Hershey Bears 2014-15 Regular Season Recap
By Tori Hartman
The Hershey Bears 2014-15 team salutes the crowd on Fan Appreciation Night. Photo Credit: Tori Hartman
Well fans, can you believe how quickly this season went by? Here we are at the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Hershey Bears had an exciting four point week which included winning the East Division Title and reaching 100 points on the season. The Bears lost to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-1 on Tuesday (Photos), beat the Binghamton Senators 3-2 on Friday (Photos), and finished up the regular season with a 5-1 victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Photos). Saturday’s game against the Phantoms also honored some of the outstanding players throughout the season. Here are the award winners:
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- Man of the Year (outstanding commitment to the sport and the local community): Mike Moore
- John Travers/Steven Summers (highest +/- rating): Jon Landry
- Kenny Smith Memorial Award (player of the game): Philipp Grubauer
- Arlene Tighe Award (unsung hero): Philippe Cornet
- Most Improved Player: Stanislav Galiev
- Best Defensemen: Steven Oleksy
- Rookie of the Year: Pheonix Copley
- Most Valuable Player: Philipp Grubauer
Some other players had a fantastic season too:
- Connor Carrick– finished 8th in scoring amongst defensemen going 8-34-42 in 73 GP, 18 of his 34 assists were on the power play
- Stanislav Galiev– 25 goals in 67 GP is ranked 18th in goals in the league, 15 power play goals is 1st in the league
- Casey Wellman– new record of 25 goals in 73 GP is 20th in the league
- Tim Kennedy– 48 assists in 75 GP is 4th in the AHL in assists, 20 of his 48 assists were on the power play
- Three players finished with over 50 points: Tim Kennedy (59), Casey Wellman (54), Chris Conner (52)
I know Grubi and Pheonix won awards, but we can’t forget how instrumental they have been this season. Let’s take a look at their awesome seasons:
- Philipp Grubauer (2.30 GAA, .921 SAV%, 6 SO)- 12th in GAA, 9th in SAV%, 3rd in wins (27), 3rd in SO
- Pheonix Copley (2.17 GAA, .925 SAV%, 3 SO)- 7th in GAA, 7th in SAV%
Hershey Bears’ fans were graced with a pretty talented team this year. The Bears put up a pretty fantastic season finishing with a record of 46-22-5-3 and 100 points in 76 games finishing second in the Eastern Conference. I was sitting next to some Phantoms fans on Saturday, who were pretty upset that this was their team’s second to last game. I remember being in the same position last season thinking, man this is the last game. I am excited to watch this team in the playoffs, and I am grateful that we have a team to be excited about. I don’t want to think about the end of the season because I don’t want to think about this great group of players leaving. I mean I would love for the season to end with another cup, but that’s about the only way I want to think about it ending.
Before I wrap up the season recap, I would like to give a shout out to the fantastic fans who have relentlessly supported this team through the season highs and lows and continue to come back year after year. Saturday’s game was a sell out crowd of 10,998 to come out and cheer on these boys before the playoffs. This year marks the 9th consecutive year that the Hershey Bears lead in attendance. Congrats, fans!
Top Right Corner: The away team bench pest keeps track of the Monarch’s +/- rating. Right center: the YMCA dancer. Bottom Right: dancing with the popcorn. Top Center: Pheonix Copley hands away a star of the game stick. Top Right: Cotton Eyed Jones working it! Bottom left: Bears, Bears , Bears WOO! Photo Credit: Tori Hartman
The dedicated fans got rewarded in a big way on Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday. The GM of the Hershey Bears, Doug Yingst, announced that a new scoreboard, ribbon, and an additional standings board will be added to the Giant Center. FINALLY! The scoreboard currently in the Giant Center was installed when the arena opened in 2002. There was several issues with the scoreboard shutting off this season, and it seems like there isn’t a Bears chant that the board doesn’t skip. The all new LED system will be installed for the start of the 2015-16 season and will cost $4.7 million. Phew, that’s a lot of dough, but the best fans in the league totally deserve it, right? (release on the new installations)
Also because it’s a Monday and we may need a little cheering up, here is something to make you smile. My favorite shot of the weekend:
Nate Schmidt runs a stick up Erik Burgdoerfer’s butt. Just think one lucky fan got that stick! =) Photo Credit: Tori Hartman
Now, onto the playoffs!