Bears Players 'Soaked Up The Sun' While Stranded In Charlotte

Anyone who has ever traveled has probably felt the frustration of flight delays, traffic congestion, and the like. Being stranded somewhere is a nightmare for individuals and families alike, but the Hershey Bears made the most of the situation when their flight out of Charlotte last week was canceled.

After a pair of losses in Charlotte April 1 and April 2, the Bears were set to bus to the airport for a morning flight to Newark. There a bus would take them to Bridgeport where they were to play the Islanders Tuesday morning. That’s where things went sideways.

Hershey was informed the flight was canceled. Dan "Beaker" Stuck went to work trying to get the team out of Charlotte. He located a bus company willing to take the team, but an hour before that was to depart, the bus company canceled.

"The short of the long story is that we were supposed to be on a bus from our hotel to catch an 11:15 am flight and land in Newark at 1:30, then bus over to Bridgeport, which would have given us a chance to have a good dinner Sunday night, and then practice yesterday and prepare for the game," said Scott Allen. "None of those things came to fruition. We were stranded. We had buses cancel on us, flights cancel on us, (and an) opportunity to get out cancel on us."

Thankfully, the hotel the Bears had checked out of Saturday was able to accommodate the team, and while Stuck and the staff went back to the drawing board to try and figure out an exit strategy, the team found a better way to make use of their time.

"That was quite the experience. It's just you never know, obviously, with flights, and just quick turnarounds that we had, it was unfortunate how it all worked out, but the guys made the most of the day in Charlotte," said Dylan McIlrath. "I guess we're kind of on edge, waiting for a call all day and then got the word that we're leaving the next day. So I've tried to soak up as much sun as we could before coming back. There were a lot of hours at the pool. I think Phoenix got most of that going on all the time. Vitamin D helped."

Copley, a North Pole, Alaska native, who was rumored to have gotten pretty sunburned, was not the only one logging hours in the sun. His goaltending partner, Zach Fucale, also logged hours in the sun.

"You know, our goalies are good buddies," said Cody Franson. "They stick close to each other and you know Cops got more sun than [Fucale] I think but yeah, I don't know what to say with those two guys. They're awesome."

One guy who didn't get much sun was Alex Alexeyev. "Nice weather there, so (it was) pretty good time," Alexeyev said, noting that he spent most of the time in the shade since he would "burn in like five minutes."

The next morning, bus company secured, the team departed the hotel in Charlotte and headed north, and despite the inconveniences, the players once again focused on the positives.

"I think in the end, it kind of worked out," added Kody Clark whose goal in Bridgeport earned the franchise victory number 3000. "I think we had a full day together in Charlotte, we kind of hung by the pool and just got the bond and then the 13 hour bus ride, we were all stuck together again. So I think we got to build some chemistry as a team."

But a 13-hour bus ride after playing a pair of games with another one on the horizon? Hockey at this level is all about recovering quickly, and that’s mighty hard to do in a bus for 13 hours. That's where Strength and Conditioning Coach, Mike Wagner came into play.

"Wags, our strength coach, does a great job," Franson told InsideAHLHockey.com. "He kind of sent a text to the group and just gave a few tidbits of things to maybe try and do along the way: stand up, stretch your legs a little bit. We got to the hotel that night, but the guys went to the pool and just tried to get their legs moving and do something like that."

In addition to the bus ride hindering recovery, loss of practice time, scouting reports, and nutrition also were victims of the extra time in Charlotte.

"We didn't get on the road until [Tuesday] morning at 7 am," Allen said in an interview Wednesday in Bridgeport. "(We) had a one-bus-to-another-bus switchover; got in at 8 o'clock last night. There goes our practice. There goes our good day of rest and recovery and a couple of good meals."

"It wouldn't even have been all that terrible if we would have had a normal game time," Franson said of the 10:30 start in Bridgeport, adding that breakfast was at 7:15 and then the team had to head to the rink to get ready with pre-scout and the warmup skate.

McIlrath added, "I think in those instances, you can kind of play with nothing to lose and it helped us, kind of took our mind off the game, and just went out and played and did our best."

And while they are not averse to 10:30 starts going forward or getting stuck in nice, warm places like Charlotte, Alexeyev recalled another time when he got stuck in a place that wasn't quite as nice.

"I've had worse," Alexeyev said. "One time I was stuck in Everett for like 28 hours because of the storms. Snowstorm so it was worse."

And while the Bears have not yet clinched a Calder Cup playoff berth, looming on the horizon is the possibility of more games in Charlotte. Perhaps the Capitals will put their jet on standby. You can bet that would help Stuck and the coaching staff sleep a bit better in that situation!