Hershey Heads to Charlotte With Changes Coming
HERSHEY - Things in Hershey appear to have come to a head. After the Bears suffered their third straight loss Saturday night, 6-2, to the Providence Bruins, Hershey’s head coach, Troy Mann, indicated that there will be changes coming.
“The start of our game tonight was unacceptable,” said Mann, who continued, “It wasn’t really Copley’s fault. I don’t know if he had a chance on any of those goals. We had a number of guys that weren’t ready to play tonight for whatever reason. It’s just unacceptable and it’s going to change because that was probably the worst period in my tenure here as head coach at least in the last two years for sure. I can’t remember one of my teams playing like that, and it won’t happen again with this group.”
The loss dropped the Bears to 7th in the Atlantic Division and 11th in the Eastern Conference. Only seven AHL teams have a worse record than Hershey at this point in the season, and that’s not sitting well with anyone.
Chris Bourque is still at the top of the charts in points scored and is tied for fourth in assists, but as Mann has said, other players need to step up. The 2016 Les Cunningham Award winner has had teammates in the top 20 in seasons past, but this season no other Bear is within ten points of Bourque.
Additionally, Hershey is allowing goals at an alarming clip. Currently only three players (one of them, Hampus Gustafsson, is in South Carolina) are above 0 in +/-, with Bourque a team-worse -15.
So after their 2-6 start to December, Mann promised that something would give.
“We’ll just continue to make changes and play the kids. There’s a number of guys in that locker room that gotta step up here and do a better job of leading this club and getting it in the right direction here because nobody feels sorry for yourself. We just got to regroup here.”
It isn’t all Hershey’s fault. Injuries have prompted recalls to Washington, and the inevitable “graduation” of Bears to Capitals has led to a very different looking team in Hershey, which is not an excuse because all teams go through turnover in this league. But what Hershey lost from a season ago is pretty staggering.
Christian Djoos - Washington - 58 points last season Paul Carey - signed with New York Rangers - 55 points last season Christian Thomas - WBS - 49 points last season Stan Galiev - KHL - 40 points last season Chandler Stephenson - Washington - 38 points last season Jakub Vrana - Washington - 36 points last season Nathan Walker - claimed off waivers by Edmonton - 23 points last season Brad Malone - Chicago Wolves - 20 points last season
That said, there will be at least three changes coming when the Bears get back on the ice Wednesday in Charlotte according to Mann.
“We got Hobbs ready to play, so he’ll probably go in. We’ll put Albert and Peluso back in. Langlois will be out next week, but we’ll certainly put three changes. My loyalties, I think it’s one of my strengths as a coach, there are some guys who aren’t getting it done. I’ve been very patient, but at the same time we need results. There are seven young rookies in there that are trying to find their way. When you have young guys like that, you can’t expect them to do that. They’re doing the best they can and learning on a daily basis.”
So if Hobbs is in on defense, who is likely to get scratched? Production-wise, Colby Williams may just head the list. He’s -13 on the season, the worst of all Hershey defenders, and with just ten points in 29 games, he may be the odd man out. Or Mann could go with Tyler Lewington who is currently leading the league in penalty minutes. The last thing a coach wants is a defenseman in the box for an extended period of time, taxing a relatively inexperienced defense. The likelihood he replaces Jonas Siegenthaler or Lucas Johansen is slim, but could indicate a return to the original plan of rotating the young blueliners.
At right wing, Peluso could find himself in the lineup in place of Garrett Mitchell. Mann’s comment on being patient with those he’s loyal to and needing the leaders to step up and lead seems to indicate a move in that direction, or it could be Riley Barber whose -12 is the worst of his still-young AHL career. However, Wayne Simpson’s 17 points is a dip from his production with Providence last season, so Mann could send a message in that direction as well.
John Albert could slide in for any number of players, but the most likely candidates would be youngsters Mathias Bau and Mason Mitchell. But if he’s planning to keep playing the kids, Zach Sill and Liam O’Brien could find themselves in unfamiliar territory.
Every team in the league goes through slumps, but finding what it takes to get the Bears out of hibernation is a big priority for Mann and his staff, and they will not stop until they figure out what it takes. Expect some shuffling of lines and some eye-popping healthy scratches until they find that winning formula.
