Photo: Eric Lord
A season is going well when a team loses three times in a month and it marks the worst stretch of the campaign. That’s how it was for the Hershey Bears in January. The chocolate and white entered the first month of 2024 with just six losses. The Bears fell three times in January, but earned points in two of those defeats.
Overall, Hershey posted a 8-1-0-2 record for the month. The skaters from Chocolate Town lead the American Hockey League (AHL) in points with 72 and in wins with 35. The chocolate and white have compiled a 35-7-0-2 record and hold a 15 point lead over second place Providence.
The backbone of Hershey’s success continues to be their goaltending. Clay Stevenson and Hunter Shepard form the best goalie tandem in the AHL. Both netminders rank in the top five in the league in goals-against average and both goalies are in the top five in the AHL in wins. Shepard and Stevenson each won three times during the month (Mitchell Gibson earned the other victory).
Offensively, Pierrick Dube led the way with 10 points in January. His six goals were tied for the most in the month for Hershey with Ethen Frank. Mike Sgarbossa and Joe Snively added nine points each with Frank, Chase Priskie, Mike Vecchione, Ivan Miroshnichenko and Jimmy Huntington chipping in with seven points.
Special teams have been a strength for the Bears. The chocolate and white possess the AHL’s top penalty kill, killing off 87.3% of the power plays they face. The Hershey power play unit is fourth in the league with a conversion percentage of 22.4.
Forwards
Pierrick Dube (RW) – 23 – Undrafted
The Lyon, France native continues to produce for the Bears. Dube followed up a nine goal December by scoring six times in January, tied for the most on Hershey. The speedy winger also dished out four assists to finish the month with a team-best 10 points. Dube started the month off strong, recording a three point outing against Charlotte on January 3. The night started with a secondary helper on Mike Vecchione’s first period power play marker. He then wired a shot over the blocker of Spencer Knight in the second frame for Hershey’s third goal. Dube then tallied again in an unconventional way when he missed a shot over the top of the net, but the puck caromed off the glass and back over the net. The biscuit hit Knight and went in. He went scoreless in his next four contests, but finished the month strongly. Dube snapped his streak with a first period power play tally on January 19. The Frenchman posted his second multi-point game of the month with a primary assist and an empty net goal in a 4-1 over Springfield on January 24. Dube concluded the month with a three-point effort in Allentown versus the Phantoms. The winger is the top goal scorer on the Bears with 23 and that total ranks him second in the AHL in goal scoring. He is second on the team with five game-winning goals and fourth in scoring with 32 points.
Monthly Score: 4.3
Ethen Frank (RW) – 25 – Undrafted
Frank netted six goals for the second consecutive month. The total tied him with Pierrick Dube for the most on the Bears in January. The Western Michigan product has the second highest goal total on the team with 20, which is tied for fourth in the AHL. He failed to record a point in the first two games of the month, but snapped out of it by setting up Alex Limoges for an overtime winner on January 7. The Papillion, Nebraska native ended a five-game goal scoring drought in his next contest. After being held off the scoresheet in Bridgeport in his next outing, Frank embarked on a four-game goal-scoring streak. The stretch began with an empty netter in Hartford on January 19. One night later, he lifted a backhander past Joel Blomqvist’s glove to provide the decisive goal in a 1-0 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The streak extended to three games when he potted an empty net goal against Springfield on January 24. Frank then terrorized the Penguins once again on January 27. He lasered a wrist shot from above the right circle off the crossbar and in to make it a 1-1 game in the first period. The Nebraskan then delivered the winning marker in the third when he elevated a wrist shot from the high slot by the glove of Blomqvist. Frank has scored six goals this season against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, including four of his team leading six game-winning goals. He is second on the Hershey scoring list with 34 points. The second year winger was selected for his second straight AHL All-Star Classic.
Monthly Score: 4.2
Ryan Hofer (C/LW) – 21 – Drafted 2022 (Sixth Round, 181st overall)
The rookie center suited up for five games in January. Hofer was held without a point and has three points in 22 games played this season. He continues to find it difficult to get consistent playing time. The Bears have a deep forward corps and even with two injuries up front, Hofer cannot stay in the lineup. Once those injured players return, sending Hofer to South Carolina to get significant ice time may be the best path for all involved.
Monthly Score: 2.3
Jimmy Huntington (C) – 25 – Undrafted
An unheralded free agent signing in the offseason, Huntington has proven to be an astute signing by the organization. The pivot plays in all situations for the chocolate and white. He is a key part of the top-ranked Hershey penalty kill and is solid on faceoffs. Huntington has been centering the second line for most of the season and has given the Bears secondary scoring. The Laval, Quebec native registered his second straight seven-point month. He found the back of the net five times in January and has already set a career high in goals with 11. Two of these goals were game-tying markers and another was a game-winner. On January 28 versus Toronto, Huntington deflected an Ivan Miroshnichenko pass into the net with 19.8 seconds remaining in the third period to send the game into overtime (Hershey would win late in the extra session). This was his second goal of the game. The one-time Milwaukee Admiral also brought the Bears even early in the third period on January 31 when he banked a shot off the skate of Lehigh Valley goalie Felix Sandstrom and into the net. Huntington’s game-winning goal came on January 24 against Springfield. He beat Malcolm Subban with a wrist shot from the slot in the first period and the tally would hold up as the decider in a 4-1 win. On the season, Huntington has 21 points.
Monthly Score: 4.2
Hendrix Lapierre (C) – 21 – Drafted 2021 (First Round, 22nd overall)
Lapierre spent most of the month in the NHL with the Washington Capitals. He played in eight games for the Capitals and compiled a pair of assists. The second-year center was reassigned to the Bears on January 23 and skated in Hershey’s last three games of the month. His lone point in those three games was the primary helper on Pierrick Dube’s power play goal at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on January 27. Lapierre has yet to get back into a groove since being sent down.
Monthly Score: 2.7
Alex Limoges (LW/RW/C) – 26 – Undrafted
The Penn State alum only played three games in January and missed the final eight games of the month with an upper body injury. Limoges was productive in the three games he did play, compiling four points. He picked up a pair of primary assists in Hershey’s 4-1 win over Charlotte on January 3. The former junior Capital had the secondary helper on Henrik Rybinski’s second period goal against Hartford on January 6. Limoges’ lone goal of the month was the overtime winner versus Lehigh Valley on January 7. He skated into the zone along the right wing and powered towards the goal. He leveraged himself in front of Louis Belpedio. Trying to knock the puck away, Belpedio reached for the biscuit and knocked it into his own net. Unfortunately, that was the last time Limoges saw the ice as he was injured in practice the following week.
Monthly Score: 3.2
Ivan Miroshnichenko (LW) – 19 – Drafted 2022 (First Round, 20th overall)
The Russian rookie is in the midst of a 12-game goalless drought. However, Miroshnichenko is still contributing offensively. In fact, the winger enjoyed his most productive month of the season in January. Miroshnichenko amassed seven points, all assists, during 2024’s first month. The seven helpers equal the number of assists he had coming into the month. Five of those apples were primary assists. The rookie sent the puck towards goal late in the third period against Toronto on January 28. Jimmy Huntington tipped the pass in for the tying goal. On January 24, Miroshnichenko recorded his second two-assist game of the season. The first of those helpers was on Huntington’s first period tally that wound up the game-winner. His second came on Pierrick Dube’s empty netter. It is a good sign that Miroshnichenko is not letting his goalless stretch affect the rest of his game, as rookies often allow slumps to permeate throughout their entire game. The Russian is showing poise beyond his years by contributing in other way and that bodes well moving forward.
Monthly Score: 4.1
Henrik Rybinski (RW/C) – 22 – Drafted 2019 (Fifth Round, 136th overall – Florida)
Entering the month having not played more than six games in a month this season, Rybinski played in 10 of Hershey’s 11 games in January. He started 2024 strong, scoring a goal in each of his first three appearances. The Vancouver, British Columbia native chipped a shot over a sprawled Spencer Knight of Charlotte for a shorthanded tally in the second period on January 3. The goal would prove to be the game-winning marker in a 4-1 triumph for the Bears. Rybinski gave Hershey a 3-1 lead against Hartford on January 6. He came in on a breakaway and pulled the puck from his forehand to his backhand and put his shot by the blocker of Lousi Domingue. After sitting out on January 7, Rybinski was back in the goal column on January 13 when he flipped a shot by the blocker of Lehigh Valley’s Cal Petersen. He went scoreless in his next five games and his lone point the rest of the month was a primary assist on Chase Priskie’s first period goal on January 28. The forward has been skating on the fourth line with Riley Sutter and has proven to be a big part of Hershey’s stellar penalty kill.
Monthly Score: 3.2
Mike Sgarbossa (C) – 31 – Undrafted
Sgarbossa remains an assist machine. The veteran pivot leads not only the Bears, but also the entire AHL in assists with 34, racking up eight helpers in January. The Campbellville, Ontario native recorded his second three-assist game of the season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on January 27 when he had apples on all three Hershey goals. He had another multi-assist game in Hartford on January 19. Sgarbossa also tops the league with 18 power play assists. In his sixth season in Chocolate Town, the center is closing in on his career-high for assists in a season, which he set last campaign with 37. Sgarbossa is fourth in the AHL in scoring with 41 points. One aspect of the Ontarian’s game that continues to improve is faceoffs. That was an area where Sgarbossa really struggled in the last season or so. He now wins more draws than he loses and his ability to win the opening draw on the power play has aided the success of the unit. It is much easier to convert with the man-advantage if the team controls the puck from the start instead of chasing the biscuit down to the other end of the ice.
Monthly Score: 4.3
Joe Snively (LW) – 28 – Undrafted
The Herndon, Virginia native has developed into quite the playmaker for the chocolate and white. Snively dished out eight helpers in January to set a new career high in assists with 25. He sits second on the team in assists, trailing only Mike Sgarbossa. Snively registered a four-game assist streak from January 19-27. The run began with a pair of power play apples in Hartford on January 19. A day later, he picked up the secondary helper on the lone goal of the contest in a 1-0 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Then, the Yale University product recorded another two-assist night versus Springfield on January 24. The final helper of the streak came when he fed Ethen Frank in the high slot and Frank converted for what would be the game-winning goal. Snively’s point streak would run to five games when he put home the overtime winner with 1.2 seconds remaining in the extra session to defeat Toronto 4-3 on January 28. That marker was Snively’s lone goal of the month.
Monthly Score: 4.2
Riley Sutter (C) – 24 – Drafted 2018 (Third Round, 93rd overall)
January was a quiet month for Sutter, offensively. compiling just two assists. However, the pivot still played an integral part of the success of the Bears. Hershey has the best penalty kill in the AHL and Sutter is a big reason why. He is the best penalty killing forward on the team and is always the first forward over the boards to kill an infraction. Sutter is strong, positionally and does a good job of breaking up plays with his stick. Any offense the Calgary, Alberta native provides is a bonus. He has already set career-bests in assists with 10 and points with 15. His next goal will be a career high. Sutter is the anchor of the team’s fourth line and dealt with a not having consistent linemates through most of the month, but has developed a solid chemistry with Henrik Rybinski on the fourth line and on the penalty kill.
Monthly Score: 3.5
Bogdan Trineyev (LW) – 21 – Drafted 2020 (Fourth Round, 117th overall)
The biggest moment of the month for Trineyev came on January 7 when his second period goal triggered an avalanche of stuffed animals on Teddy Bear Toss night. On the goal, the rookie winger muscled Lehigh Valley’s Victor Mete off the puck and discharged a shot from the bottom of the right circle that beat Cal Petersen over the shoulder. It would be the only tally of the month for the Russian. He added an assist on a Garrett Roe marker in Lehigh Valley on January 13. Trineyev would not record a point in the last seven games of the month, but the winger found other ways to contribute. The native of Voronezh, Russia has developed into a solid penalty killer. He makes good decisions and disrupts opponents’ power play with his aggressiveness.
Monthly Score: 3.3
Defensemen
Hardy Haman Aktell (LD) – 25 – Drafted 2016 (Fourth Round, 108th overall – Nashville)
The Swede had a bit of an up and down January. Defensively, Haman Aktell had some lapses early in the month. One came in the second period on January 7 against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The rookie blue liner chose to go and help Chase Priskie below the goal line and this left Adam Brooks wide open in front of the net to tally for the Phantoms. Haman Aktell settled down as the month went along and was steadier in his own end. The Kage, Sweden native enjoyed his most productive month offensively with three helpers. Two of those were primary assists. He had the primary apple on Bogdan Trineyev’s Teddy Bear Toss goal. His other primary assist came in Bridgeport on January 15 when he set up Chase Priskie’s tying goal in the third period.
Monthly Score: 3.1
Vincent Iorio (RD) – 21 – Drafted 2021 (Second Round, 55th round)
After posting seven points in December, Iorio went without a point in January. The offensive drop was not unexpected as he had never had another month like it in his young career. The drop in production did not affect the rest of his game. Iorio was steady defensively and made good decisions with the puck. He did not force passes. The Coquitlam, British Columbia native has been a steady presence on Hershey’s league leading penalty kill. He does a good job blocking shots and does whatever it takes to get the puck out.
Monthly Score: 2.9
Lucas Johansen (LD) – 26 – Drafted 2016 (First Round, 28th overall)
Unfortunately for Johansen, the injury bug bit him again in January. He was injured after taking a hit during the second period versus Springfield on January 24 and is now out week-to-week. The native of Vancouver, British Columbia skated in eight games in the month. Johansen totaled two secondary assists in the January. Defensively, he was steady and solid. He has six points in 13 games for Hershey this season and is a plus eight.
Monthly Score: 3.3
Dylan McIlrath (RD) – 31 – Drafted 2020 (First Round, 10th overall – New York Rangers)
McIlrath has been teaming with Aaron Ness to form Hershey’s formidable top defensive pairing. The duo is also the first defensemen sent onto the ice on the penalty kill. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native is a stalwart on that penalty kill and is a one of the key reasons why the unit is the best in the AHL. McIlrath is the quintessential stay-at-home defenseman and provides the Bears with a lockdown option on the right side. The Hershey captain also brings a physical presence every shift. The veteran will be a playing captain at the AHL All-Star Classic in San Jose.
Monthly Score: 3.8
Chase Priskie (RD) – 27 – Drafted 2016 (Sixth Round, 177th overall)
The Quinnipiac product remains the most productive defenseman for Hershey, leading all Bear blue liners with 23 points. Priskie netted two goals and dished out five apples in January. The seven points is the second-most he has scored in a month this season. The Pembroke Pines, Florida native registered a two-assist game on January 7 against Lehigh Valley. Eight days later, Priskie earned the chocolate and white a point in Bridgeport by firing a one-timer past the glove of Henrik Tikkanen from the left circle. After going scoreless in the next three contests, the Floridian recorded his first three-point game as a Bear against Toronto on January 28. He opened the scoring in the first period, putting a shot through Dennis Hildeby’s five-hole. Priskie then set up Jimmy Huntington’s second period tally. In overtime, the defenseman had the lone assist on Joe Snively’s winner. Priskie has the third most assists on the team with 19 and leads all Hershey defenseman in plus minus with a plus 14.
Monthly Score: 4.0
Goalies
Hunter Shepard (G) – 28 – Undrafted
Shepard has started 20 games this season for the Bears. He has won 17 of those contests and earned a point in another. That means Hershey had taken 35 of the 40 available when Shepard is between the pipes. In January, the Minnesota Duluth alum got the call four times and went 3-0-0-1, dropping a shootout in Lehigh Valley on January 13. Shepard stopped 19 of 20 over the final 40 minutes in Hartford on January 19, only surrendering a power play goal with under a second left in the third. In his next outing, the reigning Calder Cup playoff MVP delivered one of his best performances of the campaign. The Bears were outshot 22 to 12 by Springfield over the first two periods, but held a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes because Shepard was on his game. He turned aside 11 shots in each period to allow his team to hold an advantage. The netminder made 11 more saves in the third period with only Mathias Laferriere beating him. The 33 saves were the second most Shepard made in a game this season and he was named the game’s number one start. The Coleraine, Minnesota native is tied for third in the AHL in wins with 17. He also is fourth in the league with a 2.26 goals against average.
Monthly Score: 4.5
Clay Stevenson (G) – 24 – Undrafted
The Drayton Valley, Alberta native went 4-1-0-1 in six starts in January. Stevenson surrendered four goals in a game for the first time since November 12 in a 5-3 loss to Hartford on January 6. To be fair, the goals were not all on Stevenson as the Bears struggled with turnovers and had a hard time getting the puck out of their own zone. The Dartmouth College product bounced back in his next start, giving up a single tally in Bridgeport on January 15, but falling in a shootout. Stevenson made history in his next outing on January 20. Hershey did not have lot of energy after playing in Hartford the night before and were not generating a lot of offense. The netminder stood tall, especially in the final two periods where the Bears were outshot 21-12. His best sequence came nine seconds into the third with the chocolate and white holding a 1-0 advantage. Hershey turned the puck over and a defensemen went down and this permitted Sam Poulin to come in all alone. Stevenson denied Poulin’s shot with a glove save and then got his left bad on Poulin’s rebound bid. In the end, Hershey won 1-0 and the Albertan had his sixth shutout of the season. The clean sheet moved Stevenson ahead of Vitek Vanecek and Ron Hextall for the most shutouts by a rookie goaltender in franchise history. The six shoutouts are also the most in the AHL. The December AHL Goaltender of the Month leads the league with a 1.67 goals against average. Stevenson’s .938 save percentage is also the best in the AHL and he sits in a fifth place tie with 16 wins. The rookie was chosen as an AHL All-Star.
Monthly Score: 4.5
