HERSHEY, PA — Thanks to an overtime goal from Matt Strome, the Hershey Bears repeated as champions in June. Saturday, after another short summer, the Bears raised their 2024 Calder Cup championship banner to the rafters in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,588 at Giant Center.
The ceremony marked the 13th championship banner raised in Hershey — one of the best minor league markets in all of North America.
Starting at 6:40 pm, the Bears dimmed the lights and played a five-minute long introduction video recapping the team’s vast successes from last season.
What Hershey accomplished during the 2023-24 season is staggering.
- They won 53 games, the most ever in a 72-game schedule
- .771 regular season winning percentage (highest in franchise history)
- .736 away percentage (franchise record)
- 87.69 PK percentage (franchise record)
- Won the Macgregor Kilpatrick trophy as regular season champions (111 standings points)
- Todd Nelson won the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as coach of the year
- Clay Stevenson tied for the most shutouts in franchise history (7)
- Hunter Shepard won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien award as goaltender of the year
- Clay Stevenson and Hunter Shepard were the Harry Holmes award recipients and tied a franchise shutout record with 12
- Hendrix Lapierre was named AHL Playoffs MVP
- 8-0 record in overtime
After each new player to the 2024-25 Bears roster was introduced to the crowd including Zac Funk and Ethan Bear, each returning championship skater got their due individually. The loudest ovations from the crowd were given to star veterans Mike Vecchione and Hunter Shepard.
Strome, who scored the Calder Cup-winning goal in Game 6 of the finals, got the honor of skating the trophy onto the ice to deafening cheers from the home crowd. Strome was given the opportunity after former captain Dylan McIlrath graduating to the Capitals.
The team watched the banner partially go up.
Then the remaining members of the championship team posed in front of the brown and white 2024 Calder Cup champions banner.
Unlike the previous year, the Bears held a shorter ceremony on the ice and gave out championship rings separately at a different event on Thursday.
Hershey players wore specially-made back-to-back champion jerseys for the game.
Golden.
We're rocking these back to back champions jerseys for both games this weekend ✨ pic.twitter.com/pU8nbXxZJg
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) October 10, 2024
The importance of the night was evident nearly 30 minutes before doors opened at the arena. Thousands of Bears fans lined up outside in anticipation of the pregame ceremony.
Thousands of fans were in line before doors opened for @TheHersheyBears banner-raising game.
This picture was taken at 5 pm, thirty minutes before doors opening. pic.twitter.com/j2Lh8s9mN2
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 12, 2024
The team gave away mini replica Calder Cup champion banners to fans as they walked into the venue.
Tonight’s banner giveaway at Giant Center pic.twitter.com/BlK1LEgBoS
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 12, 2024
The Bears went on to defeat the Cleveland Monsters 7-3 in their Home Opener with Ethen Frank scoring a hat trick.
The matchup this year comes after Cleveland pushed Hershey to the limit in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bears needed an overtime goal in Game Seven from Virginia native Garrett Roe to send them Bears back to the Finals where they eventually eliminated the Coachella Valley Firebirds four games to two.
.@TheHersheyBears Calder Cup championship banner ceremony is beginning pic.twitter.com/5zSVqqLJV1
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 12, 2024
