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Mike Vecchione celebrates scoring the Cup-clinching goal in overtime of Game 7 of the 2023 Calder Cup Finals, while flanked by Ethen Frank

2,000 Reasons to Celebrate

August 2, 2023

There’s an old saying that numbers never lie. During the months that occupy the summer offseason, the communications staff of the Hershey Bears pore over the statistics from games during the past season, and will occasionally find instances of when those numbers and figures show the team or a player did something outstanding.

The Bears, as an American Hockey League franchise, have played a record 85 seasons, and in that time, they’ve qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs 70 times, resulting in 24 appearances in the Calder Cup Finals, and 12 Calder Cup championships – again, all AHL records.

Here’s some interesting numbers from the Bears’ championship run that may be of interest to you:

MR. 2,000:

You may already know, of course, that the 12th championship was captured only several weeks ago in sudden-death overtime of Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals – the first Game 7 sudden-death winner in league history – when Mike Vecchione beat Joey Daccord at 16:19 of extra time to give Hershey a 3-2 victory over the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

What you might not know – and what we and the AHL league office only discovered several weeks afterwards through meticulous verification of previous records and reviewing of old box scores – was the historical magnitude of Vecchione’s goal.

You see, Vecchione’s tally was the 2,000th playoff goal scored in Bears playoff history.

You read that right. 2,000.

It took a lot of red lights to illuminate in the decades since Sammy McManus beat Bert Gardiner at 12:44 of the second period in Hershey’s inaugural contest in the Calder Cup Playoffs, way back on March 21, 1939 against the Philadelphia Ramblers at Philadelphia Arena to get to where we are now.

For those of you who were mildly curious, Hershey’s 1,000th playoff goal came back on April 30, 1986, in Game 4 of the Southern Division Finals against the St. Catharines Saints, when Ross Fitzpatrick put away an empty-netter at 19:35 of the third period in a 4-2 win.

After 652 playoff matches, resulting in 351 playoff victories, in typical Bears fashion, perhaps it was only fitting that the club’s 2,000th postseason tally would be one for the history books.

ROAD WARRIORS:

The Bears were the hottest team on the road during the 2023 playoffs, leading the field with seven wins away from home. While that didn’t break the club record (that distinction belongs to the 2006 team, with eight), the 2023 squad did manage to tie another franchise playoff record.

From a 5-2 playoff-opening win at Charlotte on April 28 to the Eastern Conference-clinching 1-0 triumph at Rochester on June 2, Hershey won its first six road games of the postseason, matching a mark shared with the 2006 and 1988 teams.

YOU ONLY GET ONE SHOT:
Incredibly, after returning home with a 2-0 series lead in the Atlantic Division Semifinals against Charlotte, the Bears limited the Checkers to just one shot on goal in the third period of Game 3. That matched the club postseason mark for fewest shots against in a period, after the Chocolate and White most recently limited Bridgeport to one shot on goal in the second period of a 4-1 victory over the Sound Tigers on April 21, 2010. Sadly, Charlotte held on to take the game by a 2-1 score thanks to nine saves from Mack Guzda, but the Bears ultimately got their revenge by taking the series in the following game.

STIFLING SWEEP:
The Atlantic Division Finals against the Hartford Wolf Pack was over in a flash, thanks to a three-game sweep of the best-of-five matchup. Hershey’s defense, anchored by goaltender Hunter Shepard (the eventual Jack A. Butterfield Trophy winner as playoff MVP) was lights-out. Shepard posted a .943 save percentage for the series and the team’s defense overall surrendered just five goals, matching the franchise record for fewest goals allowed in a series that lasted three games.

SMOTHERING DEFENSE:
Defense is a recurring theme here, as the Eastern Conference Finals, a best-of-seven series with the Rochester Americans, was a low-scoring affair for both teams, highlighted by a pair of shutout wins for the Chocolate and White in Game 2 (2-0) and the series-clincher in Game 6 (1-0). Overall, Hershey and the Amerks combined for 26 goals, the fewest combined goals in a six-game series, edging the Bears’ 2010 Eastern Conference Finals series with the Manchester Monarchs by one less goal.

SUDDEN-DEATH SENSATIONS:
The 2023 Finals was one for the ages, and filled with intense drama and compelling storylines. The tension was at its highest in Games 3, 5, and 7 – each contest decided in sudden-death overtime; in each one it was the Bears who emerged victorious. That allowed Hershey to match its own record for most playoff overtime wins in a single series, equaled by the 2017 series vs. Providence, and the 2010 series with Manchester and Albany. And while Vecchione’s Cup-winning tally ultimately sealed things for the Bears, you have to give credit to Riley Sutter and Garrett Pilon for their respective contributions in Games 3 and 5 as well.

Since the Bears moved into the confines of GIANT Center prior to the 2002-03 season, the Chocolate and White added four additional Calder Cups to their trophy case, including this past spring in the 21st season at 550 Hersheypark Drive – an average of a championship every 5.25 seasons. Not only that, but the Bears have gone 4-for-6 (.667) in Finals appearances since the move to the new building. Not too shabby, right? Compare that to the days of Hersheypark Arena, where the Bears called home for 64 seasons: the Old Barn was home to eight championship teams, or once every eight seasons, and 8-for-18 (.444) in Finals appearances. While there is a certain fondness and nostalgia for among the fanbase, perhaps newer is indeed better.

Written by Jesse Liebman, Bears media specialist.

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