Bears Enjoy First Round Bye to Open Playoffs
April 21, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA) - The Hershey Bears concluded their 87th regular season of competition in the American Hockey League last weekend with a 44-20-6-1 record, capturing the Atlantic Division crown and securing a first-round bye for the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs. The Bears have qualified for the AHL postseason for a league-leading 72nd time, and now await the determination of their opponent for the Atlantic Division Semifinals before beginning their quest to repeat for the third consecutive spring as Calder Cup champions while becoming only the second team in league history to go back-to-back-to-back, joining the 1960-62 Springfield Indians.
2024-25 REGULAR SEASON LEADERS:
Games Played: Mike Vecchione (68)
Goals: Ivan Miroshnichenko (23)
Assists: Ethan Bear (36)
Points: Ethan Bear (46)
PIMs: Brennan Saulnier (99)
Power-Play Goals: Chase Priskie (9)
Shorthanded Goals: Grant Cruikshank, Bogdan Trineyev (1)
Game-Winning Goals: Mike Vecchione (6)
Plus/Minus: Ethan Bear (+33)
Shots: Pierrick Dubé (175)
Wins: Hunter Shepard (23)
Shutouts: Hunter Shepard (3)
GAA: Hunter Shepard (2.80)
SV%: Hunter Shepard (.891)
Only includes qualified players
LOCAL PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Monday, April 21
Day Off
Tuesday, April 22
Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center
Wednesday, April 23
Practice, 9:30 a.m. at GIANT Center
Thursday, April 24
Day Off
Friday, April 25
Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center
Saturday, April 26
Day Off
Sunday, April 27
Practice, 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center
Practice schedule is subject to change. Please check HersheyBears.com daily for updates.
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:
- Wednesday, April 16 - Hershey 2 vs. Syracuse 3 (OT)
- Friday, April 18 - Hershey 4 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2
- Saturday, April 19 - Hershey 3 vs. Lehigh Valley 4
TEAM NEWS AND NOTES:
ROAR WARRIORS:
The Bears put together a remarkable road season, setting a franchise-record .750 points percentage (24-6-5-1) away from GIANT Center during the 2024-25 campaign. Part of Hershey's road highlights included a franchise-record 12-game road point streak (10-0-2-0) which also doubled as the best road point streak to open the season, and a franchise-record 10-game road trip in March in which the Chocolate and White went 6-2-1-1. The Bears also set a new club road record for overtime wins, with five.
CLOSE FOR COMFORT:
The Bears played 41 games this season in which the margin of victory was decided by one goal (25-8-7-1), with Hershey's 25 one-goal victories establishing a new franchise record, besting the mark of 24 set last season (24-2-0-5).
DISCIPLINED BEARS:
Hershey spent very little time in the penalty box this season with the third-fewest penalty minutes (775, 10.76) in the AHL and the fewest among Eastern Conference teams. Hershey's 219 times shorthanded were also the fewest in the league and marked the lowest in franchise history dating back to 1979-80.
SHOT SUPPRESSORS:
The Bears once again were a defensively stifling club, finishing second in the league with just 1,868 shots against (25.94 against per game), setting a new franchise record by besting last season's mark of 1,870 (25.97 against per game).
BATTLING THE (INJURY) BUG:
After getting through much of the 2023-24 regular season relatively unscathed by losing only 107 man-games due to injury or illness on their way to finishing first in the league, the Bears battled through some adversity this season, losing 251 man-games. Notable extended absences included Jake Massie (29 games, Jan. 24-April 12) and Mike Sgarbossa (21 games, March 2-Present), while Hershey also witnessed defensemen Logan Day and Hardy Häman Aktell depart midseason for opportunities in Europe.
BEAR MARKET:
A major individual success story this season for Hershey was defenseman Ethan Bear, whose 36 assists and 46 points led the club. Bear became the second blueliner to lead the Chocolate and White in scoring, and the first to do so since Rollie McLenahan paced the Bears with 60 points during the 1949-50 campaign. Bear finished tied for eighth in league scoring among defensemen, and his 46 points represented the fourth-most by a Hershey defenseman since the Bears affiliated with the Washington Capitals prior to the 2005-06 season. For his efforts, Bear was recognized during the season by being selected to participate with teammate Alex Limoges at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic. Last week, he was named Hershey's Team MVP and received AHL Second All-Star Team honors.
MIRO MAGIC:
Second-year forward Ivan Miroshnichenko capped the regular season on Saturday with a pair of goals in his 100th career game as a Bear to finish his second year in Chocolatetown by leading the club with 23 goals in 53 contests, improving on his nine tallies in 47 games during his rookie campaign. Miroshnichenko also set AHL career bests in assists (19) and points (42), and increased his shooting percentage this season to 15.8%. The 2022 first-round draft pick of the Washington Capitals also tied for the lead among Hershey's forwards with seven power-play goals and tied with Ethen Frank to pace the club with four multi-goal games, while collecting the first two hat tricks of his AHL career.
FRANKLY SPEAKING:
Before he was eventually overtaken by Ivan Miroshnichenko in the final week of the regular season, Ethen Frank was leading the Bears with 20 goals - and was second overall in the AHL - on January 10, when he was recalled to the NHL by the Washington Capitals, and made his NHL debut that evening against the Montréal Canadiens. Frank burst onto the scene for the Capitals by recording a point in each of his first three games with Washington (2g, 1a), including the game-winner in just his second major league contest on Jan. 11 at Nashville.
NO SMALL-MAN FEAT:
Forward Spencer Smallman was presented the Dan Sernoffsky Coaches Award prior to Hershey's regular-season finale on Saturday, signifying his impact this season for Hershey in what was a career year for the eighth-year pro. Smallman set career highs for assists (24) and points (34).
PRISKIE POWER:
Defenseman Chase Priskie also enjoyed another successful offensive campaign, leading the club with nine power-play goals while finding the net 12 times overall, both of which represented career highs for him while also piling up 35 total points to tie his personal best.
RYBINSKI REDUX:
Forward Henrik Rybinski enjoyed a breakout third season in Hershey, tying for sixth in team scoring with 35 points (10g, 25a) in 60 games, all of which represented career bests. Rybinski also established single-game highs for goals (2, March 15 at Chicago) and points (3, Dec. 4 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and March 15 at Chicago) in his pro career.
BOGDAN BONUS:
Forward Bogdan Trineyev improved upon his rookie season by scoring 22 points (14g, 8a) in 62 games. The Washington Capitals announced Sunday that they had re-signed their fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft to a one-year extension.
SHEP DADDY:
Goaltender Hunter Shepard wrapped up his third consecutive 20-win season for the Bears to finish sixth in the AHL with 23 victories while appearing in a career-high 39 games. With 78 career wins in the regular season for Hershey, Shepard can now set his sights on the postseason, where the netminder has flourished the last two springs by putting up 28 total wins, good for third in club playoff history.
OH, CAPTAIN:
In his first season as captain of the Bears, Aaron Ness logged 12 points (3g, 9a) in 52 games. Hershey posted a record of 33-14-5-0 with the defenseman in the lineup this season, and Ness has climbed to 24th in franchise history with 428 career games played, and sixth in defensive scoring with 182 points (32g, 150a).
WHOA, NELLY:
Head coach Todd Nelson continued his climb in the AHL and Hershey record books during the 2024-25 season, finishing the season with his 450 career AHL wins (with 141 in his three seasons behind the bench for the Bears). Nelson's 450 wins ranks fifth in league history, while his 141 victories with the Bears ranks seventh in franchise history. Nelson's .704 win percentage (141-53-12-10) is also first in club history, while his 777 AHL games coached is ninth in league history.
DOWN ON THE FARM:
The South Carolina Stingrays have taken a 2-0 series lead over the Orlando Solar Bears in the South Division Semifinals of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, thanks to a 5-3 home win in Game 1 and a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 2 this past weekend at the North Charleston Coliseum. Game 3 is tonight at 7 p.m. at Kia Center.
THE SECOND SEASON AWAITS:
Hershey now awaits the results of the Atlantic Division opening round to determine its opponent for the best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinals. As a result of clinching the division crown, Hershey will face the lowest-seeded team to advance, which will be either the fourth-seeded Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the fifth-seeded Lehigh Valley Phantoms, or the sixth-seeded Springfield Thunderbirds. The Bears will have home-ice advantage through the Division Finals.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from April 21, 2025
- Building Blue: the Highway 1 Connection Paves Way into AHL Playoffs - Abbotsford Canucks
- Bears Enjoy First Round Bye to Open Playoffs - Hershey Bears
- Belleville Sens Launch 2024-25 Year in Review and #MySensMoment Campaign - Belleville Senators
- Wrapping up the Regular Season - Charlotte Checkers
- Laval's Pascal Vincent Voted Winner of Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award for 2024-25 - AHL
- CLEVELAND MONSTERS: Monsters Announce Broadcast Details for First Round of Calder Cup Playoffs - Cleveland Monsters
- CV Firebirds vs. Calgary Wranglers First-Round Playoff Preview - Coachella Valley Firebirds
- Oliver Okuliar Named AHL Player of the Week - Charlotte Checkers
- Charlotte's Oliver Okuliar Named Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week - AHL
- Marek Vanacker Assigned to IceHogs - Rockford IceHogs
- Del Gaizo, Svechkov Reassigned to Milwaukee - Milwaukee Admirals
- Belleville Sens Announce 2024-25 Player Award Winners - Belleville Senators
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
