The Hershey Bears and Washington Capitals announced that Bears head athletic trainer Shawn Fliszar has been promoted to Washington, where he will serve as an assistant athletic trainer for the NHL club. Additionally, Bears assistant athletic trainer Max Finley has been promoted to the head athletic trainer role with Hershey, and the organization has hired Jacqui Gutierrez as the new assistant athletic trainer for the Bears. The announcements were made by Hershey Bears vice president of hockey operations Bryan Helmer and Washington Capitals senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick.
Fliszar, 32, joined the Bears for the 2020-21 season as the team's assistant athletic trainer and was elevated to the head athletic trainer role before the 2022-23 campaign. In his six seasons with Hershey, Fliszar was named along with his peers throughout the AHL as the recipient of the league's Yanick Dupré Memorial Award in 2020-21, represented the club at the AHL All-Star Classic in 2024 and 2025, and was part of Hershey's back-to-back Calder Cup championship teams in 2023 and 2024. Fliszar is the third straight Hershey head athletic trainer to advance to the NHL, joining Murphy Luatua (Washington) and Brian Riedel (Florida).
Finley, 32, began his tenure with the Bears in the 2022-23 season, working alongside Fliszar for the club's 2023 and 2024 Calder Cup titles. He also represented the club at the AHL All-Star Classic in 2025, and serves as secretary on the executive committee of the AHL Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society.
Prior to joining the Bears, Finley spent two years as the head athletic trainer of Hershey's ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays. Navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic in his first season, Finley was named along with his peers throughout the ECHL as a co-recipient of the league's ECHL Athletic Trainer of the Year award in 2020-21.
The Peoria, Illinois native worked for his hometown Peoria Rivermen of the SPHL in 2019-20 as the club's athletic trainer. He was named the SPHL's Athletic Trainer of the Year, a distinction selected by fellow SPHL equipment managers and athletic trainers.
Finley is a graduate of Northern Illinois University where he played hockey for the school's ACHA team. He played junior hockey for the Peoria Mustangs in the NA3HL. Additionally, Finley has experience playing at the Deaflympics representing the United States and was part of the team's gold medal win in December of 2019.
Gutierrez, 33, joins the Bears after holding a similar role as the assistant athletic trainer of the Rochester Americans for the previous two seasons.
Prior to joining Rochester, Gutierrez served a two-year stint as the head athletic trainer with South Carolina of the ECHL. While with the Stingrays, Gutierrez became the first female athletic trainer in the franchise's history, and was also selected as the athletic trainer for the United States Under-18 Men's Select Team at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Gutierrez spent a three-year stint in the United States Hockey League with the Sioux City Musketeers, where she served as the team's director of athletic training and recovery. She was the first female to win the USHL's Clark Cup as a part of the Musketeers' 2022 Clark Cup championship.
Prior to joining Sioux City, Gutierrez earned her Master of Science in athletic training while at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she served as an intern with the Mavericks hockey team and Creighton University's basketball and baseball teams. Gutierrez earned her undergraduate degree in biology from Pacific Lutheran University.
To celebrate the club's pursuit of its 14th championship, don't miss out on an exclusive Opening Night ticket special! The Bears host the Charlotte Checkers to open the season on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m., and for a limited time, you can secure select seats for just $14. Offer ends July 31. Click here to lock in your $14 seats today and bring your loudest roar!
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