Big Weekend For the 'Rays

Monday, March 12th 2007

The South Carolina Stingrays won all three of their games this weekend, an impressive feat considering their thin lineup due to injuries and callups to Hershey. The wins moved them in front of the Charlotte Checkers and into the final playoff position in the South Division. They lead the Checkers by 2 points and trail the Augusta Lynx by only 2 points for fourth place. The Stingrays got a boost to their lineup as Cail MacLean was activated from the disabled list before Saturday night’s win over Reading. (Photo Courtesy of www.stingrayshockey.com)

Some more roster moves were made on Monday as the Stingrays lost one of their leading scorers while receiving another back in return. Cam McCaffrey was recalled to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, his first callup to the AHL this year. He has yet to record a point in 22 career games in the AHL, 19 with the Portland Pirates during the ‘04-’05 season and 3 last year with the Hershey Bears. Matt Reid was returned to the team despite the fact that he recorded 3 assists in Hershey’s 5-3 win at the Manchester Monarchs Friday night.

The Stingrays received some bad news as they lost defenseman Sasha Pokoluk during Friday night’s game after he received a hard hit. The injury could become a concern for the highly touted prospect as he missed the first four months of the season after suffering a concussion while playing in the Hershey Bears opening game. Journeyman defenseman Tim Judy was also released today.

The moves come as the Stingrays start an important stretch of five games in six nights beginning Tuesday night in Florida. During that stretch they will play the second place Everblades three straight times. These games will decide once and for all whether or not this will be a playoff team.

Dubielewicz Denies Bears

Sound Tigers Goaltender Records Over 50 Saves For A Second Consecutive Game Against Hershey

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4, Hershey Bears, 2

Boxscore

(Photo Courtesy of Rich Stieglitz/AHL)

He is becoming a thorn in the side of the Hershey Bears this season. Wade Dubielewicz followed up his 51 save performance in a shootout win at Hershey on January 20th with an encore of 52 saves last night in front of 4,745 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

The Bears resembled their parent team of late when they got off to a sluggish start and spotted the Sound Tigers a 2-0 first period lead. Robert Nilsson recorded his 10th goal of the season, including his 5th against the Bears, just a minute and twenty-five seconds in. Eric Boguniecki won a lose puck behind Hershey's goaltender Frederic Cassivi and quickly found Nilsson in front who one-timed the puck into the back of the net.

A poor defense display led to Bridgeport's second goal of the game when forward Jason Pitton was allowed to put four consecutive shots on the Bears net. Cassivi was able to stop the first three but not the last as the shot was roofed short side for his 6th goal of the season at the 13:36 mark of the opening period.

Following that goal Hershey would finally show some signs of life, getting back in the game less than a minute later when Louis Robitaille back handed home a rebound off a Dave Steckel shot for his 5th of the year cutting the Sound Tigers lead in half at 2-1. The second period saw the Bears pull even just 2:21 in when Jakub Klepis followed up a Timo Helbling shot wristing the puck past Dubielewicz. The goal continued an impressive run for the Czech winger since his demotion from the Caps as he now has 2 goals and 5 assists in only 7 games since his return to the AHL.

That would be the last of the celebrating the Bears were able to do tonight as despite greatly outshooting Bridgeport and having plenty of quality scoring chances, they would not be able to beat Dubielewicz again. A Chad Wiseman hooking penalty less than three minutes later would allow Eric Boguniecki to score the game winning goal on the power play following a beautiful cross ice pass from Bear killer Robert Nilsson. Jeremy Colliton would provide the empty net goal with 34 seconds remaining to put the game away for good, 4-2.

The Hershey Bears were unable to take advantage of a night when both of their divisional rivals lost. Norfolk suffered only their second regulation defeat at home this season as the Albany River Rats scored four unanswered goals on the way to a 4-2 win. Meanwhile in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the Penguins were downed by the visiting Portland Pirates 2-1. With the top three teams in the division all loosing the standings remain the same with Norfolk holding a five point lead over the Bears who hold a five point lead over the Penguins.

Your Top 3 Stars:

1. Wade Dubielewicz, Bridgeport 52 saves

2. Robert Nilsson, Bridgeport 1 goal and 1 assist

3. Eric Boguniecki, Bridgeport GW goal and 1 assist

Game Notes:

Hershey scratches on the evening were goaltender Maxime Daigneault, defenseman Jamie Hunt, Donny Grover, and Deryk Engelland, and forward Jonas Johansson.... Former Capital Rick Berry currently plays for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and has 2 goals, 10 assists and is a -9 on the year in 46 games.... Pete Vandermeer will again join John Walton in the Bears radio booth for tomorrow night's home game versus the Albany River Rats.

Bears/Sound Tigers AHL Preview

Hershey Bears (31-9-5-5, 72 points)
at

Bridgeport Sound Tigers (22-20-1-4, 49 points)

Television: B2Networks

Radio: Bears Network (100.1 FM, 1490-AM, 960-AM)

Gametime: 7:30 PM ET

The Hershey Bears return to action tonight with a road contest at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport. It will be the sixth meeting this season between these two teams as the Bears have posted a 1-1-1-2 record overall against the Sound Tigers, including a 1-1-0-0 record in Bridgeport this season.

Hershey will get a much needed boost tonight in the tough guy department as newly acquired Kip Brennan will be making his debut for the team. The 6'4" 220 pound Brennan comes to the Bears from Long Beach of the ECHL, where he played in 11 games this season after recovering from a rib injury. In his time with the Ice Dogs he recorded 2 goals and added 74 penalty minutes. He brings eight years of professional hockey experience with him including 58 games in the NHL, 12 of which were with the Anaheim Ducks last season.

While Brennan is added to the lineup the team will be without forward Jonas Johansson, who is ill, goaltender Maxime Daigneault, who is still recovering from an upper body injury, and defenseman Derek Engelland.

In another game that the Bears will definitely be interested in as they look to close in on the division leader, the Norfolk Admirals will host the Portland Pirates tonight. The Admirals have currently won six games in a row and fourteen straight at home. They lead not only the East Division, but the entire league with 77 points on the season.

Kip Brennan's Career Stats Including Playoffs:

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1996-97	Windsor Spitfires	OHL	42	0	10	10	156	5	0	1	1	16
1997-98	Sudbury Wolves	OHL	24	0	3	3	85	--	--	--	--	--
1999-00	Sudbury Wolves	OHL	55	16	16	32	228	12	3	3	6	67
2000-01	Lowell Lock Monsters	AHL	23	2	3	5	117	--	--	--	--	--
2001-02	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	4	0	0	0	22	--	--	--	--	--
2002-03	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	19	0	0	0	57	--	--	--	--	--
2003-04	Manchester Monarchs	AHL	2	0	0	0	6	--	--	--	--	--
2004-05	Chicago Wolves	AHL	48	7	6	13	267	18	1	1	2	105
2005-06	Portland Pirates	AHL	9	2	1	3	22	--	--	--	--	--
2006-07	Toronto Marlies*	AHL	1	0	0	0	6
2006-07	Long Beach Ice Dogs*	ECHL	11	2	3	5	74
2006-07	Hershey Bears	AHL	Stats Unavailable
	NHL Totals		58	1	1	2	210

Hershey Lets One Slip Away

Bears led 3-1 before falling in Shootout to Bridgeport
Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4, Hershey Bears 3 F/SO
Boxscore

Hershey, in front of a large home crowd of 9,401, seemed to be in complete control of this game, getting on the board early when Eric Fehr put a loose puck past Sound Tigers' goaltender Wade Dubielewicz for a 1-0 lead just 2:20 into the first period. It was the 22nd goal of the season for the talented right winger. Jakub Klepis, playing in his first game since being reassigned to the Bears, missed a chance to put Hershey up by 2 when he failed to connect on a wide open net courtesy of a pass from defenseman Timo Helbling.

Bridgeport responded with a power-play goal by Brandon Nolen after Matt Hendricks was sent to the box for hooking. That goal, Nolen's 3rd of the season, tied the game at one.

Tomas Fleichmann quickly responded for the Bears, putting Hershey back on top just 43 seconds later capitalizing on a rebound off a Joey Tenute shot that Dubielewicz was unable to secure. With 1:44 remaining in the first period Fleichmann would put in his second goal of the game and 15th of the season. Alexandre Giroux, who had the primary assist on the goal, would immediately get into an altercation with Bridgeport's Tomas Melac before he was able to celebrate the goal. Giroux would make quick work of Melac knocking him to the ice with a quick right. Matching fighting majors would follow, but Melac would get an extra roughing penalty on the play.

In what can be looked at as a turning point in the game, Maxime Daigneault was shaken up 1:50 into the second period after Drew Fata broke to the net and ran him over after failing to convert on his scoring opportunity. Daigneault would finish the period but would then be replaced by backup Daren Machesney at the beginning of the third.

Bridgeport would take advantage of this shift in momentum by cutting the lead to 3-2 when Robert Nilsson capitalized on a two man advantage by scoring his 9th goal of the season. The Sound Tigers then controlled much of the action for the rest of the game. And despite a sound relief effort by Machesney, they were able to tie the game at 3 with 6:23 remaining in the game on a goal by Eric Boguniecki, his 9th of the season as well. That score would hold up through overtime leading to a shootout to decide the outcome of the contest.

For those of you unfamiliar with the AHL rules in the shootout, they actually have 5 rounds as apposed to the NHL's 3 rounds. Goals by Bridgeport's Peter Ferraro and Steve Regier put the Sound Tigers ahead 2-0. Hershey was able to respond however and after goals by Tomas Fleichmann and Matt Hendricks the shootout was tied up at 2 after four shots. On the fifth attempt Allan Rourke put the game winner past Machesney while Dubielewicz stopped Joey Tenute's attempt to tie. Wade Dubielewicz was outstanding for the Sound Tigers, stopping 51 shots in regulation and overtime plus 3 of 5 in the shootout for the win.

It was a disappointing outcome for the Bears who were looking to make up some ground on division leading Norfolk who lost earlier in the day.

Your Top 3 Stars of the Game:
1. Wade Dubielewicz, Bridgeport 51 saves
2. Tomas Fleichmann, Hershey 2 goals
3. Eric Boguniecki, Bridgeport Game-tying goal

Note: Defenseman Jamie Hunt, who was recalled earlier in the day to Washington and did not play when Mike Green dressed, was returned to Hershey and played in tonight's game.