BEARS WELCOME TIGERS TO SOLD OUT GIANT CENTER

February 26, 2010

The BEARS return home Saturday in search of its 21st straight home victory. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers, making their only visit to Giant Center this season, provide the opposition at 7:00 p.m. Andrew Joudrey and Steve Pinizzotto scored for HERSHEY Thursday in Toronto, but the BEARS fell short against the Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum 3-2. Goaltender Joey MacDonald earned the win, sending Braden Holtby down to just his fifth regulation loss of the season. The BEARS were 1-1-0-0 this week on the road, dropping the game in Toronto but winning in Cleveland against Lake Erie 3-2 in a shootout. Bridgeport enters play Saturday as the fifth place team in the Atlantic Division, but that could still be good enough for postseason play. The 2010 Calder Cup playoffs feature an Atlantic Division crossover to the East if the fifth place team in the Atlantic has more points at season’s end than the fourth place team in the East. Former Binghamton Senator Greg Mauldin leads Bridgeport in scoring with 20 goals and 44 points on the season. Longtime NHL defenseman and former Washington Capital Brendan Witt skates for Bridgeport after being assigned by the New York Islanders earlier this month. Former BEARS defenseman Mark Wotton is the captain of the Sound Tigers for the fourth consecutive season. The maximum 14 games appear on the AHL ledger on Saturday, including the Lowell Devils and the Adirondack Phantoms from the Glens Falls Civic Center, Rochester is at Hamilton taking on the Western Conference leading Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum and Portland visits Hartford in an Atlantic Division battle. Elsewhere, Albany travels to Manchester to face the Monarchs, Norfolk invades Binghamton for a date with the Senators, Providence plays in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Abbotsford continues a lengthy road trip necessitated by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver with a game against Worcester at the DCU Center and Grand Rapids plays in Cleveland against the Lake Erie Monsters. Syracuse hosts Springfield Saturday at the War Memorial at OnCenter, Manitoba tackles San Antonio in Texas, Peoria plays in Rockford, Chicago is at Milwaukee and the Texas Stars take on in-state rival Houston at Toyota Center. Saturday’s game can be heard via the BEARS Radio Network (100.1 FM and www.Sportsjuice.com) beginning at 6:40 p.m. John Walton, Ed Coffey and Jim Jones have the call of the action from Giant Center. Tickets are available for the game at the Giant Center box office, or by calling (717) 534-3911.