D.C. DIVAS ONE WIN FROM SUPER BOWL

DIVAS REMAIN UNBEATEN AT 9-0

The D.C. Divas advanced to the conference finals with a hard fought 27-17 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Passion. The game was scoreless after one quarter of play. In the 2nd quarter DE Sharina Western recovered a fumble to set up RB Tiffany Matthews 4 yd touchdown run to make it 7-0 Divas. Pittsburgh added a FG just before the have to make it 7-3 Divas. The Passion opened the second half with a sustained drive and a touchdown that resulted in a 10-7 lead. The Divas answered right back with a 14 yard touchdown strike from QB Allyson Hamlin to WR Tara Stephenson to make it 14-7. The Divas then defense turned up the pressure with a 35 yard interception return by CB Kathryn Hemlock. Her dive for the end zone was ruled out at the one yard line. RB Rachelle Pecovsky-Bentley punched it in from there for 20-10 Divas lead. The extra point attempt failed. The Divas continued to pound the running game behind an offensive line who wore down their opponents. RB Tiffany Matthews recorded her second touchdown with a 3 yard score and DB Kathryn Hemlock added the extra point to put the Divas up 27-10. The Divas defense then made a goal line stand with a big hit on 4th down by LB Drea Major to keep Pittsburgh at bay. On the night the defense racked up 6 sacks and created 3 turnovers. Pittsburgh was able to score again with just under 5 minutes to play to make the final 27-17. Head Coach Keith Howard offered his reasoning for the victory. “I’m proud of this team. Our players, coaches, staff and ownership have worked hard and it showed.” The Divas now travel to Boston to take on the Militia in the conference championship game on July 11th. The winner advances to the National Championship game on July 25th in Austin, Texas.

Woods Takes Winning Act to Washington

As far as the long history of the Hershey Bears goes, Bob Woods will always be a “special” guy. After capturing his first Calder Cup with the Bears as a player in 1997, he proceeded to pounce upon his second as an assistant under Bruce Boudreau in 2006, where his duties included running the special teams, and finished off the “triple treat” by notching his third this season as the head coach, putting him in special company.

“They’re all good and nice in their own way. I think the differences are, as a player it’s nice because you’re one of the guys, and as a coach, you’re kind of the leader of the guys.”

Woods, who replaced Boudreau last season after Boudreau received the call to run the Washington Capitals’ bench, was well aware of the scrutiny he would be facing following up Boudreau’s highly successful run at the Hershey helm.

“Those are big shoes to fill, and to be able to show that I could do it on my own, I was pretty proud of that; but I couldn’t have done it without the guidance from Bruce.”

Despite the fact that he was leading a talented club with a heavy veteran presence in his first full season in Chocolatetown, Woods, a native of LeRoy, Saskatchewan, was confident that he could handle the challenge that awaited him.

“This is my fourth championship now, so I think I’ve got a pretty good handle of what it takes to be a champion. I think I’m fair with the guys. As long as you’re talking to them and are fair with them, they’re going to play hard for you.”

Lauded by Boudreau as a big reason why the 2006 Bears ascended to the top, Woods feted his assistant coach, Mark French as a huge factor in the 2009 triumph.

“I’ve got a great assistant in Mark, he was a big bonus for me, and I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

Peering through his crystal ball as he eyed up the 2009 campaign, Woods, who definitely knows a winning squad when he sees it, liked what he saw from the start.

“Before anyone even got here, we saw the potential and knew that we had a team, if all would keep healthy, if we could keep them all together, we knew we had all the makings of a championship team.”

Although the Bears struggled slightly, but eventually mowed down the Manitoba Moose in the finals, Woods said his charges’ chances took a pivotal turn much earlier in their playoff journey.

“I think the turning point was when we beat Wilkes-Barre in game seven. We knew that was good, and that was what we were battling for, as much for the division championship because we knew home ice would be huge. Once we got through that and won that series, even though we knew Providence was going to be tough, we knew we had that chance.”

Heading into the playoffs, with Daren Machesney faltering a bit down the stretch, and Simeon Varlamov securing a spot between the pipes for the Capitals in the NHL playoffs, many thought that Hershey’s goaltending looked to be its most problematic position. However, Woods knew that rookie, Michal Neuvirth, was capable of steadying the ship.

“Once we really got to know Neuvy, I didn’t have any doubt because I just saw he was the type of kid that he is, and nothing really bothers him.

“You think about a kid 20 years old being in an environment like Hershey, where there’s a lot of pressure, and he handled it well, under the circumstances. He showed emotion and the guys were fired up that he was doing what he was doing, and they battled hard for him.”

Now that the 41-year-old Woods has accomplished everything one can accomplish in the AHL, the powers that be in Washington have decided to give him a chance to earn “one for the thumb” as Boudreau’s assistant coach after being named to that position yesterday.

With the Capitals, he will have the opportunity to coach the defenseman, many of whom he helped develop in Hershey.

Tags: Bob Woods, Bruce Boudreau, Daren Machesney, Hershey Bears, Michal Neuvirth, Washington Capitals

D.C. HAS A PLAYOFF FOOTBALL TEAM

Feel good football fans. We have a burgundy and gold team in the playoffs. The D.C. Divas are hosting the first round on Saturday June 27th. 7:00pm kickoff. You park in FED EX field LOT B for FREE. How do you like that ?! Gates open at 5:30pm. Watch two of the best in all of women’s tackle football battle it out. MAN I can feel the old days of rocking bleachers at RFK.

Tags: playoff football in d.c.

Oh Captain, My Captain

Bryan Helmer in action in Calder Cup Finals

Photo: Chris Gluth

When Bryan Helmer signed an AHL contract with the Hershey Bears last summer, the general consensus was that it was a “depth signing”, and that Helmer, a 15-year veteran and four years removed from his last NHL stint, would spend the whole season in Chocolatetown, mentoring Hershey’s younger players before riding off into the setting sun.

However, the wily 36-year old Helmer, who last wore an NHL uniform for the “Desert Dogs”, the Phoenix Coyotes, in the 2003-2004 season, proved to be a valuable commodity in the 2008-09 season, not only for the Bears, who he captained to the Calder Cup, but also for the Washington Capitals, who utilized Helmer’s services for 12 games after a rash of injuries decimated their defensive corps.

For Helmer, who had called 11 different cities his hockey home before coming to Hershey, the 12th stop has been the most rewarding to date, both professionally and personally.

“This is by far the best hockey season I’ve ever had: to get back to the NHL, and have my son realize I was in the NHL, to be the captain of the Canadian All-Star team, and then to win the Calder Cup.”

“It’s the best feeling in the world to have my family see me play. My eight-year-old son really realizes what’s going on; not so much my four-year-old daughter, but we took a lot of video, so when she gets older, we can throw that in.”

The well-conditioned Helmer, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, who has already watched his hockey odometer roll over once when he eclipsed the 1,000 games played mark last season, remarkably appeared in all 22 of Hershey’s post-season contests, bringing his career total to 117, good for third place in league history, only six games behind Ken Gernander.

During the course of the recently concluded playoff season, Helmer moved up from 13th place in the rankings, surpassing former Bears Les Duff, Bob Solinger, Willie Marshall, John Stevens, Dennis Bonvie, and Mike Nykoluk.

“The body held up pretty good, actually. I have to give credit to Beaker (Bears trainer, Dan Stuck) and his staff. They did a good job on me, and I feel great. It’s incredible when you play for a franchise like this that expects you to win and puts that extra pressure on you. It’s a good feeling, and it’s even a better feeling when you win the Calder Cup.”

Known more for his dependable work in the defensive zone, Helmer pitched in with three timely goals in the Bears’ march to the cup; scoring a pair of goals when his team was down by a pair of goals (both games that Hershey eventually went on to win), and adding a last minute insurance goal in game three of the Providence series.

Bryan Helmer at Hershey Bears night at Harrisburg Senators game at Metro Bank Park on June 16.

Photo: Kem Wolgemuth

At Hershey’s victory celebration on Saturday night at Giant Center, the Bears’ captain revealed to the fans that the club had a rallying cry amongst themselves all season long: E-L-E, for “Everybody Loves Everybody”, that contributed to their recipe for success.

“The guys in this dressing room, and the bond that we had between each guy, is amazing. It’s like one big family. That’s what you have to have when you win a championship. I’ve only had it twice, and I’ve won two Calder Cups with that.”

In a perfect example of what makes him such a wonderful leader, Helmer handed off a lot of the credit for the Calder Cup winning season, to his alternate captains who had previous Calder cup experience with the Chocolate and White: Graham Mink, Dean Arsene and Quintin Laing.

“Everyone kept asking me all year how I handled this team as the captain, but it was easy because I think there were probably five guys in that dressing room that could be the captain. I think they gave it to me because I was the oldest guy on the team,” joked Helmer.

“But seriously, those three guys were huge as far as helping me out; they are all winners. They made my job a lot easier because they’ve been through stuff like this before.”

Tags: Bob Solinger, Bryan Helmer, Calder Cup, Dennis Bonvie, Hershey Bears, John Stevens, Les Duff, Manitoba Moose, Mike Nykoluk, Willie Marshall

The Mayor Wins the Popular Vote Once Again

Dean Arsene defends against the Manitoba Moose in the Calder Cup Finals. Photo by Chris Gluth.

By virtue of his six seasons of patrolling the Hershey Bears’ blueline, defenseman, Dean Arsene, has the distinction of being the Chocolate and White’s longest-tenured player. One of the benefits that Arsene enjoys by holding that title is that he is in charge of the music played during warm-ups at Giant Center.

For a good portion of this past season, one of the songs selected by “DJ Deano” was AC/DC’s, “It’s a Long Way to the Top”, and if Arsene were to release his own disc to commemorate the Bears’ championship season, it would probably be titled “It’s a Long Way Back to the Top”.

The tough-as-nails 28 year-old rearguard, who appeared in only 14 games in 2007-08 while still trying to shake off the lingering effects of the sports-hernia surgery he underwent after the completion of the Bears’ loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs in the 2007 Calder Cup Finals, gutted out 46 regular season tilts as well as all 22 post-season contests to earn his second sip of champagne from the Calder Cup.

“After the disappointment of losing the second year, and for me personally to come back from my injuries that I’ve had to deal with, it’s very sweet, very special,” said Arsene, in comparing the two title-winning experiences.

“I don’t know if you can compare one to the other. They’re both special. The first year, we weren’t expected to win; we were kind of the Cinderella story. That was pretty incredible, especially since it was my first cup.”

Recognized for the fourth consecutive season in 2008-09 as Hershey’s nominee for the AHL’s Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, given to the AHL player who best honors the spirit of the former Bears’ off-ice charity work, Arsene was anything but charitable to the opposition in the recently concluded playoffs, finishing the post-season with a plus-10 rating, including an impressive plus-3 performance in the title clinching game.

While proving to be more than capable of keeping the Bears’ opponents at bay with his stellar work in his own zone, Arsene chipped in with a key assist on Alexandre Giroux’s game-tying third period goal in game three of the series with the Providence Bruins.

Even though Arsene had already enjoyed the thrill of being able to claim a Calder Cup on another team’s home ice when the Bears captured the Calder Cup in Milwaukee in 2006, he was perhaps even more jovial while watching the scoreboard clock click down in Manitoba.

“It was 3-1 with about a minute-and-a-half left, and Frenchie (Bears assistant coach, Mark French) threw me and Kronwall on the ice to try to weather the storm,” said Arsene. “When Aucoin scored the empty-netter, it was just jubilation. After he scored, I came on the bench and threw my helmet, threw my gloves in the stick rack, and I was just ready to jump on the ice. I was pretty pumped, and I think I jumped on with about five seconds left. I was just ecstatic.”

The man nicknamed “Mayor” for his enormous popularity with the Hershey fans and the surrounding community said the realization that he had another Calder Cup to add to his resume was still an on-going process.

“I think I’ll have to take time to digest this one,” said Arsene. “I didn’t really realize the first one until about mid-August, how incredible it was, and I think it will probably be the same this time.”

Tags: Calder Cup, Dean Arsene, Hershey Bears, Manitoba Moose

Celebrating the Champs

Fans flocked to Giant Center Saturday night, not to see the 2008-09 Hershey Bears team take the ice, but to celebrate the club’s AHL record 10th Calder Cup victory over the Manitoba Moose on Friday night.

After each player was introduced individually by emcee, John Walton, the voice of the Bears, it was President/GM, Doug Yingst’s turn to take the podium. That evening, after he had introduced Pat Mathers, the wife of his mentor, the late Frank Mathers, and mentioning that the victory coincided with Frank and Pat’s 61st wedding anniversary, Yingst reflected on the bond between the Bears and their parent team and the relationship that has spawned three appearances in the Calder Cup finals in the past four seasons.

“It’s a marriage, a relationship between the organizations, between George McPhee and myself, that’s second to none. I can go back in the 80’s when we won 40 or more games four consecutive years with the Flyers, and the relationship with Bobby Clark was outstanding,” said Yingst.

The (Capitals’) philosophy is winning and developing; it’s not developing and winning. There is an instrumental difference in that. They believe that, and I’m a strong believer, ‘I’m in Hershey, I want to win’, so I think you can’t develop without winning. They agree with that, and we start tomorrow looking for next year.”

Though the celebration was for the fans to honor the hometown heroes, Yingst, in the latter part of his speech, let the fans know just how important a role they played in the team’s success.

“This fabled franchise, and I really mean this, is the envy of the other 28 teams of the American Hockey League. The envy is just not because we have great players, you’ve seen that we do, we have great coaches, great building, great trainers, good front office staff. The reason we’re the envy of the American Hockey League is because of you (the fans). You are the most passionate fans anywhere, in any sport.”

Tags: Calder Cup, Hershey Bears

2009 Calder Cup Champions

Even a hungry bear sometimes gets tired of the home cooking, and embarks on a road trip for a meal. On Friday night, the Hershey Bears, who failed to capture the Calder Cup on Tuesday night in their own den, the Giant Center, captured their league record 10th championship, feasting on the Manitoba Moose at MTS Centre, 4-1.

Hershey wasted little time taking the sellout crowd out of the game, getting an early goal from Andrew Gordon at 3:56 to take a 1-0 lead. Kyle Wilson and Chris Bourque provided the helper on the Gordon goal, his 6th of the playoffs.

Less than three minutes after the Gordon goal, Wilson also played playmaker on a goal by Bourque at 6:10, forcing a turnover that Bourque converted into his 5th goal of the post-season to give Hershey a 2-0 lead.

Alexandre Giroux, the AHL’s leading goal scorer and point producer in both the regular season and post-season, made it 3-0 at 11:16 of the 1st period, banking a shot off of the skate of Manitoba netminder, Cory Schneider, after a nifty deke.

Manitoba meandered back into the game midway through the 2nd period when Mario Bliznak beat Michal Neuvirth with a wrist shot from between the faceoff circles during a delayed penalty to Hershey captain, Bryan Helmer, to make it 3-1, Hershey.

Keith Aucoin, the league leader in assists during the playoffs, sealed the deal for the Chocolate and White, netting an empty net goal with only 21 seconds left in the game.

Neuvirth, who finished with 24 saves on the night to secure his 16th triumph of the playoffs, was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs after the game.

Tags: Calder Cup, Hershey Bears, Manitoba Moose

Slop From The Trough 06-12-09

This is a new blog I’ll plan to do at least weekly starting with training camp. For now, at least, it will just be something along the lines of a Redskins notebook. I’ll be going to the internet trough and posting some of the slop that I come across that seems relevant. Feel free to comment to let me know if I’ve missed something or you have ideas for improvement.

For now, let’s get started with LaRon Landry, Jason Campbell, two signings and James Thrash:

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Tags: chris cooley, Cody Glenn, Colt Brennan, DeAngelo Hall, devin thomas, Eddie Williams, James Thrash, Jason Campbell, Jim Zorn, Keith Eloi, laron landry, malcolm kelly, Marko Mitchell, slop from the trough, Todd Collins, Washington Redskins

A Tale of Two Goalies

The Calder Cup Finals match up between the Hershey Bears and Manitoba Moose, which figured to be a dandy of series, considering the fact that the two clubs finished within a point of each other in the regular season, has not disappointed through the first five games.

Arguably, the biggest reason that the series has lived up to expectations is the glittering goaltending exhibition that has been on display, featuring Moose netminder, Cory Schneider, and Hershey backstopper, Michal Neuvirth.

Entering this series, the duo who were not born in the same year but only days apart, possessed identical playoff numbers in games played (16), wins and losses (12-4) and goals against (33), with Schneider showing a slightly lower goals against average (2.00 to 2.03), and Neuvirth nosing out his counterpart in the save percentage category (.929 to .925).

Despite the statistical similarities between Schneider and Neuvirth, the routes that the sure-fire future NHL goaltenders traveled to get this spot on the map have been anything but identical, with Schneider cruising along at a steady speed, but Neuvirth taking the circuitous route.

Schneider, the 23 year-old native of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was drafted in the first round by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2004 NHL Entry draft after he led Team USA Under 18 Selects to the gold medal in the Under 18 World Junior Cup, but before he had played his first game at Boston College.

Obviously, the Vancouver scouts who were instrumental in selecting Schneider had a keen eye in noticing his star potential, as he put up stellar numbers in all three of his seasons guarding the “Eagles’ Nest”.

During his three seasons at B.C., he registered 65 wins and 15 shutouts, including a school record 8 whitewashes in the 05-06 season, when he led the Eagles to the finals of the NCAA tournament, where they ultimately fell in the championship game to the University of Wisconsin Badgers, who featured Hershey forward, Andrew Joudrey, in their lineup.

Turning pro in the 2007-08 season, Schneider’s transition to the pro game went very smoothly, as he eclipsed the 20-win plateau and led the Moose to the Calder Cup playoffs, where he suffered four heartbreaking overtime losses to the Syracuse Crunch in the Moose’s first round ouster.

Refusing to succumb to the sophomore jinx, Schneider was named the recipient of the Aldege “Buzz’ Bastein award this season, and also earned eight games in the NHL with Canucks, thanks to his noble numbers in the AHL.

Neuvirth’s roller coaster ride began when he was selected by the Washington Capitals in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, 11 selections after the Caps chose Simeon Varlamov, who is seemingly the 21 year-old native of the Czech Republic’s biggest obstacle to overcome for a position with Washington in next years’ training camp.

Neuvirth’s travels to the shores of North American started innocently enough in the 2006-07 season when he tallied 26 wins in 41 appearances with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, leading the Whalers to the OHL championship and earning the F.W. “Dinty” Moore Trophy as the first-year goaltender with the lowest goals against average in the process.

Neuvirth’s second season in the OHL proved to be rather trying, as the young Czech netminder was twice traded and “tended the twine” for three different clubs before a season-ending knee injury in the playoffs ended his season.

In hindsight, it was probably a blessing that Neuvirth endured such an arduous adventure in his sophomore season, as that experience no doubt helped prepare him to ride out the twister of the 2008-09 season.

After failing to make the Capitals out of training camp, Neuvirth plied his trade for one game with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL before being dispatched to Hershey, while the Capitals’ goaltending glut sorted itself out.

With Varlamov already in Hershey and incumbent, Daren Machesney, also returning to Chocolatetown, Neuvirth was relegated to being a practice goalie while the organization searched for a locale in the AHL in which he would be afforded some much needed playing time.

With no suitable facilitator for Neuvirth’s services, the rookie pro was sent back to his native Czech Republic, while his situation was settled. When Neuvirth returned to the United States, he was once again sent to South Carolina of the ECHL where he posted sparkling numbers, despite an unimpressive win-loss record.

Finally, on December 27th Neuvirth earned a belated Christmas present, his 1st AHL start, a 4-1 loss to the Binghamton Senators at Giant Center. After making his AHL debut, Neuvirth went on to make 16 additional starts for the Bears, winning five out of his last six after being handed the ball down the stretch.

Despite the current battle between his team and the Hershey Bears, and more specifically the natural rivalry between netminders, Schneider sees and appreciates the talent at the other end of the ice.

“Some nights, one guy is better than the other, but he (Neuvirth) has been fantastic,” said Schneider, after Game 5 of the Calder Cup finals at Giant Center. “He looks great for a young guy and he shows a lot of poise, and doesn’t seem to get rattled too easily.”

Tags: Corey Schneider, Hershey Bears, Manitoba Moose, Michal Neuvirth

A Fan’s Guide to the Maryland Maniacs Experience

A Fan’s Guide to the Maryland Maniacs Experience

By Jake Russell

When entering the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD, fans are instantly greeted by the official Maryland Maniacs truck parked in front of the building. It’s a nice Dodge pickup with a customized Maniacs paint job which is rather impressive.

Upon entering the arena, fans are greeted by the Maryland Maniacs Dance Team in the front lobby. There you can get autographs with the dancers and also have your picture taken with them.

Once you are on your way to your seats you can purchase items such as t-shirts, hats, posters, sweaters, programs, tank tops, and much more.

Fans are free to watch pre-game warm-ups from both teams and take pictures while absorbing the surroundings for the game.

During game breaks, fans are welcome to catch money saving coupons dropped from the game day blimp throughout the night.

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This blog will prepare everybody for what to expect at a Maryland Maniacs game. It is a fantastic family event and I encourage everybody to come out to a game.