Practice Notebook: Smallman Nearing Return

October 17, 2025

The Hershey Bears will receive a big boost up the middle of their lineup with the anticipated return of Spencer Smallman this weekend, as Hershey heads into a two-game set with the Springfield Thunderbirds, starting Saturday night at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center.

The forward missed the first two games of the 2025-26 season with an upper-body injury, but resumed practicing with the Bears earlier this week and is expected to receive a sweater Saturday while centering the team's first line.

"I've been feeling progressively better - feeling great now. Feeling ready to go," Smallman said. "It sucked being away from the guys practicing all of last week and just being away from the mix, but this week was great. I thought we worked on a lot of good things that we're going to clean up for this weekend, and I'm excited to get back out there."

Bears head coach Derek King also explained why he is looking forward to his first opportunity to deploy Smallman in a game scenario.

"I just think his leadership, the way he approaches a game, he's good in the locker room, good on the bench, and he's a good player," King said. "So we missed that centerman. He has a good chance of winning some draws - I just think he complements our forward group. So we're looking forward to having him back."

A resounding sentiment in the locker room following last Sunday's 3-2 overtime loss to Syracuse was that the team still demonstrated a robust improvement over Saturday's season-opening 5-2 loss, despite earning just a point after holding a 2-0 lead, and Smallman echoed those feelings based on what he observed from watching with the other scratched players, stating the Bears "probably deserved a better outcome on the second night. I think we can build off some good things from that game and bring it into this series against Springfield."

The return of Smallman to the lineup will result in some shuffling of the team's forward lines, particularly at center. Henrik Rybinski will likely slide back to more of a two-way checking role - something he excelled in last season - but King does not view it as a demotion after his two-game showing at 1C last weekend. 

"I thought [Rybinski] did a great job for us. It's never easy to go 'Here you go, you're the No. 1 center,'" King said. "I think he and [Bogdan Trineyev] play well together, so we'd like to keep them together so that could be like our third line, and we'll stick [Ilya] Protas up top on the second line, get him some reps, but look to see like a guy like Rybinski or Trineyev checking some of the top lines as we move forward here."

Expect reconfigured forward lines, potential season debuts

The Washington Capitals announced Friday morning that they had recalled winger Ethen Frank, who was leading the Bears with a pair of goals through the first two games. 

"He's a big part of our offense, so obviously he's one of the guys you know you're going to lose if [Washington] needs somebody, but it's an opportunity for the guys [here] to step up."

Frank's recall, coupled with Smallman's return, and the re-assignment of Ryan Hofer to ECHL South Carolina earlier in the week means that there will likely be some reconfigured lines for the time being, with wingers Graeme Clarke and Sheldon Rempal spread across the top two lines. Rookie forward Patrick Thomas is a candidate to be inserted into the lineup this weekend; if so, the 2023 fourth-rounder of the Capitals would make his pro debut.

"We have enough firepower there," King said of the lineup decisions. "We've just got to get the right chemistry together."

In last Sunday's postgame media availability, King had indicated the team would spend some time working on breakaway/shootout situations, which could have been a difference-maker against Syracuse. The team closed Thursday's practice at Hersheypark Arena by dividing the practice group into two teams for a breakaway competition.

"Well, I feel comfortable with our breakaways today in practice because our goalies were making a lot of saves, so I'm happy about that," King smiled. "We've still got a long way to go with our breakaways, but we'll keep working on it."

Bears hosting Pink the Rink Weekend

This weekend's matches will feature an injection of pink into Hershey's usual Chocolate and White sweaters, with the team hosting Pink the Rink Weekend to raise awareness of the fight against breast cancer, screening, and continued research.

The American Cancer Society estimates that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her life. It is an unfortunate statistical likelihood that at least a handful of personnel in the Bears locker room have a tie to someone who has battled the disease. Count forwards Matt Strome and Spencer Smallman among them - both of their grandmothers have battled the disease.

"She's a tough lady and there's a lot that we learned from her through the years through her toughness and her battle with cancer," Smallman said of his grandmother, Linda O'Halloran, a breast cancer survivor.

"We're looking to make her proud."

Written by Jesse Liebman, Bears media specialist