Hershey Bears open Calder Cup Playoffs against Chris Bourque, Bridgeport

It’s been an eventful ride for the Hershey Bears during their 81st season, but the legendary AHL franchise is back in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the 68th time.

Under first-year head coach Spencer Carbery, Hershey (43-25-4-4) finished as the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Division. The Bears draw second-seeded Bridgeport (43-24-6-3) in a best-of-five series in the opening round of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Game 1 is Friday in Bridgeport with Game 2 being held the following day at the same location. Hershey hosts Game 3 on Tuesday, April 23 and, if necessary, Game 4 will be in Hershey on Thursday, April 25.

Game 5, if necessary, would be held on Saturday, April 27 in Bridgeport. Every game in the series is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“I think we’re in a good spot. We finished the year playing well and now it’s a new year,” Carbery told the media after Wednesday’s practice. “It’s sort of a clean slate for all of the teams involved, including Bridgeport. Now we refocus and concentrate on one opponent.”

After missing the postseason last year, Hershey clinched a playoff berth with four games to go in the 2018-19 regular season.

The Bears experienced a slow start to the season before running up a franchise-record 17-game point streak stretching from Jan. 12 to Feb. 23. Hershey went 16-0-0-1 during that period to climb the Atlantic Division standings and get back into playoff contention.

Hershey had a strong close to the regular season, going 7-2-1 in the final ten games.

“I think we’ve been playing some great hockey as of late,” said forward Nathan Walker, who had 39 points in 58 games. “This is going to be a big series. It’s going to be a war out there, but I think we’ve really come around the last two months. I think that streak we went on really set us up.”

“We’ve been playing playoff hockey for a long time,” added forward Beck Malestyn. “Ever since we went on that streak earlier in the year, I think we really dialed in our game and we’ve been playing really well. Practices have been really good, guys are really focused, so I think we’re really happy with where we are.”

Bridgeport, which split the six-game regular-season series with Hershey, is led by 33-year-old forward Chris Bourque. The 2016 AHL Most Valuable Player finished with 15 goals and 39 assists in 72 games.

Bourque, one of the top players in Hershey Bears history, was on Hershey's Calder Cup-winning teams in 2006, 2009 and 2010. The Boston native tallied 586 points (196 goals, 390 assists) in 604 regular season contests while skating for the chocolate and white.

“[Bourque] has played for this organization and he has a relationship with a lot of the guys on our team, but once the puck drops it just becomes a series and an opponent,” Carbery said. “You’re trying to do everything that you can and you’re focused on your responsibility. Once the puck drops they’re familiar with the player but that’s as far as it goes.”

“Bridgeport is a highly-competitive team,” Carbery added. “They work extremely hard, they’re well-coached and they’ve got some fire power up front that we’re going to have to be aware of. They have good goaltending and then some experience on the backend with some difference-makers back there as well.”

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