Bears Jump To A 2-1 Series Lead With Win

The Hershey Bears took full advantage of home ice advantage breaking the series stalemate to take a 2-1 series lead over the Manitoba Moose with a 3-0 win. Alex Giroux and Graham Mink scored power play tallies while Micheal Neuvirth stopped all 28 shots his way to give the Bears the lead in the best of seven series for the AHL's Calder Cup.

The Bears' power play was a potent 2 for 3 and was the deciding factor of game 3 with Steffan Kronwall assisting on both goals. Quintin Laing scored the empty net/short handed tally to ice the game and give the Bears the series lead.

But Neuvirth was the game's first star posting the shutout in an all important game for the Bears. His league leading 4th shutout of the playoffs came in a series with the Moose that had taken a few days off after game two in Manitoba on Tuesday night.

The Bears also were able to kill off all 5 of Manitoba's power plays. Five on five both goaltenders were spectacular with Neuvirth's counter part, Cory Schneider, stopping a slew of Bear's shots.

Just like the Capitals, the Bears had to make it interesting with Bryan Helmer taking a couple of late penalties to give the Moose a chance late. But the visiting team just couldn't cash in on their opportunities and the Bears look pretty sharp in their home whites.

Video highlights can be found here. Game 4 is a quick turn around with a 5 pm start tomorrow (Sunday) evening.

Moose and Bears Are Set For Finals

Waiting for the Capitals franchise to turn this:Into this:

For the first time in nearly ten years in the AHL, the number one teams from their respective conferences end up in the finals. The Bears and Moose have both finished the regular season atop of their Conferences and now will battle it out for the Calder Cup. The Moose lead the league in defense with only 188 goals against, while Hershey lead the league in scoring with 296. The contrast for these two teams should make for an interesting series.

While it is only the first ever Finals appearance by Manitoba, Hershey will compete for the 21st time in AHL's history and will be looking for their tenth championship. Hershey won the Calder Cup in '06 and was runner up in '07. Their appearance in the finals for a third time in four seasons is the first in the AHL since Rochester did it in the early nineties.

The series that starts tonight, the same night the Stanley Cup finals start. Micheal Neuvirth will be the starting goaltender for the Bears. He has been brilliant thus far in the post season with a 2.03 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. His counterpart is Cory Schneider for the Moose, he has posted similar numbers in the post season with the same 2.03 GAA and a .924 save percentage.

The Bears have only four returning players that were on the team that won the Calder Cup in 2006, Graham Mink, Chris Bourque, Tyler Sloan and Dean Arsene. Bryan Helmer won the Calder Cup as a second year pro with the Albany River Rats in 1995. He also skated for the Manitoba Moose from 2001 to 2003 and ranks seventh all time in career AHL playoff games played with 111.

The Hershey Bears have ranked first in the league in attendance for the regular season, while the Manitoba Moose rank first in attendance for the post season. For the people in Winnipeg, this series is a big deal.

"This is the Super Bowl to them," Voice of the Bears John Walton said on his blog. "We had more media requests this morning from Manitoba than Hershey, and we hold our own pretty well here when it comes to media coverage. I was told yesterday that one of the local papers up there is planning a 20-PAGE pullout section Saturday to mark the opening of the Finals. What NHL team heading into the Stanley Cup Final outside of Toronto or Montreal would ever get something like that?"

John Walton also has pictures up on his blog from Manitoba on the Bears excursion thus far.

Caps Sign And Recall Helmer. Wait, Who?

The Washington Capitals have signed Bryan Helmer from Hershey and have called him up to the big squad. In the face of mounting injuries on the blue line, the Caps have no choice but to bring up another defenseman. Of course Helmer had to sign a contract before he could be called up, I am sure for the league minimum.

You are probably wondering, "Who the heck is Bryan Helmer?" Besides being the Bears captain, Helmer has had a yo-yo of a career between the NHL, AHL, and the IHL. He is no stranger to the NHL ranks, he has logged 134 games and amassed 15 assists and 23 points. But he never to seem to have any staying power in the NHL.

Helmer could be considered a career AHLer and his numbers are solid, in 848 games in the developmental league he accumulated 342 points and is a +126. The Caps signed Helmer as a unrestricted free agent in July. Although he has never been drafted, he has been through some good organizations like the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings and the Phoenix Coyotes mostly playing for their affiliate AHL squads.

At 36 (my personal hero now), he has made the AHL All-Star first and second team. His career year happened in his last year as an Albany Rat in '97 -'98 where he finished with 63 points in 80 games. His best year of late has been with Grand Rapids in '05 - '06 where he scored 56 points and was a +25 (he was a career best +29 in Albany in '95 -'96) through 80 games. He is also a father of two (Cade 7 and Rylan 3), who will be in attendance for his first game back along with his wife Pam.

Helmer will play tonight against the Canadians and will wear #43.

Caps Notes:

Karl Alzner, a big Scott Niedermayer fan, turned in his #47 for #27. I think it suits him better.

Mike Green and John Erskine are aiming for a return on Tuesday against Florida (a game that is blacked out). The way injuries seem to be worse than first reported, I am not holding my breath.

I did not get up and 4 am. I did not go to the Mall at all today (knock on wood). I am enjoying my Black Friday immensely.