Game Preview: Bears at Senators, 7 p.m.

February 14, 2026

The Hershey Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, as they resume a four-game road trip through Canada with the first of two straight games versus the Belleville Senators. 

Hershey Bears (20-17-6-2) at Belleville Senators (20-21-8-0)
Feb. 14, 2026 | 7:05 p.m. | CAA Arena
Referees: Morgan MacPhee (43), Alex Joubert (63)
Linesperson: Jeremy Faucher (97), Chris Martenet (92)

Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, former Bears captain Garrett Mitchell, and Bears media specialist Jesse Liebman on the call 
TELEVISION: Antenna TV (WPMT FOX 43.2, Xfinity Ch. 247 and 1178, Verizon FiOS Ch. 463, Blue Ridge Ephrata Ch. 91, and Blue Ridge Newberry/Duncannon Ch. 88)
RADIO: WFVY-100.1-FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, SportsRadio 98.9-FM & WOYK 1350-AM
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN LIVE: Froggy Valley 100.1-FM Stream, Fox Sports 1460-AM Stream
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m.; Television coverage starts at 7 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears returned from the All-Star break last night with a 6-1 loss to the Laval Rocket at Place Bell. Marc Del Gaizo scored just 2:37 into the game for Laval, and the Rocket rattled off three more goals in the second period, and two additional tallies in the third period to earn the victory. Graeme Clarke had the lone goal for Hershey, and the five-goal loss was Hershey's largest margin of defeat this season. The Rocket went 2-for-8 on the power play as Hershey posted a season-high 77 penalty minutes in the loss. The Senators last game was Feb. 7 as they fell to the Syracuse Crunch 5-2 at CAA Arena. Defenders Lassi Thomson and Carter Yakemchuk scored for Belleville in the losing effort. 

LOVE IS IN THE AIR:
Hershey takes the ice for a Valentine's Day contest tonight for the first time since 2021. The last time Hershey played on Valentine's Day the Lehigh Valley Phantoms beat the Bears 5-4 in overtime at GIANT Center, in a game where current Belleville captain Garrett Pilon had an assist for the Bears, and current Hershey forward Matt Strome scored for the Phantoms. In club history, Hershey is 13-13-2-1 with three ties on Valentine's Day, with the club's first ever February 14 contest coming back in 1940, a 4-2 loss at Pittsburgh. 

HELLO HUNTER:
Hershey could potentially face goaltender Hunter Shepard for the first time since the netminder departed the Bears/Capitals organization this past summer after leading Hershey to back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024, winning the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy in 2023 as the MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs. During Hershey's historic 2023-24 season, Shepard was named a First Team AHL All-Star, shared the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award with Clay Stevenson as the league's top goaltender tandem, and claimed the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL's outstanding goaltender. His 1.76 goals-against average and his .838 win percentage that season are both club records. Shepard is 6-7-2 in 15 games with Belleville this season, owning a 3.65 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE SENS:
The Belleville Senators mark the final opponent of the 2025-26 schedule that Hershey has yet to face.  The Senators are captained by former Bear and 2023 Calder Cup champion Garrett Pilon, and Belleville's Arthur Kaliyev leads the AHL in goals (29) and power-play goals (14). The Senators own the best home power play in the league, connecting at 30.3% at CAA Arena this season, but overall, Belleville ranks 31st in the league in goals against, allowing 3.63 tallies per game. Last season the Bears went 2-1-1-0 against the Senators, including going 1-0-1-0 on the road. Hershey has never lost in regulation at CAA Arena, as the club is now 6-0-2-0 all-time in Belleville.

BEARS BITES:
Forward Alex Suzdalev has points in his last two contests and he's scored five points (1g, 4a) over his past six outings...Andrew Cristall's 14 power-play points (2g, 12a) are second in the AHL among rookies to Bakersfield's Quinn Hutson's 20 points (11g, 9a)...After winning six of the first seven games on the road this season, Hershey has lost nine of its last 12 games away from GIANT Center...Graeme Clarke has 12 points (5g, 7a) in 19 career games versus the Senators...Hershey has seven Ontario natives on its roster including Dalton Smith, who hails from Oshawa, which is 81 miles from Belleville... Belleville's interim head coach Andrew Campbell played the final season of his AHL career with the Rockford IceHogs in 2018-19, where he was coached by current Hershey bench boss Derek King. 

ON THIS DATE IN BEARS HISTORY:
Feb. 14, 1992 - The Bears scored three shorthanded goals against the Baltimore Skipjacks in a 5-4 victory at Baltimore Arena. The three shorties matched the club record for a single game. Tim Tookey's shorthanded goal earned him his 700th career AHL point, while Wes Walz and Martin Hostak also scored while a man down for the Bears on future NHL goaltender Byron Dafoe. Dominic Roussel made 41 saves for Hershey in the win.