Press Release Details

TONIGHT'S GAME PREVIEW: BEARS at ICECAPS


12/12/2012 -

TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES

HERSHEY BEARS at ST. JOHN'S ICECAPS
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - 6:00 PM EST
Mile One Centre

REFEREE: Mark Lemelin (#41)
LINESMEN: Justin Day (#79) & Sheldon Keough (#63)

BEARS at ICECAPS: The HERSHEY BEARS and St. John’s IceCaps go right back at it tonight at Mile One Centre, in the third meeting of the regular-season series. St. John’s is the top AHL developmental affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets.

 

ALL-TIME: Tonight is the sixth all-time matchup between the two teams. The BEARS have a record of 2-3-1 against St. John’s since the club re-joined the AHL last season.

 

LAST NIGHT: The BEARS picked up their first-ever victory against the IceCaps at Mile One Centre last night, finishing with a tightly-played 2-1 decision. Backed by a 32-save effort from goaltender Braden Holtby, the BEARS victory ended up being in a battle of special teams. The visitors earned six power play chances in the contest, and for the first time since November 9 (at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), the BEARS cashed in on more than one opportunity. Jon DiSalvatore was first to score, picking up his eighth goal of the season in slamming a back-door feed from Jeff Taffe behind IceCaps backstop Mark Dekanich. Moments before DiSalvatore had scored, Dekanich made a diving arm-save on Zach Hamill that is sure to make many future highlight reels. But Dekanich had no chance on DiSalvatore’s opportunity and the BEARS were able to take a 1-0 lead into the intermission, outshooting the hosts 10-9. The first period would not end quietly however, as both T.J. Syner (first professional fight) and Patrick Wellar dropped the gloves with opponents Kevin Clark and Ray Sawada, respectively, during the frame. St. John’s then turned the tide on the BEARS in the middle period, outshooting HERSHEY 10-2 and making one of their shots count – also on a power play. Ray Sawada and Paul Postma assisted on Zach Redmond’s team-leading seventh goal of the campaign, which tied the score just beyond the halfway point of the hockey game. Another penalty would prove costly to the IceCaps as Maxime Macenauer was handed a high-sticking minor in the final seconds of the second stanza. The BEARS would cash in on its carry-over portion, when Tomas Kundratek ripped a slap shot past Dekanich’s stick side for a 2-1 lead. The BEARS held that lead, largely due to Holtby’s netminding. The BEARS backstop also made a highlight-reel save, gloving a wrist shot from Redmond through traffic with 10.2 seconds left on the clock and with the IceCaps skating with a 6-on-4 power play advantage.

 

Taffe and Zach Hamill assisted on both of HERSHEY’s power-play goals. Taffe now has a team-leading 19 assists and 25 points, while Hamill has recorded eight helpers in his last eight games. Hamill also shows (3-8-11) and a plus-7 rating in his last ten contests. DiSalvatore has scored six goals in his last eight games.

 

Both games of this season’s BEARS-IceCaps series have ended with a final score of 2-1.

 

FUN FACT ON 2011-12:

 

  • The last time that the BEARS played at Mile One Centre was on March 10, 2012 – the first night of setting the clocks ahead for Daylight Saving Time – and considering the 1 ½-hour time change between Hershey and St. John’s, it was a test of everyone’s mathematics as the team had to return home early the next morning. Not to mention, the game ran long – as a five-round shootout was needed for the host IceCaps to come away with a 3-2 victory. Dany Sabourin was named the game’s number two star in the setback.

     

     

     

    2012-13 SEASON SERIES:

    Sat. November 10, 2012

    ST. JOHN’S

    GIANT Center

    1-2 L

    Tue. December 11, 2012

    @St. John’s

    Mile One Centre

    2-1 W

    Wed. December 12, 2012

    @St. John’s

    Mile One Centre

    		 　

    Fri. January 25, 2013

    ST. JOHN’S

    GIANT Center

    		 　

     

    EAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of December 12):

    POS

    TEAM

    GP

    W

    L

    OTL

    SOL

    PTS

    WIN%

    GF

    GA

    1.

    Syracuse

    23

    14

    6

    1

    2

    31

    .674

    84

    67

    2.

    Binghamton

    20

    13

    5

    1

    1

    28

    .700

    64

    48

    3.

    W-B/Scranton

    22

    13

    7

    1

    1

    28

    .636

    65

    55

    4.

    HERSHEY

    25

    12

    12

    1

    0

    25

    .500

    66

    71

    5.

    Norfolk

    22

    10

    12

    0

    0

    20

    .455

    63

    68

     

    　

    GOLDEN GOALTENDING: G Braden Holtby recorded the 70th win of his HERSHEY career last night against St. John’s. He becomes the eighth BEARS netminder to record such a milestone, and now sits just one victory behind Phil Sauve for seventh place in all-time goaltender wins for the Chocolate and White.

     

    TAFFE NEARING THE TOP: C Jeff Taffe is already at the top of the BEARS scoring leaderboard, with (6-19-25) in 25 games played. With his two helpers last night, Taffe has climbed into a second-place tie with former BEARS star Keith Aucoin in assists this season, and has climbed into a six-way tie for fifth place in the AHL overall scoring race.

     

    TOMAS TALLYING: After RW Jon DiSalvatore took over the team goal-scoring lead with his first-period power play goal last night, D Tomas Kundratek pulled back even when he scored his eighth of the season for the game-winner. The goal was his fourth power-play marker and 11th power-play point, both of which rank third among AHL defensemen.

     

    KANE’S COUNTDOWN TO 1,000: Captain Boyd Kane appeared in his 316th career HERSHEY game last night, good for 38th place all-time. Kane needs one more game to catch Brian Dobbin (317 - 37th); is just 11 games away from 900 in his AHL career; and, combining his ECHL, AHL and NHL totals, needs just nine to reach 1,000 professional games played.

    CRAZY EIGHTS: Three BEARS players are currently tied for the team goal-scoring lead with seven strikes each: Jon DiSalvatore, Zach Hamill and Tomas Kundratek. Kundratek ranks tied for fourth among AHL defensemen in goals scored, and is ranked tied for 12th in overall scoring from the blue line.

    GRAB THE LEAD: The BEARS have a record of 6-2-0-0 when leading after one period, and are 8-0-0-0 when leading after two.

     

    TIGHT GAMES: The BEARS played their fourth consecutive one-goal game last night, and earned their second consecutive win in a game ending in a 2-1 final. The club has a record of 6-5-1-0 in one-goal games.

     

    BACK-TO-BACKS: The BEARS have a record of 5-7-1-0 in back-to-back games.

     

    TRANSACTIONS: The BEARS have added D Patrick Wellar and D Brett Flemming to the roster this week.

     

    HEAD TO HEAD: HERSHEY’s Jeff Taffe (0-3-3) leads the head-to-head scoring in the series. Zach Hamill shows (0-2-2) while Barry Almeida, Jon DiSalvatore and Tomas Kundratek all have recorded a goal. St. John’s defenseman Derek Meech (1-1-2) and forward Ray Sawada (0-2-2) lead the way for the hosts, while forward Eric O’Dell and defenseman Zach Redmond each have recorded one goal.

     

    BEARS vs. ICECAPS – TEAM LEADERS:

    　

    HERSHEY

    St. John’s

    Games Played

    FIVE TIED (25)

    FIVE TIED (25)

    Goals

    Jon DiSalvatore, Tomas Kundratek (8)

    Zach Redmond (7)

    Assists

    Jeff Taffe (19)

    Derek Meech (10)

    Points

    Jeff Taffe (25)

    Derek Meech, Zach Redmond (13)

    +/-

    Zach Hamill (+8)

    Ivan Telegin (+3)

    PP Goals

    Tomas Kundratek (4)

    FOUR TIED (3)

    SH Goals

    Garrett Mitchell (2)

    Spencer Machacek (1)

    GW Goals

    Zach Hamill (2), Cameron Schilling (2)

    Derek Meech (3)

    PIMs

    Steve Oleksy (91)

    Dean Arsene (45)
    　 　 　

    Wins

    Braden Holtby (9)

    Eddie Pasquale (6)

    GAA

    Braden Holtby (2.52)

    Eddie Pasquale (2.45)

    Save %

    Braden Holtby (.921)

    Eddie Pasquale (.924)

     

    BEARS vs. ICECAPS – SPECIAL TEAMS:

    　

    HERSHEY

    St. John’s

    Power Play

    18-for-122 (14.8%) – 22nd in AHL

    20-for-136 (14.7%) – 23rd in AHL

    Penalty Kill

    94-for-114 (82.5%) – 19th in AHL

    93-for-114 (81.6%) – 22nd in AHL

     

    BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

    12/10/12

    ADD

    D

    Brett Flemming

    Reassigned by Washington (NHL) from Reading (ECHL)

    12/7/12

    ADD

    D

    Patrick Wellar

    Recalled from loan to Reading (ECHL)

     

    ICECAPS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

    12/10/12

    ADD

    D

    Cody Sol

    Reassigned by Winnipeg (NHL) from Colorado (ECHL)

    12/6/12

    ADD

    C

    Kael Mouillierat

    Signed to PTO

    12/6/12

    ADD

    LW

    Shawn Weller

    Signed to PTO

     

    BEARS AMONG THE AHL:

    RW Garrett Mitchell: T,2nd – SH goals (2).

    D Tomas Kundratek: 3rd (D) – PP points (4-7-11); T,3rd (D) – PP goals (4); 4th (D) – goals (8); T,10th (D) – scoring (8-8-16).

    D Steve Oleksy: 3rd (D) – PIM (91).

    G Braden Holtby: T,6th – wins (9); 18th – GAA (2.52).

     

    ICECAPS AMONG THE AHL:

    G Eddie Pasquale: T,13th– GAA (2.45).

    D Zach Redmond: T,5th (D) – goals (7).

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