The Hershey Bears are hitting the road, and the club's travels take them north of the border to Canada for three games in The Great White North over the next week. The Bears will visit Toronto on Saturday afternoon, play in another afternoon game next Monday at Belleville, before finishing up the trip with a game next Wednesday night at Laval.
For head coach Todd Nelson, and many of the Bears who have roots in Canada, the trip is one that is circled on the calendar each year.
"It's always fun to go back up north," said Nelson. "A lot of guys have family up there, so they're excited to play in front of their family and friends. It's a bit of a longer trip, so it'll give us a chance as a team to bond and get to know each other better. That's always a positive thing."
Card games on the bus, team dinners, and a chance to play in front of loved ones are on the docket for the Bears, but first was an intense week of work. After splitting two games last weekend in New England, including a win in Providence which was "exceptional" and a loss in Springfield that "lacked focus and saw uncharacteristic errors", Nelson put the Bears through a rigorous week of practice, taking advantage of the lighter game schedule.
"We haven't really had a chance to work on our conditioning on the ice just because our schedule is pretty heavy. This was a good week for us to get the workload in. Besides on the ice, we're also in the gym getting guys back on track with their conditioning. It's very easy to get a bit out of shape when you're just playing games, you're traveling, and you're eating out. This week will help with that, and I like what I saw in the skates. The skates are very demanding and the guys got through it."
Practices this week have lacked forward Ethen Frank, who left last Friday's game in Providence with a lower-body injury. The loss of the 21-goal scorer is a significant one for Hershey, but Nelson provided some positive news on the team's speedy scorer, as well as an update on defender Lucas Johansen, who is working his way back from an upper-body injury sustained on Jan. 24.
"Franky is making the trip. He's getting better but still he's not ready to play. At some point on the trip we'll see where he's at as he looks to return to game action. Johansen is also making the trip so we can monitor his conditioning. Both guys will be there for our trainers to look at and track versus staying home for a week."
Heading into the trio of games, the Chocolate and White sit at 37-9-0-2, and are 13 points ahead of second place Providence in the Atlantic Division, and have an 11-point lead in the league standings over surging Milwaukee. If Hershey were to win all three games in Canada, they'd match the team record set by the 2009-10 Bears as the fastest team in franchise history to 40 wins.
"Let's face it, playing in front of a Canadian audience will be a lot of fun, especially in a place like Laval. They always draw really well and it's an exciting place to play. As we look at all three opponents, they're all really competitive teams. It's gonna be a tough road trip so we have to make sure we get off to a good start against Toronto on Saturday."
Written by Manager of Media Relations and Broadcasting Zack Fisch
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