Game Preview: Bears vs. Monsters, 5 p.m.

January 11, 2026

The Hershey Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, as they go for a fourth straight win overall, and conclude their season series with the Cleveland Monsters.

Hershey Bears (17-14-1-0) vs. Cleveland Monsters (16-12-4-1)
Jan. 11, 2026 | 5 p.m. | GIANT Center
Referees: Liam Maaskant (45), Jack Young (24) 
Linespersons: Tommy George (61), Josh Cleary (45)

Tonight's Promotions:

David A. Smith Team Photo Night (first 6,000 fans) - The first 6,000 fans will receive a team photo, courtesy of David A. Smith.

Autograph Night - Following the conclusion of the game, fans are invited onto the ice to take part in a 75-minute post-game autograph session with the team.

1938 Jerseys - The Bears will be wearing their 1938-inspired throwback jerseys as part of the American Hockey League's 90th anniversary season.

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Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, AHL Hall-of-Famer Mitch Lamoureux, and in-arena host Jim Jones on the call
RADIO: WFVY-100.1-FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, In-arena on 88.9 FM
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN LIVE: Froggy Valley 100.1-FM Stream, Fox Sports 1460-AM Stream
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 4:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears earned a third straight win thanks to a 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Monsters last night at GIANT Center. Grant Cruikshank broke a 2-2 tie in the third period with a shorthanded goal to send the sold-out crowd of 10,554 home happy. Louie Belpedio and Bogdan Trineyev also scored for Hershey, and goaltender Clay Stevenson earned his second straight victory by turning aside 26 shots. Hershey was 0-for-2 on the power play while Cleveland went 1-for-3. The Bears now own a 2-1-0-0 record versus the Monsters entering the final head-to-head matchup of the 2025-26 season. 

LOUIE, LOUIE:
Hershey defender Louie Belpedio scored in last night's victory, giving him goals in consecutive contests. Belpedio has points in three straight games for the Bears (2g, 2a), and he's logged three goals over his past five contests. With 18 points (5g, 13a) in 30 games this season, Belpedio is on pace to surpass his career best of 30 points (11g, 19a) collected with the Laval Rocket in 69 games in 2021-22. Belpedio leads Hershey in first goals this season with three, and his shooting percentage of 9.8% is nearly double of the mark he posted last season (4.8%) when he scored five goals in 66 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He enters tonight three goals away from 50 in his AHL career. 

MONSTER MASHERS:
Hershey's top line of Ivan Miroshnichenko, Ilya Protas, and Bogdan Trineyev has been highly productive in the season series versus the Monsters. The trio are Hershey's top three scorers versus Cleveland with Protas posting five points (2g, 3a), while Trineyev (3g, 1a) and Miroshnichenko (2g, 2a) have each logged four points. Over the past two seasons, Miroshnichenko has scored 10 points (6g, 4a) in seven games versus the Monsters. He has also enjoyed recent success overall on the scoresheet for Hershey, scoring  seven points (2g, 5a) over his last seven games.

CRUSHING IT VS. CLEVELAND:
Hershey has had the Monsters number in recent years, and since the 2021-22 campaign, the Bears own a 15-2-0-2 record in head-to-head play with Cleveland. Hershey is 6-1-0-2 on home ice in that stretch, and a victory tonight would give the Bears the win in the regular-season series with the Monsters for the sixth consecutive season, excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign in which the teams did not play. The Bears all-time record is 22-10-0-4 versus the Cleveland/Lake Erie franchise. 

BEARS BITES:
Defender Corey Schueneman tallied his 100th career AHL assist last night...Hershey captain Aaron Ness suited up in his 460th game with the Chocolate and White last night, passing Chuck Hamilton for sole possession of 19th for games played in franchise history...Clay Stevenson's 54th career Hershey victory last night moved him past Marc D'Amour (53) for 18th in the club record book...Dalton Smith is four penalty minutes away from his 1,000th in the AHL...Only the San Diego Gulls and Syracuse Crunch (7) have more shorthanded goals than Hershey's six markers while a man down...Hershey enters tonight with three straight wins at home for the first time since Feb. 11-March 2, 2025...The Bears are 4-4-1-0 in games versus North Division opponents this season. 

ON THIS DATE IN BEARS HISTORY:
Jan. 11, 2006 - Tomas Fleischmann scored the game-winning goal and added an assist, while Kirk Daubenspeck made 22 saves for the Bears in a 3-0 shutout road win against the Springfield Falcons. Chris Bourque and Louis Robitaille also scored for Hershey, and the shutout was the last of Daubenspeck's professional tenure as the goaltender would conclude his playing career following the 2005-06 season.