Prospect Info: Hershey Bears/South Carolina Stingrays 2023-24 Seasons | Hershey 12x (and Defending) Champions Edition

[Strawberry Fields]

@swansonsays It's not letting me quote your last post, but in response to your question:

 

[Strawberry Fields]

It is indeed 3-3 now

 

[Strawberry Fields]

@swansonsays You win the prize!

 

[swansonsays]

Deserve to lose when you only show up for the first 20 minutes. This team doesn't play a full 60 this year, even when they win.

 

[Strawberry Fields]

Sgarbossa wipes out with the puck in OT as Vecchione makes a line change. Clean Toronto breakaway with two uncontested trailers. 4-3 TO

There was a sequence late in the third period in which three Bears players all ran into each other at once in the defensive zone, and Smallman and Ness collided right in front of the net as Toronto got some pressure. What pink elephant shit are they consuming before games here?

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Was Miro already called up? Reading the thread seems like a bad loss

 

[Strawberry Fields]

Deserve to lose when you only show up for the first 20 minutes. This team doesn't play a full 60 this year, even when they win.

They're so used to falling into 0-2 holes and having to claw back that they have no idea what to do when the shoes are on their feet!

 

[DWGie26]

Hershey needs to get their shit together.

 

[DWGie26]

I didn’t get to watch the game but looking at the roster with Miro gone, Hofer to SC, and Limoges out hurt, we don’t have any extra forwards. Any chance they bring someone (Suzdalev) up for SC?

 

[Strawberry Fields]

[

I didn’t get to watch the game but looking at the roster with Miro gone, Hofer to SC, and Limoges out hurt, we don’t have any extra forwards. Any chance they bring someone (Suzdalev) up for SC?

They did call up Grant Cruikshank from SC when they sent down Hofer.

 

[hb13xchamps]

It’s odd that they sent both Hofer and Sudzy to SC this year but wouldn’t send them last year. I know SC cleaned house of the coaching and front office staff. Maybe that’s the difference this year?

From the few periods I’ve been able to watch of Hershey they definitely don’t play a full game. Nelson ripped into them publicly and they responded with a good weekend. They just have some bad habits right now. This group has played a lot of hockey the past three seasons. You wonder when fatigue creeps in.

 

[Kazer]

It’s odd that they sent both Hofer and Sudzy to SC this year but wouldn’t send them last year. I know SC cleaned house of the coaching and front office staff. Maybe that’s the difference this year?

From the few periods I’ve been able to watch of Hershey they definitely don’t play a full game. Nelson ripped into them publicly and they responded with a good weekend. They just have some bad habits right now. This group has played a lot of hockey the past three seasons. You wonder when fatigue creeps in.

There's fatigue and to some measure I wonder if it's hard to 'get excited' the same way for regular season games. After all the success they've had the past two years, it's understandable (though frustrating) that they may not be playing quite as hard during Wednesday games in November.

 

[Kalopsia]

It’s odd that they sent both Hofer and Sudzy to SC this year but wouldn’t send them last year. I know SC cleaned house of the coaching and front office staff. Maybe that’s the difference this year?

From the few periods I’ve been able to watch of Hershey they definitely don’t play a full game. Nelson ripped into them publicly and they responded with a good weekend. They just have some bad habits right now. This group has played a lot of hockey the past three seasons. You wonder when fatigue creeps in.

I feel like sending skaters to the ECHL is basically giving up on them as a prospect? Aside from Beagle (who left college to play briefly in the ECHL before the Caps signed him, so the team never actually sent him there), when was the last time a skater who played in the ECHL made it to the Caps? I just skimmed through their 10 ten scorers for the last decade or so and didn't recognize a single name.

 

[Kazer]

I feel like sending skaters to the ECHL is basically giving up on them as a prospect? Aside from Beagle (who left college to play briefly in the ECHL before the Caps signed him, so the team never actually sent him there), when was the last time a skater who played in the ECHL made it to the Caps? I just skimmed through their 10 ten scorers for the last decade or so and didn't recognize a single name.

It's definitely unusual in Caps land, but the Caps also have not had a deep development system in a long time due to being in win-now mode (which means any decent prospect forwards have an AHL spot). When the Caps had a deep talent pool (06-08), a few guys with NHL futures played with the Stingrays including Travis Morin, Andrew Gordon, and Steve Pinizzotto.

A few more recent examples (focusing on forwards) include Keegan Kolesar, Bobby McCann (parts of two seasons), Yanni Gourde (parts of two seasons), and Dakota Joshua.

It's not quite a kiss of death, but it's definitely suboptimal. Suzdalev and Hofer need to play well at the ECHL level, earn their way back to the AHL, and then be productive at that level. When you look at the depth the Bears have at forward (even with Miro up and injuries), it's understandable why some of these guys are getting pushed out.

 

[usiel]

This is a Hershey thing. Probably any other AHL club they'd be playing these two. Not criticizing Hershey here it is the top AHL club and there intent is to win the calder cup. If the Caps were in more of a rebuilding mode I'd probably complain more but these are middle round prospects.

 

[hb13xchamps]

I feel like sending skaters to the ECHL is basically giving up on them as a prospect? Aside from Beagle (who left college to play briefly in the ECHL before the Caps signed him, so the team never actually sent him there), when was the last time a skater who played in the ECHL made it to the Caps? I just skimmed through their 10 ten scorers for the last decade or so and didn't recognize a single name.

Not necessarily any more. Teams are starting to realize that the ECHL is a good place for some fringe type guys like a Hofer and it has been a solid place to start goalie prospects who don’t necessarily have elite pedigree. The Caps have used the ECHL for goaltending for over a decade now. Toronto has utilized their ECHL squad for non goaltender prospects for a few seasons now. That trend seems to be catching on more.