Hershey Bears

Hershey Adds Unsigned Aussie to Training Camp Roster

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Finally, we can see the puck at the end of the hot, humid tunnel we call summer. With the NHL deep into training camps, the AHL is filling its rosters and prepping to kick off camps of its own.

On the same day the Hershey Bears announced their 2013 training camp schedule, a dozen players hit the ice at Giant Center. Last Friday, Derek Whitmore, Julien Brouillette, Peter LeBlanc, Chay Genoway, Patrick Wellar, Jamie Johnson, Brett Flemming, Matt Watkins, Brandon Segal, Nicolas Deschamps, Josh Brittain and goalie Brandon Anderson pulled on their skates to warm-up for the start of this week’s training camp.

The entire group, excluding Brittain, had participated in the Washington Capital’s training camp before being assigned to the Bears late last week or over the weekend. The Caps started their 2013-2014 training camp at Kettler Capitals Iceplex on September 12th, and assigned a handful of players to Hershey since then. Players at the Kettler Iceplex got a sneak peek of new Bears head coach Mike Haviland during on-ice practices. Haviland and Bears assistant coach Ryan Mougenel led a practice group that was numbered with Hershey players, including Jamie Johnson, Derek Whitmore, Matt Watkins and Chay Genoway.

“I really liked Whitmore and Watkins and Johnson,” Haviland said. “Those three guys looked pretty good today together in doing some of their line stuff. Genoway can really skate on the back end. I was pleasantly surprised with all four of those guys for me.”

Most recently, Jeff Taffe, Ryan Stoa, Casey Wellman and Nathan Walker were sent to the Hershey Bears on Saturday. While many of these players were expected to don the chocolate and white for the 2013-2014 season, Walker was a surprise pick from the Capital’s training camp.

 Walker Hopes to be First Australian NHL Player

One of 40 forwards listed on the Capitals’ training camp roster, Walker, 19, is still unsigned but will report to Hershey for camp on Monday. The 5’10”, 185-pound Australian hopes to be the first Aussie to play in the NHL—a league dominated by players who typically hail from much colder climates with far less marsupials. Walker was expected to play for Youngstown in the USHL this season, but had a strong showing at Washington’s training camp as an unsigned invitee. Born in Great Britain, Walker’s family relocated to Australia when he was 2-years-old. Realizing his Australian home was dominated by soccer and surf, Walker made the move to icier climates to hone his hockey skills.

“When I was 13, that’s when I decided I really wanted to take a shot at this, so I went overseas [to the Czech Republic] to learn and play the game,” Walker said.

Walker, nicknamed Stormy for his aggressive playing style, spent six seasons developing his game in the Czech Republic. Before joining the Youngstown Phantoms in January 2013, Walker played the past two seasons with HC Vitkovice in the top Czech professional league. Depending on how training camp goes, Hershey fans might have the opportunity to see this Wonder from Down Under in action at the Giant Center starting in October.

Before the Bears start training Monday, more assignments are expected from Washington.The Capitals’ roster must be trimmed from 70 to 23 players by Monday, September 30th. The Bears are slated to report for meetings and physicals on Monday, with the first on-ice session starting Tuesday at Hersheypark Arena. Hershey opens its three-game exhibition when the new Utica Comets visit Giant Center this Friday night, September 27th.

Originally posted to http://thehockeywriters.com/hershey-adds-unsigned-aussie-training-camp-roster/ by Annie Erling Gofus

Featured Image via Penn Live

Hershey Bears Find Winners With New Coaches for TheHockeyWriters.com

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This summer, while Hershey fans were cranking up the A/C and dreaming of a cool October puck drop, the Bears were busy filling a roster void of key leadership roles. With the regular season just weeks away, the American Hockey League’s oldest and most storied franchise has welcomed newly hired Head Coach Mike Haviland and Assistant Coach Ryan Mougenel into the fold.

Haviland, 45, enters Giant Center as the Bears’ 24th Head Coach with 14 years of coaching experience under his belt. Prior to his move to Chocolatetown, Haviland spent four seasons as assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks, from 2008-2009 and again in 2011-2012. He arrived in Chicago after three years as a head coach for two different teams in the AHL—first for the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate Rockford Ice Hogs (2007-2008) and before that the Norfolk Admirals (2005-2007). Most recently, Haviland returned to Norfolk, the Anaheim Ducksaffiliate, for 2012-2013 as associate coach.

“Mike Haviland has coached his teams to compete and win, and we look forward to having him do the same in Hershey,” Bears General Manager Doug Yingst said in a press release.

“This is the premier franchise in the American Hockey League. To be selected and knowing some of the guys I was up against, it was an honor and a privilege,” Hershey Bears Head Coach Mike Haviland said, “When you put that sweater on you have to understand that you are playing not for the name on the back but the name on the front.”


After his 2006-2007 season with the Norfolk Admirals, Haviland was honored with the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award, a trophy awarded annually to the AHL’s most outstanding coach. In addition to winning AHL Coach of the Year, Haviland has championships on three different levels to his name. In 2010, he helped guide the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup, and between 1996-1998 he lead Elmira College to two ECAC championships as an assistant coach. Additionally, Haviland hoisted the trophy twice as a bench boss in the ECHL—he coached the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies to the Kelly Cup in 2003 and again with the Trenton Titans in 2005.

Head Coach Haviland and Assistant Coach Ryan Mougenel Have History

It was while coaching in Atlantic City that Haviland met Ryan Mougenel, new assistant coach for the Bears. In his final season as a player, Mougenel served as an alternate captain for head coach Haviland on the Atlantic City club that won the Kelly Cup. After four years as head coach of the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers hockey club, which he led to the Kelly Cup finals in 2011-12, Mougenel (pronounced moo-zhuh-NEL, in case you were curious), 37, has landed his first AHL coaching gig in Hershey. Before his head coaching job in Las Vegas, Mougenel spent four seasons as assistant coach of the ECHL’s Fresno Falcons.

“Ryan fits that bill. He understands the work ethic and the details that have to go into being successful. He also understands the relationship between the players and coaches, and he knows how to nurture them,” said Haviland. “He’s a good communicator. He’s a very personable guy. The players are going to like him and the fans are really going to like him. They’re going to take to him. He’s got a great personality.”

This duo’s history has the makings of a dynamic coaching relationship for the Bears. Being familiar with one another’s coaching and playing styles will hopefully make both Haviland and Mougenel feel comfortable and confident in their new leadership roles.

New Leaders Fill Roster Voids Left by Mark French and Troy Mann

Mougenel, a native of Ontario, follows Troy Mann, who served as Hershey’s assistant coach the past four seasons and is now head coach of the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Haviland, a New Jersey native, replaces Mark French, who finished up four years in Hershey at the end of the 2012-13 season. French has since been named head coach of the Kontinental Hockey League’s (KHL) Medvescak Zagreb in Croatia, whose mascot just happens to also be a fierce bear.

French isn’t the only Bear to make the leap to Europe. A month after French landed a job with the Medvescak Zagreb, it was announced the Washington Capitals would not be renewing Boyd Kane’s contract for the 2013-14 season. Kane, three time captain of the Chocolate and White and three time Calder Cup Champion will swap one Bear sweater for another in Zagreb. In five seasons with Hershey, Kane skated in 365 regular season games along with 58 Calder Cup Playoff games.

Originally Posted to http://thehockeywriters.com/hershey-bears-find-winners-with-new-coaches/ by Annie Erling Gofus