Hall Of Fame

One of the most prolific scorers of his era in the American Hockey League and the only player to win three Calder Cups during his tenure as a Hershey Bear, Chris Bourque played nine seasons with Hershey, and the Boston native ranks fifth all-time in team history in scoring, collecting 586 points (196g, 390a) over 604 regular-season games. Bourque helped Hershey to Calder Cup titles in 2006, 2009, and 2010.

Bourque won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the AHL's Playoff MVP in 2010, collecting 27 points (7g, 20a) in 21 postseason games as Hershey ended a historic 60-win season with the organization's 11th Calder Cup title. He captured the John B. Sollenberger Memorial Award for the AHL's scoring title with Hershey in 2011-12 and 2015-16, making him the only player in franchise history to claim this distinction twice. He won the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL's most valuable player for the 2015-16 campaign when he posted 80 points (30g, 50a), and helped Hershey reach the 2016 Calder Cup Finals, marking the fifth time he appeared in the league's championship series as a Bear.

He is the franchise's all-time leader in playoff scoring (86 points) and playoff games played (106), and his 82 career playoff assists are the most by any player in league history. Bourque was a five-time AHL All-Star with the Bears, and while with Hershey he was named to the AHL First All-Star Team in 2011-12 and 2015-16. In his final season with the Bears in 2017-18, Bourque represented Team USA at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, collecting two assists in five games.

Bourque's No. 17 was immortalized in Bears lore when it was raised to the GIANT Center rafters in a pregame ceremony on Feb. 14, 2023. Bourque is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, as this is his first year of eligibility following a mandatory three-season waiting period after his retirement.

Over his four seasons in Chocolatetown from 2006-10, no Hershey Bear was responsible for more goals or points scored in the Chocolate and White than Alexandre Giroux's 166 goals and 297 points. Giroux arrived in Hershey in the 2006-07 season, serving as co-captain and earning team MVP honors while helping the Bears reach the Calder Cup Finals that spring. After signing with the Atlanta Thrashers that summer, Giroux returned to Hershey midway through the following season after the Washington Capitals re-acquired the winger.

Giroux cemented his legacy in his final two seasons with the club, shattering Tony Cassolato's mark for goals in a single season (53) by potting 60 to win the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL's top goal scorer in the 2008-09 season, while also leading the league with 97 points to take home the John B. Sollenberger Memorial Award, and claiming Les Cunningham Award honors as the AHL's most valuable player. He set an AHL record with a 15-game scoring streak during the 2008-09 campaign, surpassing Brett Hull's previous mark of 14 straight games. In the postseason, Giroux's 15 goals (a franchise record for goals in a single playoff year) and 28 points led all skaters as Hershey won the 2009 Calder Cup.

The following season, Giroux repeated as the Willie Marshall Award winner with 50 goals, and Hershey repeated as Calder Cup champions, with Giroux once again leading the Calder Cup Playoffs with 14 goals and tying for first in postseason scoring with 27 points. Upon departing the organization, Giroux left as the franchise's all-time leader in playoff goals (36), playoff game-winning goals (10), and playoff overtime goals (5).

Giroux is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, as this is his first year of eligibility following a mandatory three-season waiting period after his retirement.

A hard-nosed, rugged winger, Boyd Kane enjoyed the first 20-goal season of his American Hockey League career in his first season with Hershey during the 2005-06 campaign and captained the Bears to their ninth Calder Cup championship. He then returned to the organization in the 2009-10 season, and notably scored the series-clinching goal in overtime of Game 6 of the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals to send the Bears to the championship round, helping Hershey capture its 11th title, before resuming the captaincy for his final two seasons with the club.

Kane's leadership qualities were further recognized when he was also selected as captain of the Eastern Conference All-Stars at the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic in Atlantic City, New Jersey. His 102 goals with the Chocolate and White are tied for 38th in franchise history, and his 220 points are tied for 50th in club history. Kane was selected as the recipient of the Arlene Tighe Memorial Award in 2010-11 as Hershey's "unsung hero," and he was named the team's Man of the Year in his final season with the club in 2012-13.

Signed to a tryout by the Bears at the start of the 1993-94 season, Mike McHugh quickly earned a full contract after less than a month with the club, beginning a five-season run with the Chocolate and White in which he regularly epitomized the qualities of character, commitment, discipline, and dedication. In his second season with Hershey, McHugh was named the recipient of the Arlene Tighe Memorial Award as the team's "unsung hero." Midway through the 1996-97 campaign, McHugh was named captain of the team and played every game of a grueling 23-game playoff run (tied for a club record), scoring two overtime game-winning goals (also tied for a club single-year playoff record) that culminated in Hershey winning its eighth Calder Cup championship in franchise history, with McHugh receiving the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

McHugh continued to serve as captain of the Bears until his retirement after the following season, representing the club at the AHL All-Star Classic for the second time in his career (1997, 1998).

Over his tenure in Hershey, nobody appeared in more games (366), generated more assists (181), or produced more points (282) as a Bear than McHugh. His 282 points are tied for 29th in franchise history, while his 181 assists ranks 23rd and his 101 goals rank 40th; at the time of his retirement, McHugh's 24 playoff goals were tied for the most in franchise history (now tied for third).

A longtime writer and sports editor of the Lebanon Daily News whose career spanned over 45 years until his retirement in 1971, William W. "Tiny" Parry continued to cover the Bears for the Daily News into the late 1970s. Parry was elected as the first president of the Hershey Hockey Writers & Sportscasters Association in 1939, inducted into Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1967, and received the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award in the 1970-71 season for his outstanding media coverage of the league.

Parry was a 1917 graduate of Lebanon High School and attended Bucknell University, competing in varsity baseball and basketball before his scholastic career was interrupted by World War I, and served in the U.S. Army with the Student Army Training Corps. In 1920, Parry began his career as a sportswriter for the Daily News. After a hiatus, he returned in 1933 as sports editor. He is recognized as being the first reporter to regularly cover the Bears beat dating back to the team's infancy as an amateur team.

Parry passed away on Aug. 13, 1983 at the age of 83.

Lou Franceschetti played parts of five seasons for Hershey, helping the club capture the 1980 Calder Cup in his first AHL season, highlighted by scoring two game-winning goals in the club's playoff series versus New Haven, and recording 15 points (6g, 9a) in 14 playoff games. He generated over 50 points in all five of his seasons with Hershey, including a personal best of 75 points (31g, 44a) in the 1982-83 campaign. Over the five-year period of Franceschetti's tenure in Chocolatetown, he led the club in regular-season games played (347), assists (176), and points (314). He went onto a lengthy pro career after Hershey, playing in 459 NHL games with Washington, Toronto, and Buffalo.

Michel Harvey played seven seasons for Hershey and is one of the greatest scorers in team history, ranking 15th all-time with 394 points. He was a member of Hershey's 1969 Calder Cup team, earning AHL First All-Star Team honors that year with a career-best 93 points (41g, 52a) in just 74 games to finish second in league scoring. He added six more points (2g, 4a) in 11 playoff games en route to the title. Harvey scored 50 or more points in four of his seasons in Hershey, and his 394 points during his tenure with the organization rank third behind only Mike Nykoluk and Jeannot Gilbert during that time frame. Harvey passed away in 2017.

Mike Stothers was a stalwart on the back end for Hershey for parts of eight seasons before he moved into coaching with the Bears. His 487 games rank 15th in team history. He is the club's all-time penalty minutes leader with 1,519 and was revered as a fearless competitor who never backed down from the toughest players in the AHL. His best offensive season came with Hershey in 1984-85 when he logged 26 points (8g, 18a) and 142 penalty minutes in 59 games. He appeared in the playoffs five times for Hershey, skating in 40 postseason games. He served as a player/assistant coach in 1991-92, then launched a successful career in coaching by starting as an assistant coach with Hershey from 1994-96. He has coached in the OHL, AHL, and NHL, leading Manchester to the Calder Cup in 2015. He most recently was an assistant coach for the NHL's Anaheim Ducks.

Mark French was an assistant coach in Hershey for parts of two seasons, including the club's 2009 Calder Cup title, before he took over as head coach in 2009-10 and led Hershey to the East Division title and Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as regular-season champions with a 60-17-0-3 record, before going on to win the 2010 Calder Cup title. The 2009-10 Bears team set franchise records for wins (60), points (123), home wins (34), road wins (26), consecutive wins (12), consecutive home wins (24), and playoff overtime wins (eight). The marks for wins, home wins, consecutive home wins, and playoff overtime wins all still stand as AHL records. French served as head coach of the Bears for four seasons from 2009-13; he is the fastest Hershey coach in team history to 100 wins, achieving that mark in just 147 games. He earned a 180-100-10-23 record as head coach in Hershey, ranking fifth in team history in wins. His 22 playoff wins are tied for sixth in team history among coaches. His points percentage of .628 is tied for fourth in franchise history.

Tony Cassolato played four memorable seasons with Hershey, and the forward was part of the club's 1980 Calder Cup championship, tying for the postseason scoring lead with 21 points in 16 playoff games. In 1980-81, Cassolato led the league in goals with 48, and he also claimed the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award for sportsmanship. In 1982-83, he led the team with 91 points, scoring 53 goals and 38 assists in 75 games. He was the captain of the Bears from 1981-83, and earned Second All-Star Team honors in 1980-81 and 1982-83. His 151 career goals with Hershey ranks 16th in franchise history, while his 305 points ranks 20th all-time.

Bruce Cline was one of the AHL's all-time great scorers, and he played the final five seasons of his illustrious career for the Bears from 1963-68. He scored 45 points or more in four of his seasons with Hershey. In 1966-67, he registered 70 points, compiling 28 goals and 42 assists in 70 games. He finished his Hershey career with 299 career games played, scoring 229 points (97g, 132a). Cline won the Calder Cup four times in his career and was included into the AHL Hall of Fame in 2016.

Mark Lofthouse played parts of six seasons with Hershey, ending his accomplished career with the Bears in 1988-89. He was a member of the historic 1988 Calder Cup championship team that went 12-0 in the playoffs, and he added 11 points (6g, 5a) in 10 postseason games that year. In his earlier tenure with the Bears, he won the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL's scoring leader with 103 points (48g, 55a) in 1980-81. He shared the AHL lead in goals that season, and was named a First Team All-Star. He is one of just 12 Hershey players to score 100 or more points in a season, and he shares the franchise record for points in a game with eight, collected on Feb. 7, 1981 vs. Rochester.

Don Scott had a constant presence with the Hershey Bears organization for over 50 years as a reporter, public address announcer, and off-ice official. He covered the Bears for 54 years, working first with WAHT radio and later with other organizations including the Associated Press, WLBR radio, and the Lebanon Daily News. Scott served as the club's public address announcer from 1989-2016, working two AHL All-Star Classics, the final game at Hersheypark Arena, the opening of GIANT Center, and the team's 2010 title. Additionally, he worked as a penalty box attendant and served as a member of the club's off-ice official staff for 34 years until his retirement in 2023. Scott was elected to Central Chapter Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.