Bears Win Kilpatrick Trophy as AHL's Regular-Season Champions

April 13, 2024

The Hershey Bears have earned the American Hockey League's Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the league's regular-season champions for the 2023-24 campaign. This marks the first time the Bears have won the Kilpatrick Trophy since the abbreviated 2020-21 season, the fourth overall instance the club has won the trophy since it was instituted by the AHL Board of Governors in 1997, and the ninth overall regular-season championship won by Hershey.

Hershey had initially reduced its Magic Number for securing the Kilpatrick Trophy to one point following its 4-1 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday night. Coachella Valley's 3-2 overtime loss to the Bakersfield Condors ensures the Bears will finish the regular season in first place, and guarantees home ice advantage for Hershey through the entirety of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Four of Hershey's previous eight regular-season titles were followed up with a Calder Cup championship (1946-47, 1957-58, 1987-88, 2009-10).

Guided by head coach Todd Nelson, the Bears own a 51-12-0-5 (.787, 107 points) record this season with four games remaining. With Hershey's win on Friday, the Bears tied an AHL record for the most wins in a 72-game season, matching the mark set by the 2022-23 Calgary Wranglers.

A longtime member of the AHL Board of Governors, Macgregor Kilpatrick also served as the AHL's senior vice president and general counsel. Mr. Kilpatrick joined the AHL in 1970 as the chairman of Sports Associates, owners of a new AHL franchise in New Haven, Conn. 

Mr. Kilpatrick, a 1976 recipient of the James C. Hendy Award as the AHL's outstanding executive, served on the Board of Governors for 27 years.

The Bears continue the 2023-24 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, April 13 at 6:05 p.m. Hershey returns to GIANT Center against the Penguins on Sunday, April 14 at 5 p.m. for Belco Kids Goalie Mask Night. The first 1,000 fans 12-and-under will receive a goalie mask, courtesy of Belco Community Credit Union. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.