HERSHEY, PA — The Hershey Bears are not only the number one seed in the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, but they’re also the deepest team in the AHL’s postseason as well.
Thursday, ahead of Game One of the Atlantic Division Finals, the team healthy-scratched prospects Andrew Cristall, Alexander Suzdalev, and Zac Funk. One of the best players in the AHL over the previous two seasons also sat out.
Matthew Phillips, who scored 36 and 31 goals during his previous two full seasons with Calgary’s AHL affiliates, was scratched for a second-straight game in favor of veteran Garrett Roe.
“We just felt putting a guy like Garrett Roe with Miroshnichenko and Mike Vecchione would solidify that line, which it has,” Nelson explained to RMNB after the Bears’ 6-1 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack in Game 1. “And also [Phillips] is nursing a lower-body injury that’s not totally healed yet. So we’re going to need everybody down the stretch here. So we’ll just take it game by game and go from there.”
Phillips was not listed by the Bears as one of the team’s injured unavailable players before Game 1, though a borderline, nagging injury that could be played through may not qualify.
Unavailable for the Bears tonight: Vincent Iorio (injury, non-roster); Riley Sutter (injury); Logan Day (injury). https://t.co/MF74R1HfEd
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) May 16, 2024
Phillips went without a point in his first three appearances in the playoffs against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, posting one shot on goal and registering a plus-minus of minus-two. He skated with Jimmy Huntington and Ivan Miroshnichenko on the team’s third line.
Roe stepped into the lineup in Game 4 against the Phantoms and immediately made a huge impact, finding instant chemistry with Mike Vecchione and Miroshnichenko on Nelson’s new third trio. The appearance marked Roe’s AHL postseason debut at age 36, 2 months, and 19 days.
“I think the whole team, it wasn’t just me coming in, it was the whole team was kind of ready to turn the page from Game Three (where we lost to Lehigh Valley 2-0),” Roe said. “We didn’t have a good game at all to be honest with you. So it was nice to be able to come in and take that momentum with the rest of the guys and finish out that series.”
Miroshnichenko scored twice in Game 4, helping eliminate the Phantoms. Nelson stayed with Roe in Game 1 of the Atlantic Division Finals on Thursday and the veteran centerman scored his first career playoff goal. Miroshnichenko added his third goal in two games while Vecchione added his first point of the playoffs, an assist.
Roe, a Vienna, VA native, also landed a big hit in the first period that made the Giant Center crowd roar.
“Just push the intensity, push the energy,” Roe said of his opportunity. “I think energy and encouragement’s contagious. So I think that bleeds into one guy, that bleeds into a second guy, and so on. So I think when you have three or four guys starting to chime in on things and that turns into five, six, and you get the whole group going.”
Roe spent the previous 10 seasons overseas in the SHL (Sweden), National League (Switzerland), DEL (Germany), and ICEHL (Austria) before signing with Hershey as a free agent over the summer.
May 18 update: Matthew Phillips was scratched for a third straight game on Saturday for Game 2. During the FOX 43 telecast of the game, Zack Fisch said of the forward, “Matthew Phillips is an option for the Bears. Todd Nelson mentioned he had a lower-body injury late in the year that he’s maybe still fighting through but I wanted to clarify Nelson, Phillips is available and will be part of the Bears run.”
