Weekly Release: Bears Host Comets, Visit IceHogs

February 23, 2026

The Hershey Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, as they close out a three-game homestand on Wednesday with the Utica Comets' lone visit of the season to Chocolatetown, before heading out west for a pair of games this weekend in Rockford, Illinois, where they'll face the IceHogs. The Bears will quickly return to Pennsylvania, as they will host the Charlotte Checkers next Monday and Tuesday for a pair of rescheduled games.

2025-26 SEASON LEADERS:
Goals: Ilya Protas (19)
Assists: Andrew Cristall (29)
Points: Ilya Protas (40)
PIMs: Dalton Smith (78)
Power-Play Goals: Ilya Protas (7)
Shorthanded Goals: Grant Cruikshank (4)
Game-Winning Goals: Andrew Cristall (3)
Plus/Minus: David Gucciardi (+10)
Shots: Graeme Clarke (121)
Wins: Clay Stevenson (12)
Shutouts: Mitch Gibson (1)
GAA: Mitch Gibson (2.65)
SV%: Mitch Gibson (.913)
Only includes players on active roster

LOCAL PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

Monday, Feb. 23 
No public practice due to winter weather forecast

Tuesday, Feb. 24
Practice, 11 a.m., Hersheypark Arena

Wednesday, Feb. 25
Morning Skate, 10:15 a.m., GIANT Center 

Thursday, Feb. 26
Travel to Rockford

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

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

Monday, Feb. 16 - Hershey 1 at Belleville 3

Wednesday, Feb. 18 - Hershey 3 at Toronto 2

Friday, Feb. 20 - Hershey 1 vs. Lehigh Valley 4

Saturday, Feb. 21 - Hershey 4 vs. Lehigh Valley 6

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE:

Wednesday, Feb. 25 vs. Utica, 7 p.m. - CLICK TO PURCHASE TICKETS

• GIANT Foldable Grocery Tote Night - The first 6,000 fans will receive a foldable grocery tote, courtesy of The GIANT Company.
• Berks Dollar Dog Night - Berks Hot Dogs can be purchased for $1 on the concourse at select locations.

Friday, Feb. 27 at Rockford, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 at Rockford, 8 p.m.

Monday, March 2 vs. Charlotte, 7 p.m. - CLICK TO PURCHASE TICKETS

• Hometown Heroes: First Responders Night - First Responders themed activities and recognition throughout the evening.
• American Sentry Solar Yard Flag Night - The first 6,000 fans will receive a yard flag, courtesy of American Sentry Solar.

Tuesday, March 3 vs. Charlotte, 7 p.m. - CLICK TO PURCHASE TICKETS

• Fairview Golf Course Logo Chip Giveaway - The first 4,000 fans will receive a Logo Chip, courtesy of Fairview Golf Course.

All times Eastern.

Television Coverage: WPMT-TV FOX43.2 Antenna TV (Feb. 27 and 28); Video Coverage: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio Coverage: Bears Radio Network

TEAM NEWS AND NOTES:

BEARS CONNECTIONS TO TEAM U.S.A. GOLD MEDAL WIN:
The men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 concluded on Sunday, with Team U.S.A. defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime to claim the gold medal. Several Bears had ties to the game, with assistant coach Brent Thompson's son Tage helping the Americans earn their first gold medal in the men's tournament since the famed "Miracle on Ice" of 1980, while former Bears video coach Mike King (2017-19) served in the same role, and former Bears while former Bears forward Tom Wilson helped the Canadians earn a silver medal.

PLAYOFF PRIMER NOW AVAILABLE:
With the league-leading Grand Rapids Griffins now in position to become the first team to officially qualify for the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs, the AHL has published its Playoff Primer. With 22 games remaining, the Bears will require a combination of 37 points either earned by their performance or lost by the team with the highest possible total outside of the playoff picture in order to qualify for the 2026 postseason.

FEBRUARY LEADERS:
The Bears have gone 2-5-1-0 in the month of February, and Ivan Miroshnichenko leads the team in scoring with seven points (3g, 4a). Miroshnichenko shares the team goal-scoring lead with Henrik Rybinski and Graeme Clarke, while Brett Leason is pacing the club with five assists and 26 shots on goal.

STEVENSON REACHES CENTURY MARK:
Following an early second-period injury to Mitch Gibson in Saturday's game against Lehigh Valley, Clay Stevenson was forced to enter the game as Gibson's replacement, marking Stevenson's 100th career AHL appearance, all with Hershey. In doing so, Stevenson moved into sole possession of 20th in franchise history in goaltending appearances, passing Marc Denis and Dominic Roussel. Stevenson's 57 career wins also rank 16th in club history; with four more wins he can pass Dave Parro for sole possession of 15th on the franchise leaderboard.

CAUGHT IN A SPIDER WEBB:
Defender Reilly Webb has found his way onto the scoresheet in each of his last two games with Hershey. He assisted on Ilya Protas' game-tying goal on Feb. 18 at Toronto that allowed the Bears to rally from a 2-0 deficit, then assisted on Kaden Bohlsen's tally that leveled the score at 4-4 against Lehigh Valley on Feb. 21. Webb has earned a sweater in six total contests since joining the Bears on a professional try-out on Jan. 22., with the team going 3-1-1-1 in those outings, and he leads the Chocolate and White in plus-minus for the month of February with a +3.

COMET CHRONICLES:
The Utica Comets will make their sole regular-season visit of the 2025-26 campaign to GIANT Center on Wednesday, after the Bears previously earned a 4-3 overtime win at Utica on Jan. 31. Ivan Miroshnichenko led the way in that contest with three points (2g, 1a) including the first overtime-winning goal of his AHL career. The road victory at Utica also snapped a five-game winless skid against the Comets; Hershey is still seeking its first home win against Utica since opening night of the 2022-23 season on Oct. 15, 2022. With the exception of Aaron Ness (currently unavailable after undergoing surgery to address a lower-body injury) not a single player who dressed in that game the Bears is on the current active roster for Hershey. The Bears are a lifetime 11-6-2-2 against the Comets.

VIVA ROCK-VEGAS:
The Bears will visit the Rockford IceHogs for a pair of games at the BMO Center on Friday and Saturday, marking Hershey's first visit to the Screw City since the 2018-19 campaign. The visit will also be head coach Derek King's first visit as an opposing coach to Rockford since moving on from the Chicago Blackhawks organization this past summer to take the reins behind the bench for the Chocolate and White. Hershey is a lifetime 0-2-0-0 at the BMO Center, but won both of its home matches against the IceHogs in early January, highlighted by Graeme Clarke's four-point performance including a hat trick in Hershey's 5-2 Teddy Bear Toss victory on Jan. 4. Current Bears television color commentator Garrett Mitchell previously captained both Hershey and Rockford, closing out his professional career with the IceHogs during the 2022-23 campaign; he will be making his return after previously serving as part of the NHL Network broadcast crew for the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic, hosted by Rockford earlier this month. The IceHogs lead the AHL in penalty minutes per game (17.94) while ranking 19th on the penalty kill (159-for-196, 81.1%), and are tied with Hershey, Bakersfield, and Manitoba with the most shorthanded goals (8).

BJORKLUND RE-ASSIGNED FROM CAPITALS:
With the Olympic break over and the aforementioned injury to Gibson, the Washington Capitals re-assigned Garin Bjorklund to the Bears this morning. Bjorklund has gone 4-5-3 in 12 total outings with Hershey this season and sports a 3.47 goals-against average, a .881 save percentage, and one shutout.

D.J. KING RECALLED FROM SOUTH CAROLINA:
The Bears announced earlier today that defenseman D.J. King was recalled from the club's ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays. King had previously earned an assist in his lone game with Hershey earlier this season while signed to a professional try-out agreement. Since then, he has also appeared in seven games with the Iowa Wild on a PTO, before returning to South Carolina and signing an AHL contract with Hershey for the remainder of the season on Feb. 9. During the 2024-25 campaign, King also played in six games for Rockford, Hershey's opponent this weekend, and also joined the IceHogs in late December this season on a PTO but did not see game action.

STINGRAYS REPORT:
The South Carolina Stingrays went 2-1-0-0 last week, with Bears-contracted goaltender Seth Eisele starting all three games, sporting a 1.70 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage, while making a season-high 39 saves on Wednesday in a 5-2 win over Greenville. South Carolina has won five of its last six games, and sits five points back of first-place Florida in the South Division standings.

BEARS BITES:
Andrew Cristall's 29 assists and 13 power-play assists both lead all AHL rookies...Ilya Protas' seven power-play goals are tied for second among rookies with Rockford's Nick Lardis...Louie Belpedio's 27 points are tied for 13th in scoring among defensemen...Grant Cruikshank leads the AHL with four shorthanded goals...Hershey is 8-0-0-0 on the road this season when leading after two periods...The Bears enter the week with a winless streak of seven games (0-2-4-1) on home ice, the club's longest since going 0-6-1-0 during the 1999-00 campaign from Nov. 6 vs. Worcester - Dec. 4 vs. Cincinnati...Following this weekend, the Bears will have 19 games remaining on their schedule, with 15 against Atlantic Division opponents...Hershey's lone penalty shot attempt awarded to the club this season was at Utica on Jan. 31 (Ilya Protas, no goal).