Win or lose tonight, it will be one last opportunity for Hershey Bears fans to cheer on their club this season.
Tonight’s Game 5 showdown with the Coachella Valley Firebirds will be the Bears’ 46th and final home date this season at Giant Center between the regular season and the Calder Cup Playoffs; fans in the AHL’s senior-most market have watched their Bears go 29-12-2-2, including a pair of entertaining wins this week to even up the Finals. There has been a season-long connection between a loyal fan base and a tight-knit Bears club.
“I think it’s just a great group,” said first-year pro Ethen Frank. “Our camaraderie around here and togetherness is something like I’ve never seen before. It’s really cool to be a part of because we haven’t really changed much even going through adversity. We’re still having fun. We’re happy to be here, happy to be with each other and going to battle every day.”
The Bears show head coach Todd Nelson’s postgame press conferences on the Giant Center scoreboard each game, and he had words for fans watching or listening elsewhere on the Hershey radio broadcast.
“Thank you very much for your support,” Nelson said after Game 4. “We enjoy playing in front of you.”
The Firebirds have dropped two decisions in Hershey, but they do not see much to change in their collective game.
Forward Austin Poganski, who picked up his second goal of the series in Game 4, had a concise assessment of what the Firebirds must do tonight. For all of their elite skill and speed, the Firebirds often can play a straightforward down-low game that tires opponents.
“I think when we’re being physical and cycling in the O-zone,” Poganski said, “that’s kind of where we feed off energy and get going. So just get back to the basics…and we’ll be fine.”
Tonight’s game will be the Firebirds’ 96th contest since opening night eight months ago, but there was little attention given by the team to fatigue being anything of a significant issue.
“We’ve been there, we’ve done that,” Poganski continued. “We’ve been down in series. We’ve gone the distance in just about every series, so I think we’ve got that going for us. We’ve got confidence.
“We’re going to be our best when we have to be.”
― Patrick Williams
