Bears/Penguins AHL Preview

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (33-15-2-3, 71 points)

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Hershey Bears (32-12-5-5, 74 points)

Television: B2Networks

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

Gametime: 7:00 PM ET

Divisional rivals square up tonight at the Giant Center as the Penguins and the Bears meet for the sixth time this season. Hershey looks to right their ship after losing consecutive home games in regulation to Albany and Hamilton last weekend for the first time this season. They should have a good chance to do just that against a Penguin team that has a 1-6-1 record over their last 8 road games.

The Bears have seen another shakeup in their goaltending situation as Nolan Schaefer has once again been called up to his parent club, the San Jose Sharks. To take his place on the roster Hershey has once again signed Jeff Pietrasiak to a PTO. He appeared in one game earlier in the season with the team, making 45 saves on the way to 7-4 win over the Norfolk Admirals. The moves leave the Bears number one goaltending position again resting on the shoulders of Maxime Daigneault, who struggled last weekend in his first action since returning from a high ankle sprain. He does however boast the highest winning percentage (12-4-0, .750) among all AHL goalies with at least 5 appearances.

A win could pull the Bears back to within 5 points of the division leading Admirals depending on their result on the road against the Springfield Falcons.

Hershey is Finally Beaten by Albany

River Rats snap 19 game losing streak to the Bears Dating Back to March 28, 2004

Albany River Rats 3, Hershey Bears 1

Boxscore
(Photo Courtesy of Mark Newman/AHL.com)

It looked like a completely different River Rats team than the Bears were used to facing. In the week since these two teams last played, Albany was lucky enough to receive some much needed help in the newly assigned left wing Antti Laaksonen from the Colorado Avalanche and defenseman Anton Babchuk from the Carolina Hurricanes. Each played a big factor in the River Rats first win over the Bears since March 28, 2004.

A sellout crowd of 10,598 at the Giant Center saw Albany jump all over Hershey from the start. Following a Matt Hendricks high-sticking penalty just 4:03 into the game, Matt Murley put home a power play goal on a rebound shot in front of Nolan Schaefer, after the Bears’ goaltender had originally made the save on a Kyle Cumiskey shot. It was Murley’s 14th goal of the season and gave Albany an early 1-0 lead.

Just 15 seconds later the River Rats struck again as Jakub Petruzalek took advantage of a Bears defensive lapse to knock home his 8th of the season and put the home team in a 2-0 whole. Hershey continued their lackluster play and the crowd started to get on them. They voiced their displeasure after some more sloppy play in their own zone lead to a couple more quality scoring chances for Albany after the Bears failed to carry the puck out of their defensive zone cleanly. The River Rats outshot the Bears 14-9 in the first period and were 1-3 on the power play. The score could have been much worse than 2-0 at the intermission if not for some nice saves by Nolan Schaefer in his first start since being reassigned to Hershey by his parent club, the San Jose Sharks.

The second period didn’t start much better as the River Rats struck again just 14 seconds into the period as Annti Laaksonen put home a pass from captain Keith Aucoin right into the slot area. It was Laaksonen’s 3rd goal in his 2nd game since being reassigned to Albany.

The game finally started to turn Hershey’s way at the 8:08 mark of the second when left winger Louis Robitaille got involved in a scrap with Kevin Estrada of the River Rats. The fight brought some energy into the building as it gave the fans something to cheer about. Hershey seemed to feed off of this as they pretty much controlled the action the rest of the game. They were finally able to solve goaltender Tyler Weiman with 2:28 remaining in the 2nd period as Jakub Klepis won a battle for the puck in the offensive corner, and found Kip Brennon in front of the net. The Bears’ resident tough guy received the pass and beat Weiman for his 1st goal in a Hershey uniform. The goal was also the 200th of the season for the Bears, giving them some life heading into the 3rd period.

The final period saw a furious comeback attempt come up short as despite dominating the play, outshooting their opposition 19-5, Hershey was unable to beat Tyler Weiman who made some excellent saves on two quality chances by Chad Wiseman in the period. With 2:48 to go, Wiseman celebrated what he thought was a goal after he had a point blank shot in front of the River Rats goal. It was not to be as Weiman did not allow the puck to squeeze through his pads as he secured Albany’s first win over Hershey this season in their seventh try.

The game marked the season debut in the AHL for defenseman Mike Green who was reassigned to the Bears this past Thursday. He wore number 25 and was paired up with defenseman Tyler Sloan, who coincidently wore number 5, the number Green wore with the Bears last season. He also saw time on the first power play unit on the point with Alexandre Giroux.

Your Top Three Stars:

1. Tyler Weiman, Albany 35 Saves

2. Keith Aucoin, Albany 2 Assists

3. Antti Laaksonen, Albany 1 Goal

Game Notes:

Mike Vogel was a guest in John Walton’s booth during the first intermission. He talked about Kolzig’s recent injury, Frederic Cassivi possibly playing in Washington’s game at Montreal on Tuesday, Mike Green’s reassignment being a numbers game, and Jeff Schultz’s impressive play with the Caps that he credited to his long reach and good poise…. Tim Leone of The Patriot News was Walton’s guest during the second intermission and he credited Louis Robitaille’s fight as a momentum changer in the game, and talked about Hershey’s goaltending situation as Maxime Daigneault is not quite ready to play as of yet…. Nolan Schaefer made his 19th start of the season in the AHL, and his 3rd with Hershey…. Jamie Hunt (wrist), Pete Vandermeer (broken leg), and Deane Arsene (suspension) were scratched to go along with Marc Busenburg, Joey Tenute, and Jonas Johansson, who were listed as healthy scratches…. Former Capital Stephen Peat was a scratch for Albany. He is currently out with a broken leg.

Bears/River Rats AHL Preview

Albany River Rats (23-24-2-2, 50 points)
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Hershey Bears (32-10-5-5, 74 points)

Television: B2Networks

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

Gametime: 7:00 PM ET

After having a week off since last Saturday’s 4-0 win at home against Albany, the Bears return to action tonight to once face the River Rats at the Giant Center. Hershey will be going for their unheard of 20th consecutive win over the shared AHL franchise of the Carolina Hurricanes and the Colorado Avalanche.

With Frederic Cassivi still in Washington, goaltender Nolan Schaefer will get his first start since returning to the team on Feb 15. He was recalled by his parent club, the San Jose Sharks, when Evgeni Nabokov was sidelined with a groin injury.

The Bears find themselves five points out of first place in the East Division after Norfolk’s overtime win Wednesday night at home against the Portland Pirates. The Admirals however, were destroyed last night by the River Rats 7-3 at the Times Union Center in Albany. Cody McCormick, Dan DaSilva, and Antti Laaksonen each netted two goals to lead the way in the impressive victory.

Since these two teams played last weekend, Albany has received some much needed help on the blue line following the reassignment of defenseman Anton Babchuk from Carolina. In 51 games this season with the Hurricanes, Babchuk had 2 goals and 12 assists and was a -6 defensively.

Joey Tenute will be a gametime decision after being hit in the mouth with a stick in Tuesday’s practice.

Machesney Returns to Stingrays

Charlotte Checkers (25-18-1-2, 53 points)

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South Carolina Stingrays (26-18-0-3, 55 points)

Television: B2Networks

Radio: ESPN 910-AM

Gametime: 7:05 PM ET

With the reassignment of Nolan Schaefer to Hershey and Maxime Daigneault fully recovered from his ankle injury, their was no more room on the roster for Daren Machesney. The Caps sent the first year pro back to South Carolina to resume his role of backing up Davis Parley, the ECHL’s leading goaltender in wins, saves, and minutes played. Because of the many injuries to goaltenders within the Washington system, Machesney has moved around a lot this season. In fact, earlier this month he was demoted from Hershey to South Carolina and then promoted to the Capitals in the same day. So far this season he has a 2-5-0 record with a goals against average of 3.24 and an .878 save percentage in seven games with the Stingrays.

(Photo Courtesy of Just Sports Photography)

The move precipitated a trade today between South Carolina and Charlotte as backup goaltender Jorge Alves was sent to the Checkers for financial considerations. There was simply no more room on the roster for the seldom used goalie as he appeared in only one game with the Stingrays this season in a relief role for Parley.

He won’t have far to travel though, as the Charlotte Checkers come to South Carolina tonight to take on the Stingrays. It will be the third game in their current six game home streak. The Florida Everblades will come to town tomorrow night for the first of two back-to-back evening games.

South Carolina also announced the signing of rookie defenseman Tim Judy and the release of defenseman Jeff Moor. Judy has appeared in four games for the Stingrays so far this year recording 1 assist and a -2 defensive rating. Moor played in five games for the Stingrays without recording a point. He returns to the Columbus Cottenmouths of the Southern Professional Hockey League, where he played in 25 games earlier this season recording 2 goals and 7 assists to go along with 135 penalty minutes.

The moves come as South Carolina looks to reload for their push to a playoff berth in the ECHL’s Eastern Conference. Their 55 points currently puts them in fifth place in the South Division just 9 points behind Division and Conference leaders Gwinnett and Texas.

Reinforcements Are on the Way to Hershey

Some much needed help is on the way to Hershey. Defenseman Mike Green of the Washington Capitals and goaltender Nolan Schaefer of the San Jose Sharks were both reassigned to the Bears today.
(Photo Courtesy of Dave Sanford/Getty Images)

The 21 year old Green was a key member of the Hershey's Calder Cup championship team last season and had spent the entire season so far with the Washington Capitals. He played in 54 games for the big club recording 2 goals and 8 assists while putting up a +1 defensive rating. Since he returned from a foot injury just before the All-Star break, his play has been inconsistent at best. He has also seen his ice time decline as of late, including a season low of 5:23 in a game against Ottawa on January 16th. The return to the AHL should help Green reestablish his game back to the level he played at during the Bears playoff run.

Schaefer returns to Hershey after spending a week in San Jose as he was recalled when Evgeni Nabakov suffered a slight groin injury. He previously played in 2 games with the Bears recording a 0-2-0 record with a 4.05 goals against average and an .863 save percentage. Schaefer will provide some much needed experience to the Bears as he will split time with Maxime Daigneault who is returning from an ankle injury. The move would also allow the team to return Daren Machesney back to the South Carolina Stingrays for more seasoning.