HERSHEY, Pa – You can chalk up last season as a lost season, but one thing that seems to be certain in the land of chocolate: Last season is all but a distant memory.
In minor league hockey, it is almost impossible to be a consistently good team year in and year out with the constant influx of players. Not only do players come and go but an AHL roster an become a constant tug of war between a parent club and it’s minor league affiliate.
In AHL history, the Calder Cup has only been won in back-to-back seasons 8 times Hershey did it back in 1958 and 1959. The Springfield Indians are the only team in league history to have won the cup in three consecutive seasons (1960-62).
The Bears came close only two seasons ago after winning the Calder Cup in 2005, but losing to the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2006.
The Bears are off to a 5-1 start and have the most points in the league (10 points). Only two teams in the AHL have not lost in regulation: Hamilton, and Houston. The mail reason for the Bears hot start is the team’s offense. As of this article, the Bears have scored 33 goals. To put that in perspective, the next best offense is
One look at the list of top 20 scorers in the league and it’s a whose-who of the Bears roster. The top 3 spots are all Bears: Keith Aucoin, Alexandre Giroux, and Graham Mink. Aucoin leads the league in points with 14 and in assists with 10, while Giroux and Mink are tied for the league lead in goals with 6. Andrew Gordon and Chris Bourque come in at tied for 8th with 7 points each.
The bad news for the Bears is they are tied with the Rochester Americans for the league worst goals allowed with 20.
One look at the special teams could be a good barometer of what is happening to Hershey so far this season. The power play is ranked 5th in the league (.256 percent), while the penalty killing unit has struggle ranking 24th (.786).
In the goaltending department, gone is long time fan favorite Frederic “Freddy” Cassivi; in is Daren Machesney, who was Cassivi’s backup last season. Some scouts felt Machesney should have been the starter all along with his statistics clearly better than Cassivi’s. Still, former Bears Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, and current Bears Head Coach Bob Woods, went the veteran route by sticking with Cassivi.
So far Machesney has struggled, along with back up Simeon Varlamov. Machesney has started in four of the Bears six games. Both players have a goals against average over 3.00 and a save percentage under 90 percent.
The season is long from over, so there is plenty of time to turn the defense, and the special teams around. One has to wonder that if the Bears can shore up there defense, the Bears could once again be fighting for another Calder Cup championship. Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
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