (10,112) was set back in 2010 when the Bears took on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Game Two of the East Division Semifinals. Hershey took that game by a 3-2 final score with goals from Alexandre Giroux (2) and Mathieu Perreault. Michal Neuvirth was the goaltender of record, making 23 saves.
Hershey would go on to win that series 4-1 and later beat the Texas Stars in six games to capture the franchise’s 11th Calder Cup. Other notable names from that team include John Carlson, Braden Holtby, Karl Alzner, Jay Beagle, Chris Bourque, Andrew Gordon, and Keith Aucoin.
Saturday night’s contest also ended in victory for the Bears, a 5-1 beatdown of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Hershey is now up 2-0 in the series and may not see another game at Giant Center until the next round if they can complete their sweep of the Phantoms on the road in Allentown on Wednesday.
