Mike Vecchione invented the Hershey Bears’ signature ROAR celebration. In the postseason, the alternate captain delivered a championship to the team.
Vecchione scored the Calder Cup Finals series-winner in Hershey’s 3-2 overtime Game Seven victory over the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Vecchione’s tally came with 3:41 remaining in the first overtime period.
By Chris Cerullo 3 months ago
The Hershey Bears’ first possible elimination game of the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs will be their last. After defeating the Charlotte Checkers in four games, the Hartford Wolf Pack in three, and the Rochester Americans in six, the Bears will attempt to win the franchise’s league-leading twelfth championship in the AHL’s final game of the 2022-23 season.
Not only does the Game Seven matchup against the Coachella Valley Firebirds mark the definitive end of the series, the game will likely prove to be the end of an era for one of the deepest teams in the AHL. Many of the Bears’ biggest contributors in the postseason will be free agents in July including defensemen Dylan McIlrath, Logan Day, and Gabriel Carlsson; goaltenders Hunter Shepard and Zach Fucale; and key forwards Sam Anas, Garrett Pilon, Mason Morelli, and Riley Sutter. The Capitals, who are looking to go younger next season, could also pluck several stars from the current team including Beck Malenstyn, Connor McMichael, Joe Snively, and Ethen Frank for the NHL roster.
It’s all or nothing tonight for this special group. But if the Bears are feeling that stress, they weren’t showing it hours before puck drop.
The final hockey game of the 2022-23 season will be played on Wednesday night, and now you have no excuse to miss it.
The American Hockey League announced that Game Seven of Calder Cup Finals between the Hershey Bears and Coachella Valley Firebirds will be free to watch online via AHL TV. The game will be played in Coachella Valley and begins at 10 pm Eastern Standard Time
The victor will raise the Calder Cup at the end of the night. If the Bears win, the championship will be their 12th in franchise history — an AHL record — while a potential title will be the first for Coachella Valley.
The Hershey Bears will face a Game Seven in the Calder Cup Finals after once again having no answers on the road in Southern California against the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
The Firebirds defeated the Bears 5-2 in Game Six to tie the series three games apiece. The win was powered by a huge back half of the first period in which Coachella Valley scored three unanswered goals on just nine shots after Connor McMichael had given Hershey an early lead.
Hershey will need to be the first team in the series to win a road game on Wednesday if they want to bring home the franchise’s 12th Calder Cup. Otherwise, it’s season over and no championship silverware.
By Chris Cerullo 3 months ago
The Coachella Valley Firebirds did not hold a morning skate ahead of Game Five on Saturday.
One would assume it was because the team wanted to save its legs after a long postseason run that has seen them play a league-high 23 playoff games. Or maybe because they wanted to go over game film inside the locker room.
Nope. According to Firebirds media — KESQ sports reporter Blake Arthur — the team had to change hotels. The team is now staying 40-plus minutes away from Hershey’s Giant Center.
By Ian Oland 3 months ago
HERSHEY, PA — Shane Wright’s path to stardom in the NHL is not a straight line, but from all evidence this past year, he is well on his way to getting there.
After being drafted fourth overall by the Kraken in the 2022 NHL Draft, the 19-year-old Canadian center has had a whirlwind rookie pro season, playing for four different teams as Seattle has tried to maximize his experience and make the most of rules in his entry-level contract.
Wright figures to make a rapidly-developing Kraken team next season, but his final stop of the 2022-23 campaign has him with Seattle’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, as they face off with the Hershey Bears in the 2023 Calder Cup Finals.
Wright has tallied three points — all assists — in four championship series games thus far, including two breathtaking plays in Games Three and Four in Hershey. Wright has done this from the team’s fourth line as he’s centering AHL veterans Carsen Twarynski and Austin Poganski.
By Ian Oland 3 months ago
HERSHEY, PA — After a horror show in southern California, the Hershey Bears have officially made it a series against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. And they were led by their first-line players who have been mostly silent this postseason.
Mike Vecchione scored twice while fellow liney Ethen Frank chipped in another to give the Bears a huge 3-2 victory.
The Calder Cup Finals series is now tied at two games apiece. Game Four is on Saturday at Giant Center. Hershey is two wins away from their twelfth Calder Cup.
For Capitals fans out of the DMV area wanting to watch the Hershey Bears’ deep postseason run, they now will have opportunity to watch on TV.
With the Stanley Cup Finals over and the Vegas Golden Knights champions, the NHL Network will air the rest of the Calder Cup Finals between the Coachella Valley Firebirds and Hershey Bears.
The first game to air on NHL Network will be Game Four from Giant Center on Thursday night.
HERSHEY, PA — The Hershey Bears just made it a series and in the most stressful way possible.
After being shutout in consecutive games by Joey Daccord, the Chocolate and White finally pierced the Coachella Valley Firebirds goaltender for five goals, winning Game Three 5-4 in overtime.
Fourth-line center Riley Sutter scored the game-winning goal 13:34 into the first overtime after Hershey surrendered a two-goal lead late in the third period.
The Bears now trail Coachella Valley two games to one in the Calder Cup Finals with Games Four and Five upcoming in Hershey.
By Ian Oland 4 months ago
The Hershey Bears lost Game Two of the 2023 Calder Cup Finals 4-0 after being unable to solve Coachella Valley Firebirds’ goaltender Joey Daccord for a second consecutive game. But Daccord’s perfect performance was not on top of Todd Nelson’s mind when speaking to reporters afterward.
The Bears were whistled for 10 minor penalties and received 42 minutes in penalties. The Firebirds were awarded nine power plays — six more than the Bears — and a penalty shot.
“A lot of players (like Sam Anas and Ethen Frank) didn’t get a lot of ice time today because we were killing penalties all night,” Nelson said. “Take 10 penalties, come on. That’s a period. So, we’ve got to smarten up.”
