BEARS ANNOUNCE 2015-16 CAPTAINS AND TEAM ROSTER

October 8, 2015

HERSHEY, Pa. – The Hershey Bears announced today the club’s 2015-16 team captains and opening night roster.   The announcement was made by Bears president/general manager Doug Yingst.

Sixth-year pro Garrett Mitchell, who has played all 224 games of his American Hockey League career in Chocolatetown, has been named team captain for 2015-16.  The 24-year-old native of Regina, Saskatchewan is the 43rd captain in the 78-year history of the Hershey Bears, and takes over the role from former Bears Steve Oleksy and Dane Byers, who both served as captain in 2014-15.

Mitchell has a total of 55 points (25 goals, 30 assists) in his Bears career, including a career-best 15 goals and 15 points in 2012-13.  He posted a goal and two assists in the Bears’ 10-game playoff run last spring.  He becomes one of the Bears’ youngest players to wear the “C”.

Serving as alternate captains for 2015-16 are defenseman Mike Moore, along with forwards Chris Bourque and Zach Sill.

Moore, 30, also served as alternate captain of the Bears in 2014-15, a season which was shortened by injury.  He produced 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 41 games, tying for the AHL lead among defensemen with three shorthanded assists.  A valued leader and multi-term team captain in his eight-year pro career, Moore is a four-time winner of his team’s IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year Award for his efforts in the team community (Hershey, 2015; Providence, 2014; Worcester, 2009 and 2010).

Bourque, 29, has played 392 of his 510 career AHL games with the Bears, which ranks 25th in all-time Hershey history.  An incredible point-per-game average during his tenure places Bourque in a tie for 14th in all-time Bears scoring with 393 points (131 goals, 262 assists).  He raised the Calder Cup three times in his career, all with the Bears, in 2006, 2009 and in 2010 – earning the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP in 2010.

While playing with the Bears, the winger led the AHL in assists (66) in the 2011-12 season, and tacked on 27 goals to earn the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the league’s leading point producer (93).  He was named to the AHL’s First All-Star Team in 2011-12 and, most recently, last season.  Bourque is also a three-time AHL All-Star (2009, 2012, 2015).  In his AHL career, Bourque’s next point will be his milestone 500th.  He currently has 171 goals and 328 assists over nine seasons spent with Portland, Hershey, Providence and Hartford.

Sill, 27, comes to the organization after spending the entire 2015-16 season in the NHL.  The native of Truro, Nova Scotia played in 21 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last year after being acquired in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 25.  He played in 62 games with the Penguins from 2013-2015, notching a goal and two assists.

Prior to the trade, Sill spent his entire pro career within the Penguins organization following one year of college hockey with the University of Maine (HE) and two years of junior hockey with Moncton (QMJHL).  He has a total of 73 points (33 goals, 40 assists) in 277 games with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins from 2009-2014, serving as the team’s alternate captain in 2013-14.

The complete 2015-16 Hershey Bears team roster is as follows, and is also attached:

GOALTENDERS (2):   Dan Ellis, Justin Peters

DEFENSEMEN (8):     Madison Bowey, Erik Burgdoerfer, Connor Carrick, Christian Djoos, Tyler Lewington, Mike Moore, Aaron Ness, Ryan Stanton

FORWARDS (13):      Riley Barber, Travis Boyd, Chris Bourque, Carter Camper, Paul Carey, Dustin Gazley, Caleb Herbert, Garrett Mitchell, Liam O’Brien, Chandler Stephenson, Zach Sill, Jakub Vrana, Nathan Walker

Of the 23 players on the team roster, 13 played all or part of the 2014-15 season in Chocolatetown.

The roster features 10 players who hail from the United States, 10 from Canada, one each from the Czech Republic and Sweden and Australian-raised Nathan Walker, who became the first from his country to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 2014.

Head coach Troy Mann and assistant coaches Bryan Helmer and Ryan Murphy will be behind the bench as the Bears kick off the 78th season in club history this Saturday, October 10 on the road against the Springfield Falcons.  Faceoff from MassMutual Center is slated for 7:00 PM.  Fans may listen to the game on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460 and WOYK-AM 1350, online at foxsports1460.com or via the iHeartRadio app for smartphones (WTKT-AM 1460).  The M&C Foreign Car Parts pre-game show begins at 6:20 PM.

The Bears open the home portion of the schedule on Saturday, October 24 at 7:00 PM against the Hartford Wolf Pack.  The first 8,000 fans will receive a magnetic schedule courtesy of PNC Bank.  The 1980 Calder Cup championship team will be honored prior to the game in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the title.  The Bears will also wear special throwback jerseys which will be auctioned off live following the game.

Individual tickets for this and all Bears home games may be purchased at the GIANT Center box office, by calling (717) 508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.