Hershey Bears Hunting For Dynasty

The Washington Capitals should put a hold on starting their golf seasons early and take some notes on their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, who are in the midst of a modern day dynasty in the minor leagues. In advancing to the Eastern Conference in just nine games, the AHL’s longest standing franchise could be on its’ way to their fourth Calder Cup Final in the last five seasons.

After missing the playoffs in both the 2004 and 2005 Playoffs, the 2005-06 Bears lost just five times on route to its’ ninth Calder Cup in franchise history and first since 1997. What makes this win even more impressive is the competition that they took out along the way; beating second ranked Portland, third ranked Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and fourth best Milwaukee.

Although this team had seven of the current Capitals on it, including Tomas Fleischmann, Mike Green, Eric Fehr and Brooks Laich, it was goaltender Frederic Cassivi who led them in net, winning the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy for playoff MVP.

In 2006-07, Hershey continued their strong finish into the regular season finishing first in the AHL with 51 wins and 114 points. The team had lost Mike Green and Laich to Washington, but saw improved play by the likes of Chris Bourque (56 points) and Alexandre Giroux (70 points).

They lost only twice in the first three round of the playoffs that year, beating Albany and Wilkes-Barre in five games, and then swept the Manchester Monarchs to reach their second straight Calder Cup Final. Unfortunately, they ran into a smoking hot Carey Price and the Hamilton Bulldogs and lost the series in five games.

The following season can be considered a year of transition for the Bears. Their NHL affiliate was now supposed to be a contender in the “bigs” and had finally taken away the stockpiled talent that Hershey had been building for years. Players who had been on the last two teams, Flash, Steckel, Laich, Fehr, Gordon and Jeff Schultz, all spent the majority of the season with Washington.

It made matters worse when Washington started 6-14-1, and decided to replace Glen Hanlon with Hershey’s Bruce Boudreau. Boudreau went on to lead the Caps to their first Southest Division title since 2000-01, and also picked up the Jack Adams Trophy along the way. The Bears managed to make their third straight playoff appearance, but lost to Wilkes-Barre in Round 1.

Instead of going into a rebuilding phase, the Bears got right back on their feet in 2008-09 and had big seasons from newcomers Matheiu Perrault and Keith Aucoin, as well as a monstrous year from Alexandre Giroux, who scored 60 goals and took home the Les Cunningham Award. They also brought in 2006 draft picks Semyon Varlamov (23rd overall) from Russia, and Michal Neuvirth (34th overall) from the ECHL.

Varlamov quickly made the move to the greener pastures of the NHL, while Neuvirth led the Bears to their second Calder Cup win in four seasons, and tenth in franchise history, more than any other AHL franchise.

With dynasty status at their fingertips coming into this season, Hershey set the records for wins in a year with 60! Keith Aucoin and Alexandre Giroux were one and two in AHL scoring, with the MVP going to Aucoin this time and Giroux settling for his second straight 50 goal season.

After a five game defeat of Bridgeport and a sweep over Albany, Hershey awaits the winner of Worchester and Manchester. If they make the Finals, it will be their fourth time in five seasons doing so.

The amazing thing with even coming close to a dynasty in the AHL is that your team is constantly losing players to the NHL affiliate. To put out a competitive team year in, year out, is a testament to the franchise’s management and scouting staff that they are able to replenish the talent on a team while still keeping it competitive.

It is also amazing that teams rarely get a chance to hold on to and develop those big name prospects because most are shipped straight to the NHL. Case in point; neither Alex Ovechkin or Semin have ever played a game in the AHL.