Practice Notebook: Petersen Excited for Opportunity with Bears

By the time the Hershey Bears concluded their preseason game with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday, head coach Derek King was awaiting the results of who would successfully pass through waivers in the latest round of cuts made to Washington Capitals training camp.

While most managed to clear waivers by Monday’s 2 p.m. deadline, there was one notable absence in the form of goaltender Clay Stevenson, who found himself headed to Winnipeg after the netminder was claimed by the Winnipeg Jets.

Stevenson, who figures to open the 2026-27 NHL season sharing the net with Stuart Skinner, had spent the majority of the last three seasons with the Bears. In that time Stevenson had earned a share of the AHL’s Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award, had established himself in Hershey’s top-20 all-time for games (109, 19th), wins (63, T-14th), and shutouts (9, T-12th), and won a Calder Cup. Last season, Stevenson led Hershey with 18 wins while tying for eighth in the league with a .912 save percentage, and managed to earn his first three NHL victories with Washington.

“[Stevenson] was a big part of our success last year and I think he was going in the right direction for his NHL career,” King said following Thursday’s practice at Hersheypark Arena. “It was sad to see him go – he will be missed, but hopefully there’s a good opportunity for him.”

The impact of Stevenson’s departure from the Capitals/Bears pipeline undoubtedly raises questions about Hershey’s plans in net as Hershey prepares to open the 2026-27 campaign this Saturday against Charlotte.

King and the Bears are hopeful that Cal Petersen will be an answer to that question.

Hershey put pen to paper when it inked the 10-year vet to an AHL contract on Tuesday, after beginning training camps with both Washington and the Bears on tryouts.

On top of Petersen’s NHL experience (106 games, including a 20-win season in 37 games in 2021-22) and his 248 games of AHL experience, there’s already some familiarity for Petersen with Chocolatetown, as Petersen played from 2023-25 for the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms, posting a .911 save percentage in 15 outings against the Bears.

Although Petersen surrendered five goals in his preseason debut for Hershey, King has liked what he’s seen so far now that Petersen has been able to get into some practices with his new club, and he should provide a boost to a goaltending corps that includes Mitch Gibson (who was absent from Thursday’s practice after sustaining an injury in preseason action at Lehigh Valley last Saturday), and Garin Bjorklund.

“Well, he’s a pro. You can see he’s an athlete the way he plays,” King said of Petersen. “I’m not a goalie expert, but it’s not like structured goaltending in there – he does his thing. But it’s a good thing they signed a guy like that and, and I have no problem having three goalies for a while.”

Belpedio knows what Petersen can bring to the table – the two were teammates during Petersen’s stint with the Phantoms.

“I think he’s extremely impressive, not only as a player, but as a person. He’s got a lot of NHL games under his belt and he’s been successful, so I think he’s going to help our group a ton,” Belpedio said. “He’s great in the locker room, great on the ice. I think he’s going to bring a ton of value that we lost in ‘Mud.’”

For his part, Petersen is excited to make Hershey his new home.

“It’s been awesome. A couple of us were just talking about how cool it is to be a part of this team, with all the history and tradition and it’s kind of the first team that I’ve been on with a really strong championship tradition,” Petersen said. “That’s really exciting to see and hopefully I can do my part. This summer coming in, it was the first year that I’ve had this uncertainty of where I was going to land. My goal coming into camp was to try and get a contract. I’m proud that it was able to happen here. I’m just embracing that underdog mentality and having fun playing hockey, and this seems like the perfect organization and group of guys to do it with.”

What about previously playing for a division rival? Members of Bear Nation can be particularly critical of goaltenders, after all.

“This has always been one of my favorite places to play with just how many people come to the games, how passionate they are. It’s the closest feeling that you’re going to get to the NHL, being in the AHL. Hopefully I can make them proud and win some games for them.”

Much of Petersen’s time in practice and in the film room while with Hershey will be spent working with associate goaltending coach Juha Lehtola, who also previously mentored Stevenson and 2024 Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award winner Hunter Shepard. At one point during Thursday’s practice, Petersen and Lehtola could be seen conversing at the eastern end of Hersheypark Arena while King and his assistant coaches were reviewing a drill with the rest of the players.

“I think right now it’s kind of just getting to know each other and feeling out kind of what are the things that he sees in my game that are really good and that I could improve on, and things that I like to focus on. So I think we’re starting a really great relationship,” Petersen remarked. “He seems like an awesome guy. I think things have been great so far, and I love the effort that he’s putting in to help bring my game to the next level.”

Written by Bears media specialist Jesse Liebman