Bears ready to defend their title

HERSHEY, PA – The Hershey Bears look to defend their Calder Cup crown Thursday night when they take on the Texas Stars in pursuit of the team’s 11^th title in franchise history. The team is in the Finals for the fourth time in five years after an incredible 60 wins during the regular season (60-17-0-3, 123 points) which set an all-time mark for the league. The Bears have gone 12-3 in the playoffs but have needed nine third-period comebacks and an AHL record seven overtime wins to earn the Eastern Conference title. Hershey’s roster features 18 members of last year’s Calder Cup championship team including Keith Aucoin and Alexandre Giroux. T he Texas Stars are in their first year of existence in the AHL going 46-27-3-4 (99 points) during the regular season. Jamie Benn has been the Stars’ best player on offensive leading the AHL with 14 goals and 24 points in 18 playoff games. The best-of-seven series begins Thursday and Saturday in Hershey, who is has been and affiliation with the Washington Capitals since 2005. The Bears have won seven consecutive playoff series which is tied for the longest streak in AHL history. Hershey’s 22 Finals appearances are also a league record. Hershey finished the regular season first in goals scored, power-play and penalty-killing efficiency, and was tied for second (with Texas) in goals against. The Stars were second on the penalty kill. Texas became the fourth team in AHL history to win two Game 7’s on the road in the same postseason. The Calder Cup Finals are being played in the state of Pennsylvania for the seventh year in a row, and in the state of Texas for the first time since 2003.

Other fun facts
· The Hershey Bears are making their 22nd Calder Cup Finals appearance in 72 AHL seasons, extending their own league record. The Bears won their 10th Cup in 2009, breaking a tie with the original Cleveland Barons franchise for the most ever. · The Texas Stars are wrapping up their inaugural season in the AHL with a trip to the Calder Cup Finals, becoming the 11th team in AHL history to reach the Finals in their first season and the first since Chicago and Bridgeport did it in 2002.
· Hershey’s Mark French and Texas’s Glen Gulutzan have their teams in the Finals in their first season as AHL head coaches. Gulutzan and French are the first head coaches to reach the Finals in their first AHL season since Chicago’s John Anderson and Bridgeport’s Steve Stirling did it in 2002.
· The Bears have won seven consecutive playoff series, tying the AHL record, and are bidding to become the AHL’s first repeat champion since the Springfield Indians in 1989-90 and 1990-91.
· Texas is the seventh West Division team in nine years to play for the Cup.
· Hershey won the Calder Cup in 2006 and 2009 and was runner-up in 2007, and is the first team to reach the Finals four times in a five-year span since Rochester made four consecutive appearances in 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967.
· French , an assistant on Hershey’s 2009 title team, is the third head coach to lead the Bears to the Calder Cup Finals in the last five years. Bruce Boudreau made back-to-back appearances in 2006 and 2007 before Bob Woods followed suit in 2009.
· Stars assistant coach Paul Jerrard played three seasons in Hershey and was a member of their Calder Cup championship team in 1997. He later spent two years as an assistant with the Bears (2003-05).
· Hershey led the AHL in offense during the regular season with 342 goals scored, while the Bears and Texas tied for second with 198 goals allowed.
· Hershey (87.4 percent) and Texas (86.4 percent) were the AHL’s top two penalty-killing teams during the regular season.
· Hershey’s Michal Neuvirth is looking to become the first goaltender to win the Calder Cup in back-to-back seasons since Pete Peeters did it with the Maine Mariners in 1978 and 1979.
· Hershey led the AHL in attendance during the regular season with an average of 9,520 fans per game, the league’s fifth-highest total since official numbers were first recorded in 1962-63. In its first season, Texas ranked 10th with an average of 5,355 fans per game. 2010 Calder Cup Finals Schedule Hershey Bears vs. Texas Stars
Game 1 – Thu., June 3 – Texas at Hershey, 7:00 ET
Game 2 – Sat., June 5 – Texas at Hershey, 7:00 ET
Game 3 – Mon., June 7 – Hershey at Texas, 8:30 ET
Game 4 – Wed., June 9 – Hershey at Texas, 8:30 ET
*Game 5 – Fri., June 11 – Hershey at Texas, 8:30 ET
*Game 6 – Mon., June 14 – Texas at Hershey, 7:00 ET
*Game 7 – Wed., June 16 – Texas at Hershey, 7:00 ET Regular Season Comparison