The Hershey Bears may be leading the AHL’s Eastern Conference standings, but they’ve found themselves in the midst of an injury crisis, with eight of the team’s skaters unable to dress against the Belleville Senators on Friday night.
Hendrix Lapierre was one of eight players unavailable against Belleville, sitting out with an upper-body injury. Mike Sgarbossa, Jake Massie, Hardy Häman Aktell, Riley Sutter, and Brennan Saulnier have all sustained lower-body injuries, per the Bears. Other players missing include Pierrick Dubé, who is serving a five-game suspension, and Brad Hunt, who is out for personal reasons.
Unavailable for the Bears tonight:
• Massie (lower body)
• Häman Aktell (lower body)
• Dubé (suspension)
• Saulnier (lower body)
• Sgarbossa (lower body)
• Sutter (lower body)
• Lapierre (upper body)
• Hunt (personal) https://t.co/sPQ8CIQF0y— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) January 24, 2025
Voice of the Bears Zack Fisch reported during the team’s broadcast that Lapierre took the morning skate on Friday but spoke with the trainers before he was ruled unable to play with the upper-body injury. He previously took a hard hit against the Laval Rocket on Wednesday.
After the loss to Laval, Hershey Bears head coach Todd Nelson told PennLive’s Bob Flounders that Sgarbossa and Massie would both be out week-to-week, while Sutter and Häman Aktell would be out day-to-day. Saulnier’s injury has also been labeled day-to-day.
Friday marks Lapierre’s first absence since his AHL season debut on January 4. After spending the first half of the campaign for the Capitals, recording eight points (0g, 8a) in 27 NHL games, Washington opted to return him to the Bears for a third season. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery explained the move as a way for Lapierre to get more playing time after a series of low-minute games and healthy scratches in DC, as well as a way for him to regain confidence after a rocky start to the 2024-25 season.
“With Lappy’s minutes, being in the stands, we felt as an organization it was best for him to get playing in Hershey, in the AHL,” he said after the move. “Get his game in a good spot, confident again rather than him being here playing limited minutes or, for that matter, right now, being in the stands.”
Lapierre was re-finding his game back with the Bears before sustaining the injury. He registered five assists in his first eight games back in Hershey, including multi-point nights against the Providence Bruins and Charlotte Checkers, and has recorded top-six minutes, most recently playing on a line with Ivan Miroshnichenko and Mike Vecchione.
After returning to Hershey, Lapierre told RMNB he was frustrated by his demotion but was determined to make the most of his time in the AHL to earn another stint in the NHL.
“Obviously, you don’t want to be down here, but I think this is a great place to play and we have a good group of guys, so at least that’s fun,” he said, later adding, “I try hard. I care about this. I try to get better every day, and I know that eventually, whenever it’s going to be, I’m going to get called back up. Hopefully, I’ll stay there, and I’ll make it worth it.”
Hershey sustained yet another injury during their game against Belleville Friday. After Bears Hockey Nation reported Henrik Rybinski did not play for much of the third period, Fisch confirmed he was hurt postgame. The Bears managed to push the Senators to overtime on Friday despite their slew of injuries, but ultimately fell 4-3. They will face the Senators again Saturday for the second half of the back-to-back.
