Chase for the third consecutive Galder Cup champion started Wednesday night (April 30). The Hershey Bears received a 3-0 victory and beat Lehigh Valley Phantoms. “It’s a good hockey game tonight, and both teams have done well,” said Bears head coach Todd Nelson, a retro win on the gold standard of the American Hockey League.
The Bears controlled the game early on and won a physics game, with their prep and utilizing the wrong abilities allowing them to slowly win. This is only Game 1, but it's a statement to a team that can play the hockey style. “It's going to be a nervous check series,” noted Chase Priskie. It's a win for another title. There are only 13 wins.
Winning three Galder Cup titles in a row is an impossible task, or at least it seems. There are many teams that close the gap between the remaining three teams within the Atlantic division to the Bears in the Laval Rockets and Rochester Americans in the North section. However, the Bears won the Bears in 2023 and 2024 and set up another run. They have prepared for the season all season and now, as their first win shows, they are ready for it.
Hershey's discipline stands out
The series will be a physical match, a showdown where the Bears and Phantom want to set the tone and make a big hit or throw a glove. “If you don’t have emotions in the playoffs, there’s something wrong,” Nelson mentioned after the fight, both teams willing to throw a few punches after each whistle. He added: “It’s playoff time, sometimes it’s hard to turn the other cheek, it’s an emotional time, our guys are doing a great job and you have to stay away from these confusions.”
Playing physics games is one thing. It's another matter to let it get out of control, the emotions and the tough game cost the team. The Bears knew the line, Phantom didn't, which they canceled in the game they were originally close. The Bears scored their first goal on a delayed penalty, and Perrick Dube found Chase Priskie's extra ice in the offensive zone. “It was a delayed fine and our guy didn't panic. Prick fed it to Priskie for a quick shot.” The home team played a near-bright game while the Phantom made three free throws, which made a difference in the 3-0 game.
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The Bears made a mistake in the game once in the third stage, when they played two penalties, giving the Phantom a powerful five-on-three game. At that time, the Bears played all their best games. The skaters are located in the defensive zone on the defensive zone, while goalkeeper Hunter Shepard stands online. The kills changed the game and led to a dagger on the other end of the ice, and Spencer Smallman opened his corset and fired it to the top shelf for a 2-0 score. “The killing of those five-on-three could be a turning point because we scored after that. It gave our killers confidence, which gave our team confidence,” Nelson said. A group took over the first game and could gain an advantage throughout the series.
Throughout the season, the Bears were disciplined and exploiting the opposition’s mistakes. In the playoffs, any mistake can be expensive. The two teams met a few weeks ago on April 4 because of some phantom errors in the 2-1 game, which also appeared in the playoffs.
Marathon and sprint
It's a long season. Compared to the NHL's 82 games, the AHL has 72 games in the regular season, but both leagues have started in early October and ended in late April. Then the playoffs began. The team is through the power of the marathon, which is the race of the season and is done well for their own race.
The Bears knew what to do, and although they didn't finish the season with the AHL's best record, they won the Atlantic Division and made the playoffs. “For years, we have a full-fledged group and there are a lot of people playing in playoff hockey,” Brisky mentioned in a roster, having done those runs in each of the last two seasons and being ready to do it again.
It all started with a week in their series against Phantoms. The Bears had a good-bye week and had time to stay away from the game, but Nelson gave them a hard workout in the organization known as “Hell Week” to prepare for the run. That's why the Bears run with a strong start and a better end in Game 1.
It all started with a week of their series against Lehigh Valley. They had time, but Nelson allowed them to go through “Hell Week” to prepare for the run. They have the series ready. “He made us skate and kept us healthy,” Brisky noted on Nelson’s program, ready for the team.
From here, this is the sprint at the finish line. The Bears vs. Phantoms had a best five-series series, followed by the best five-series series against Charlotte Pawns or Providence Bruins. Then, they will likely face the North Sect’s Swordsman for seven games, followed by the Western Conference team. The Bears have a veteran group ready for this, and even the young prospect of joining the team later in the season, it is understandable to make the Calder Cup intensity and buy.
Hershey has the ability to inspect and defend
The performance in the first game was very suitable. The Bears face a team that wants to play like them and model themselves after them. Nelson mentioned “they have to do the job well, we know they are a big team with skills; their coaching staff is ready, so we have to do our job.” Phantom hopes to be the top team in the AHL one day, and hope the league’s strength will move to Eastern Pennsylvania. But bears are still the standard.
The bear arrives at the hockey, forcing the Phantom's full-length hockey opportunity. They check structures and enable them to set offensive and fast opportunities. When the bear creates a mistake, it is done with a purpose, with the goal of turning it into an instant offense.
The word structure is the key and separates the bear from the rest of the Phantom or AHL. The bear knows where it is always on the ice. They made the right pass or knew how to handle the hockey in the offensive zone and in their area’s turnover. In the playoffs, every detail matters, and the Bears reflect how they play the game.
