Weekly Release: Bears Face Wolf Pack, Checkers

January 13, 2026

The Hershey Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they open their season series with the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday at GIANT Center before traveling to North Carolina for a pair of weekend games against the Charlotte Checkers.

2025-26 SEASON LEADERS:
Goals: Ilya Protas (14)
Assists: Andrew Cristall (21)
Points: Andrew Cristall, Ilya Protas (26)
PIMs: Sam Bitten (44)
Power-Play Goals: Ilya Protas (5)
Shorthanded Goals: Grant Cruikshank (2)
Game-Winning Goals: Ryan Chesley, Graeme Clarke (2)
Plus/Minus: Ilya Protas (+8)
Shots: Graeme Clarke (85)
Wins: Clay Stevenson (9)
Shutouts: Mitch Gibson (1)
GAA: Mitch Gibson (2.16)
SV%: Mitch Gibson (.924)
Only includes players on active roster

LOCAL PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

Monday, Jan. 12
DAY OFF

Tuesday, Jan. 13
Practice, 11 a.m., GIANT Center

Wednesday, Jan. 14
Morning Skate, 10:15 a.m., GIANT Center

Thursday, Jan. 15
Travel to Charlotte

Practice schedule is subject to change. Please check HersheyBears.com daily for updates.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

Saturday, Jan. 10 - Hershey 3 vs. Cleveland 2
Sunday, Jan. 11 - Hershey 2 vs. Cleveland 3 (OT)

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE:

Wednesday, Jan. 14 vs. Hartford, 7 p.m. - CLICK TO PURCHASE TICKETS

• Berks Dollar Dog Night - Fans can take advantage of $1 Berks hot dogs available for purchase on the concourse at select locations.

Saturday, Jan. 17 at Charlotte, 4 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 18 at Charlotte, 4 p.m.

All times Eastern.

Television Coverage: WPMT-TV FOX43.2 Antenna TV (Saturday and Sunday); Video Coverage: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio Coverage: Bears Radio Network

TEAM NEWS AND NOTES:

CRISTALL AND PROTAS CONTINUING THEIR RACE FOR TEAM SCORING LEAD:
First-year forwards Ilya Protas (14g, 12a) and Andrew Cristall (5g, 21a) share the team scoring lead with 26 points apiece. The duo are in a three-way tie with Rockford's Nick Lardis for third in rookie scoring, and their 26 points are tops among Eastern Conference freshmen.

KEYSTONE STATE CHRONICLES:
This weekend's road games against Charlotte represent the first time since late November that the Bears will have ventured beyond Pennsylvania's borders, as Wednesday's game against Hartford represents the final contest in an 18-game stretch in which Hershey hosted its opponents at GIANT Center or visited the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins or Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In that time, the Bears have gone 7-9-1-0, but the club enters the match versus Hartford riding a four-game home point streak (3-0-1-0).

CRUIK-ED ARROWS:
Grant Cruikshank notched Hershey's sixth shorthanded goal of the season on Saturday in the club's 3-2 win over Cleveland. All of the goals scored by the Bears when down a man have come at home to lead the entire AHL; the team's overall six shorthanded markers are the most by any club in the Atlantic Division, and Cruikshank is Hershey's first player to record multiple shorthanded goals (2) in a single season since Bogdan Trineyev, Hendrix Lapierre, and Matt Strome did so during the 2023-24 campaign.

MIRO MAGIC:
Forward Ivan Miroshnichenko has nine points (3g, 6a) in his last eight games, enjoying three multi-point outings during that stretch, along with two separate three-game point streaks, and can extend his latest streak to four games with a point on Wednesday versus Hartford. Despite missing 12 games with an upper-body injury from Oct. 18 - Nov. 16, Miroshnichenko's recent stretch of offensive production has moved him into a tie with Bogdan Trineyev for fourth place in team scoring, as the pair have both recorded 16 points apiece for the campaign.

RUNNING WITH THE PACK:
Hershey will play its first contest of a four-game season series with the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday. Hershey is 11-4-0-1 at home against Hartford since the 2018-19 season. During the 2024-25 campaign, Matt Strome led the Bears in scoring against the Wolf Pack with three points (3a) in four games.

QUEEN CITY QUEST:
The Bears resume their season series with the Checkers this weekend with a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday at Bojangles Coliseum. The clubs split a pair of games at GIANT Center in December. Ivan Miroshnichenko (1g, 2a) and Brett Leason (3a; currently recalled to Washington) lead Hershey in scoring against Charlotte with three points, while Nate Smith's two points (1g, 1a) lead the Checkers in scoring against the Bears.

STINGRAYS REPORT:
The South Carolina Stingrays played in one game last week, earning a 2-1 win at Greenville on Jan. 10, as Bears-contracted forward Simon Pinard assisted on the game-tying goal in the second period and netted the game-winner in the third period. South Carolina is 7-3-0-0 in its last 10 games and moved into second place in the ECHL's South Division with the win over the Swamp Rabbits. The Stingrays return to action tonight at Orlando.

BEARS BITES:
Clay Stevenson is 9-3-0 in starts when allowing three or fewer goals...The Bears are 12-0-2-0 when leading after two periods...Dalton Smith's fighting major in Sunday's game against Cleveland moved the veteran forward above 1,000 penalty minutes in his AHL career...Hershey has scored a goal in the first period in each of its last four games, tying a season high...Hershey is 9-3-2-0 in games decided by one goal...The Bears announced earlier today that forward Eriks Mateiko will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season after undergoing a surgical procedure to repair his right Achilles tendon on Monday follow a skate blade laceration in Sunday's game...Forward Justin Nachbaur was recalled from ECHL South Carolina on Monday.