March 12, 2010
With a win and an Albany regulation loss Friday in Rochester, the BEARS can win its third East Division championship in four seasons. HERSHEY takes on the Adirondack Phantoms in Glens Falls, NY Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The BEARS begin a four-game road trip Friday with a 24-point lead over second place Albany. The Chocolate and White have 17 games remaining in the regular season as the road trip begins. A win Friday would lift HERSHEY to 102 points, and an Albany regulation loss would leave the River Rats with 13 games remaining and 76 points. With only 26 possible points remaining for Albany, the Rats could only reach 102 points with the games that remain. HERSHEY owns the first tie-breaker (overall wins), making the BEARS champions of the East Division for the third time in the current incarnation of its affiliation with the Washington Capitals (2006-07, 2008-09).
HERSHEY, along with all AHL clubs on Thursday, announced the 22 players that will compete during the 2010 Calder Cup playoffs. Grant Lewis, the newest HERSHEY BEAR, was added to the list. Lewis, who will wear number 5 for the BEARS when he arrives, was acquired on loan Wednesday from the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers. He had been playing this season for the Chicago Wolves, and will be available to the Chocolate and White after this weekend.
Adirondack enters Friday night’s action as a team needing to turn around its fortunes. The Phantoms have dropped to sixth place in the East Division standings, having dropped four in a row including a setback in Hershey last Sunday. Greg Gilbert’s team is seven points behind the fourth place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and nine points behind the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who currently own the last playoff spot in the East due to the Atlantic Division crossover.
Friday’s game can be heard via the BEARS Radio Network (100.1 FM and www.Sportsjuice.com) beginning at 7:10 p.m. John Walton calls the play-by-play from the foothills of the Adirondack mountains.
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