AHL: Hershey Bears: Coming into the New Year with the Bears

As the New Year is coming in hot, the Bears will finish off 2023 with a game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Bears are currently on a seven-game winning streak, their last loss being against the Charlotte Checkers on December 10th. With a 25-6-0-0 record so far this season, the Bears are leading the whole league. The Cleveland Monsters are trailing behind the Bears in the Eastern Conference and the whole league by 9 points. The Hartford Wolfpack is trailing behind the Bears by 15 points in the Atlantic Division. On the other hand, the Phantoms are in 7th place in the division and 9th in the Eastern Conference and are 17th in the whole league with a record of 13-11-4-1. The Bears have only let 66 goals be allowed in, while the Phantoms have let 91 goals be allowed in. The Bears are fifth in the AHL for their power play and second in the AHL for their penalty kill.

Regular Season Meet-Up

During the 2023-2024 regular season, The Bears and Phantoms have met up four times so far this season. They will meet for the fifth time in the regular season on December 30th at the PPL center in Allentown PA. During pre-season, the Bears and Phantoms had one meeting, where the Bears ended up losing in overtime 3-4. The Bears have won three of the four meetings with two regulation wins, one overtime win, and a regulation loss. The Bears and Phantoms have a long history behind them with their PA rivalry, it goes back to when the Phantoms joined the league in 1996.

Phantoms Leaders

• Points: Cooper Marody with 27 points, Samu Tuomaala with 25 points, Tanner Laczynski with 22 points
• Goals: Olle Lycksell with 12 goals, Cooper Marody with 8 goals, Samu Tuomaala with 8 goals
• Assists: Cooper Marody with 19 assists, Samu Tuomaala with 17 assists, Tanner Laczynski with 14 assists

Bears Leaders

• Points: Mike Sgarbossa with 31 points, Ethan Frank with 26 points, Alex Limoges with 24 points
• Goals: Pierrick Dube with 17 goals, Ethan Frank with 14 goals, Alex Limoges with 9 goals
• Assists: Mike Sgarbossa with 26 assists, Joe Snively with 16 assists, Alex Limoges with 15 assists

Important Notes

• The Bears are on a 6 game winning streak
• One of Olle Lycksell’s goals was against Hershey on November 1st where the Phantoms ended up losing to the Bears in an overtime loss with a final score of 3-4
• Hershey currently has a .806 win percentage
• The Bears are 86.8 percent for the penalty kill
• They are also 22.8 percent for the power play