On a crisp rainy night deep in the heart of Chocolatetown the Bears prepared for the opening
night puck drop against a hungry Syracuse Crunch. The game began slow but quickly became
chippy within the first five minutes. 1st period saw both teams shaking off the rust of the off
season. Syracuse took it to the Bears outshooting them 9-7. 28 secs into the 2nd period Ethan Frank and Andrew Cristall took it to Syracuse by getting past Halverson. Cristall had a great secondary assist to Ethan at the blue line who buried his first goal of the season. Opening the flood gates because 4 minutes later Ethan Frank and Cristall teamed up again for the 2nd lamp lighter of the game to go 2-0 at 4:28 in the 2nd period.
A constant stream of players to the penalty box for both Hershey and Syracuse gave the Crunch
a chance to climb back into the game. Their comeback came with a powerplay goal 14 minutes
into the 2nd period by Pelletier with great assists by Abruzzese and D ’Astous. With Hershey in
the sin bin again the Crunch tied it up with a second powerplay goal six minutes later. At the end
of the second the game was knotted at 2.
At the beginning of the 3rd, the tide of the game shifted when Hershey made a beeline for the
penalty box. 9 minutes into the 3rd period Miroshnichenko received 2 minutes for roughing, 5-
minute major for elbowing and a 10-minute game misconduct allowing Syracuse a go-ahead
goal by Pelletier. The culminative penalties took the roar out of the Bears. The final nail in the
coffin was an empty netter by Gabriele Szturc.
Hershey’s penalties hindered them, and they were not able to capitalize on their own power
plays. The quick turnaround from training camp to opening night was evident as the bears
lacked cohesion. They were a step behind each other. This talented roster has the potential to
improve and become a team that will be a threat in the AHL. Working on less penalties and
improving the power play should be the priority for the near future.
On a positive note, Goaltender Clay Stevenson stopped 34 of 38 shots- an AHL career-high.
Head coach Derek King said “I know we have a really pretty good goalie there, so I don’t know
how long we’ll have him, but we can’t take that many penalties, that’s all.”
Syracuse came to play. They overpowered and outshot the Bears in Game 1. The Crunch was
3/7 on the powerplay, Hershey was 0-4. They took control after falling behind by two and didn’t
look back. They were able to take advantage of the numerous penalties as Dominic James
scored during a 5 on 3 power play at 12:06 in the second to tie the game. Marsehkio’s penalties
allowed the go-ahead goal in the 3rd. Syracuse has a talented roster including two capable
goaltenders. It seems that they have Hershey’s number of late as this was the fourth
consecutive win over the Bears at the Giant center.
Standout players for the Bears were Andrew Cristall with 2 assists and Ethan Frank with two
goals.
Andrew Cristall, was a top draft prospect in 2023 and was selected 40th overall in the 2023 draft
by the Washington Capitals. He led the WHL with 139 points last season. He was assigned to the
Hershey Bears from the Spokane Chiefs for the 2025d-26 season. He is not long for the AHL and
it will not be long before this top prospect is skating with Ryan Leonard and the Washington
Capitals.
Ethan Frank, a USHL’s Lincoln Stars alum, shined in his first two games with the Hershey Bears.
This Colorado native was undrafted after playing with the Stars in Lincoln, Nebraska. Ethan was
able to carve out a steady game by gaining valuable experience playing against older players.
Frank then played at Western Michigan becoming a regular starter due to his consistent game.
Now, Ethan is the captain of the Bears but I feel he could be playing with the Capitals. It would
not surprise me if he was called up soon.
Game 2 was a back-to-back for the Hershey Bears and Syracuse Crunch. A Sunday afternoon tilt
in Choclatetown with Fanti in net for the Syracuse Crunch and Bjorklund in for the Bears. The
start of game 2 was a repeat of game 1. Lackluster play felt like they were trying to get their
legs under them. I saw lots of feistiness carried over from game 1. The period ended with both
teams at zero goals and nine shots.
The 2nd period started strong for Hershey outshooting the Crunch 13 to 8. However, still too
many trips to the sin bin for the Bears. When I asked Coach King about this issue he said
“Penalties are part of the AHL” I pressed and asked if there was anything they could work on to
reduce the calls. Coach said “You will need to talk to the refs about that”.
The crowd erupted as Bogoden Trineyev scored a short-handed goal and put the Bears up 1-0.
In quick succession Graeme Clarke, with a great pass from Rempal, clanged the iron for his 1st
goal of the season. Clarke said after the game “Yeah, it was great to get that first one, we have a
lot of talent on this team and it was a great pass and I was at the right place.”
That was the end of the scoring for the Bears, as the Crunch’s Scott Sabourin buried his 1st of
the year. Brenden Furry’s goal late in the 2nd helped the Crunch to get within one of the Bears.
The 3rd period stated with some great breakaways from Crystall and others, but Ryan Fanti stood
strong.Declan C arlie tied it up late in the 3rd with a great feed form Ethan Gauthiere for Syracuse. Not
long into overtime, the 2nd shift of 3 on 3, Dominic James snapped one past Bjorklund for the
win.
Definitely not the outcome the Hershey wanted; dropping the first two games at home and zero
goals on their power play. However, there were bright spots. Ethan Frank playing with Cristall
was a great choice. When asked about Cristall being on the same line with Frank, Coach King
said “I need to calm him down out there, but he is an amazing young talented player!”
Coach King also said “Well I know one thing, we’re going to practice penalty shots and
breakaways, that’s for sure. But yeah, it’s good – [they’re] deserving, they get a day off and then
we can have some good teaching clips from video and then we can work on some things in
practice, and then just have a nice week of just feeling good about ourselves and get ready for
the weekend.”
Up next for the Bears is the Springfield Thunderbirds who are 0-1.
Ron Mont is the creator of RNJ Media Sport! Had interviewed some of the top NHL Prospects in the game. Check out more of his work down below