Bears Aim For 'Three-Peat' in 2024-25

The bar couldn't be set any higher for the Hershey Bears entering the 2024-25 season after winning back-to-back Calder Cup Championships.

And according to the guys in that locker room, the focus remains clearly on pursuing another championship this year.

"[Bears head coach Todd Nelson] kind of said it in our beginning of the year meeting, that it's championship or it's not good enough," Bears forward Matt Strome told InsideAHLHockey.com "So, we're looking for that three-peat. And it starts on Saturday."

The Washington Capitals have restocked their affiliate's roster, and the Bears are primed to be a Calder Cup contender once again this year.

With goaltenders Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson back between the pipes and most of the blue liners and forward core returning the Bears possess a rarity in the AHL world to begin the season - roster continuity.

Over 20 players from last year's championship team are back in the chocolate and white this fall, and that number doesn't include forward Mike Sgarbossa - who finished 2023-24 in the NHL with Washington but is back in Hershey to begin the year after clearing waivers earlier this month.

According to veteran forward Mike Vecchione, it felt like they never left Giant Center after winning the 2024 Calder Cup Championship in late June.

"It really doesn't feel like we left. We picked up right back where we left off, like practicing hard," Vecchione said. "Everyone's working and trying to get off to a good start. And, you know, keep what we got going."

While there was some obvious rust and working out the kinks not unlike any other team in the preseason, the Bears' power play flashed its brilliance similar to last spring last weekend against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins - scoring on three straight power plays in the second period of that game to get things flowing in the right direction for Hershey.

With offseason addition and AHL All-Star defenseman Brad Hunt running the power play, the other four regulars on the man advantage for Hershey - Vecchione, Pierrick Dube, Ethen Frank and Alex Limoges - it was like riding a bike.

"The way [Hunt] is just able to manipulate that forward and create lanes for the flanks, and obviously he's getting shots through, [it] opens up a lot more for us," Vecchione said of Hunt's addition to the power play unit. "But you know, between me, [Dube], [Limoges] and [Frank], we've obviously been doing this for over a year now, and we know where each other at, we're kind of all interchangeable. So it just makes things a lot easier when you kind of know where guys are going to be, where the puck needs to go."

That team chemistry and familiarity amongst a majority of the group should pay dividends early on in the season as teams are a bit of a work-in-progress in regards to nailing down their systems and overall team identity.

"To have that many guys come back and knowing what it takes to win a championship, it's going to be very beneficial," Bears head coach Todd Nelson said.