Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer

Matt Strome was with the Hershey Bears final season, a fill-in participant who appeared in 34 regular-season video games and none within the Calder Cup Playoffs.

This 12 months, he was a scratch for the staff’s first 9 video games, not making his season debut till Nov. 3. He was out and in of the postseason lineup. And final evening, he turned a Calder Cup hero.

Strome’s purpose 1:06 into additional time gave the Bears a 5-4 win and their second consecutive Calder Cup championship, the thirteenth within the staff’s lengthy and storied historical past.

“I went home [last] summer and knew I wanted to be in this moment,” Strome stated after lifting the Calder Cup. “The season starts and I don’t play, so I work even harder.”

This is the fifth Calder Cup that the Bears have gained since becoming a member of forces with the Washington Capitals in 2005, and so they have been finalists two different occasions as nicely. In January the 2 sides prolonged their affiliation by means of the 2029-30 season. They search for gamers like Strome: gamers who’re hungry, prepared to simply accept a job – any function – and compete for a Calder Cup.

Pierrick Dubé spent final season with Laval on an AHL contract. He attracted the eye of Washington administration, and signed a two-year contract with the group final July. He went on to attain 28 objectives within the common season and made his NHL debut with the Capitals. He missed three video games of the convention finals after dropping a number of enamel from being struck by a puck, however returned to web a purpose within the Game 7 win over Cleveland. And final evening, he turned the primary participant since Jason Krog in 2008 to notch a hat trick in a Calder Cup clinching win.

“It’s hard to put into words right now,” Dubé stated.

Jimmy Huntington was with the Milwaukee Admirals final season after they fell to Coachella Valley within the Western Conference Finals. He signed with the Bears in the summertime, and his two objectives in Game 5 helped give Hershey a 3-2 collection lead as they returned residence positioned to finish it. After sustaining a powerful message of self-discipline all through the collection, insisting that the duty was removed from completed, the fifth-year professional might lastly calm down final evening.

“Now the job is done,” he stated.

Alex Limoges arrived from the Manitoba Moose hungry for a Calder Cup title. The northern Virginia native – certainly one of three locals on the Hershey roster together with Joe Snively and Garrett Roe had attended a Finals sport at Giant Center final 12 months. This time, he was a workhorse within the Bears lineup, recording two assists every in Game 5 and Game 6 whereas skating with Huntington and Dubé. Roe returned to North America after a decade in Europe, citing a need to be nearer to residence after his mom, Julie, handed away final June. He missed all however Game 1 of the Finals with an damage, nevertheless it was his additional time purpose in Game 7 towards Cleveland that introduced the Bears to the Finals within the first place.

Chase Priskie was initially drafted by Washington in 2016, and circulated by means of the Carolina, Florida, Buffalo and Anaheim organizations earlier than returning to the Capitals group final summer time. With three high Hershey defensemen – Aaron Ness, Lucas Johansen and Vincent Iorio – unavailable for the Finals, Priskie constructed on an already-strong season and helped to anchor the Hershey blue line towards the Firebirds’ potent assault.

“You might play 10 years and never get the chance to play for a championship, play meaningful hockey in June,” Priskie stated. “When we got here at the beginning of the season, our goal was to win, and there were no ifs, ands or buts about it. We came to work every day, and we prepared for that.”

Hardy Häman Aktell scored 4 objectives from the Hershey blue line through the Finals. Another defenseman, Nick Leivermann, stepped in for Game 4 of the Finals having not performed an AHL sport since November. For that matter, he hadn’t performed anyplace since Hershey’s ECHL affiliate South Carolina completed its season on April 13. But he slot in rapidly, including wanted mobility and a puck-moving choice the remainder of the best way.

Ivan Miroshnichenko was a first-round decide by the Capitals in 2022 who had a powerful debut season in North America. The 20-year-old ahead, who skated in 21 video games for Washington, contributed seven objectives and 5 assists in 20 playoff contests.

And after all there have been loads of returnees for the Bears. Hunter Shepard, voted the league’s excellent goaltender in 2023-24, anchored the Bears in web as soon as once more. Ethen Frank’s 10 playoff objectives tied him for the AHL lead. Mike Vecchione, the Game 7 additional time hero final 12 months for the Bears, once more solidified the membership up entrance. Young forwards Henrik Rybinski and Bogdan Trineyev stepped and took on more and more bigger roles because the season progressed. Riley Sutter returned from an prolonged damage and anchored the shutdown line for head coach Todd Nelson. Captain Dylan McIlrath held all of it collectively and now has his third Calder Cup. And after spending 51 video games with the Capitals this season, Hendrix Lapierre returned for the Calder Cup Playoffs and skated off with the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as essentially the most beneficial participant of this postseason after ending with a league-leading 22 factors (seven objectives, 15 assists).

Each summer time the Capitals and Bears work collectively to search out the proper match, the correct setting vital each to develop prospects in Hershey and to pursue championship. Settling for a playoff berth is just not sufficient. Bears vp of hockey operations Bryan Helmer works with Capitals affiliate normal supervisor Chris Patrick to construct out the AHL roster. Helmer, who has now gained back-to-back titles with the Bears twice – he captained the membership to the 2009 and 2010 titles – acknowledges potential winners when he sees them.

“I believe that they believe in each other,” Helmer stated of his gamers. “Guys from last year that went through the grind were talking to the other guys that weren’t going through it, and then they pulled them in. Everybody wanted to win. They believed in each other. They believed in themselves, and then Todd Nelson finds a way to get the best out of his players.”

Said Strome, “It was always the Bears, baby.”

TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for practically twenty years for shops together with NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and was most just lately the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.