2025 Calder Cup Still Runs Through the Hershey Bears

Winning three Calder Cup championships in a row is an impossible task, or at least it seems that way. There are a lot of teams that have closed the gap on the Bears from the three remaining teams within the Atlantic Division to the Laval Rocket and Rochester Americans in the North Division. Yet, the Bears, who won it in 2023 and 2024, are set up to make another run. They prepared all season for this stretch, and now, as their Game 1 victory indicated, they are ready for it.

Hershey’s Discipline Stands Out

This series will be a physical one, a matchup where the Bears and Phantoms want to set the tone and either deliver a big hit or drop the gloves. “If you don’t have emotion in the playoffs, something’s wrong,” Nelson mentioned after a battle where both teams were willing to throw a few punches after every whistle. “It’s playoff time, sometimes it’s tough to turn the other cheek, it’s an emotional time, our guys did a good job, you have to stay out of those scrums,” he added.

It’s one thing to play a physical game. It’s another thing to have it get out of hand, where the emotions and rough play cost the team. The Bears knew the line, the Phantoms didn’t, and it was their undoing in an otherwise close game. The Bears scored their first goal on a delayed penalty where Perrick Dube found Chase Priskie with extra ice in the offensive zone. “It was a delayed penalty, and our guys didn’t panic. Priske fed it to Dube back to Priskie to get a quick shot,” Nelson noted. The home team played a near-flawless game while the Phantoms took three penalties, and it made the difference in a 3-0 game.

The one time the Bears made a mistake in the game was in the third period when they took two penalties to give the Phantoms a five-on-three power play. That’s when the Bears played their best all game. The skaters stuck to their spots in the defensive zone while goaltender Hunter Shepard stepped up in the net. The kill changed the game and led to the dagger at the other end of the ice, one where Spencer Smallman had an open look and fired it top shelf to make the score 2-0. “Killing off that five-on-three was probably the turning point because we scored right after that. It gives our killers confidence, it gives our team confidence,” Nelson stated about a group that took over Game 1 and can have the edge throughout the series.

All season long, the Bears have played with discipline and by taking advantage of the opposition’s mistakes. In the playoffs, any error can become costly. It showed a few weeks back when the two teams met on April 4, as a few Phantom errors cost them in a 2-1 game, and it’s showing early on in the playoffs as well.

The Marathon vs The Sprint

It’s a long season. The AHL plays 72 regular-season games compared to the 82 that the NHL has, but both leagues start in early October and end in late April. Then the playoffs begin. Teams power through the marathon that is the season and set themselves up for a big finish.

The Bears know what it takes, and while they didn’t end the season with the best record in the AHL, they won the Atlantic Division and entered the playoffs prepared. “We have a mature group with a lot of guys who have played playoff hockey over the years,” Briskie mentioned on a roster that made these runs in each of the past two seasons and is ready to do so again.

It all started with the week leading up to their series against the Phantoms. The Bears had a bye week and the time to step aside from the game, but Nelson had them go through an intense practice known as “Hell Week” within the organization to prepare for the run. It’s why the Bears hit the ground running with a strong start and a better finish in Game 1.

It all started with the week leading up to their series against Lehigh Valley. They had the time, but Nelson had them go through “Hell Week” to prepare for the run. They came into this series ready. “He had us skating and kept us in shape,” Briskie noted on Nelson’s regimen to get this team ready.

From here on out, it’s a sprint to the finish line. The Bears have a best-of-five series against the Phantoms, followed by a best-of-five series against either the Charlotte Checkers or the Providence Bruins. Then, they’ll likely face a juggernaut from the North Division for a seven-game matchup, followed by a Western Conference team for seven games. The Bears have a veteran group ready for this, and even the young prospects who joined the team late in the season understand the intensity and the buy-in needed to make a Calder Cup run.

Hershey’s Ability to Forecheck & Defend

It felt fitting that Game 1 played out the way it did. The Bears faced a team that wants to play like them and models themselves after them. “We know they are a big, heavy team that has skill; their coaching staff had them prepared, so we had to do our job,” Nelson mentioned postgame. The Phantoms are hoping to someday become the top team in the AHL, hoping the power in the league shifts to the Eastern part of Pennsylvania. Yet, the Bears are still the standard.

The Bears got to the puck and forced the Phantoms to go the full length of the ice for their scoring chances. They check with structure, and it allows them to set up the offense and quick chances to follow. When the Bears create turnovers, it’s done with purpose, with the intention of turning it into instant offense.

The word structure is key and separates the Bears from the Phantoms, or the rest of the AHL, for that matter. The Bears know where to be on the ice at all times. They make the right pass or know how to handle the puck both in the offensive zone and following a turnover in their zone. In the playoffs, every detail matters, and the Bears reflect that with how they play the game.