The Mental Rest Mattered

I don't think anyone would blame the Hershey Bears if they looked flat last night following their dramatic series win over the Cleveland Monsters. Having led 3-0 in that series, it seemed like the Bears were in completely control until Cleveland rattled off three-straight wins to force a Game Seven. Again, Cleveland would not go away until overtime of that final game in the series, finally allowing Hershey to meet the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the Calder Cup Final.

Even in Game One of the final, the Bears were fired up as the puck was dropped with Joe Snively notching his third goal of the postseason just 75 seconds into the game on an odd-man rush that saw the puck bank in off a defender as the Firebirds looked a little rusty after waiting for nearly a week for their opponent. However, the fatigue may have started to set in after the emotional opening minutes as a puck at the blue line hopped over Snively's stick, allowing John Hayden the opportunity seen in the lede photo as his shorthanded goal tied the game at 6:34.

Ryan Winterton would make it a 2-1 lead for Coachella Valley at the 13:52 mark as they took advantage of a mini 2-on-1 with Jimmy Huntington late on the backcheck. After one period of play, the score showed Coachella Valley with a 2-1 advantage, but it was Hershey with the 10-9 edge in shots. The two mistakes that led to pucks finding the back of the net, though, was something we hadn't seen from Hershey very often this season.

A Winterton backhander started the scoring in the second period as he put Coachella Valley up 3-1 at 9:49, but Hershey would get that one back quickly. A centering pass from Huntington hit the skate blade of a Firebirds defender and landed on the blade of Hardy Häman Aktell who buried his second goal of the postseason just 3:02 after Winterton's goal to make it 3-2. However, the two-goal lead would be restored just 2:20 later when John Hayden won a puck battle inside the face-off circle, turned, and fired home his ninth goal to put Coachella Valley up 4-2 at 15:11. That score would carry into the break with the Firebirds holding a 20-14 edge in shots.

The third period wasn't pretty, but the Firebirds went into lockdown mode as they attempted to ride the two-goal cushion to victory. Hershey did find a little life when Hendrix Lapierre's one-timer from the right face-off dot found twine with 1:56 to play as the power-play marker made it 4-3. The 6-on-5 through the majority of the rest of the game didn't get either side any additional goals as the Firebirds captured victory in Game One By that 4-3 score!

Hershey head coach Todd Nelson was asked if his team looked a little fatigued as the game wore on, but he was quick to downplay that.

"I'm not making any excuses," he told reporters, "but it was a pretty emotional series. We looked mentally tired at times, making mistakes. Puck-decision mistakes. Just not bearing down on passes."

He's not wrong in this case as the first two goals were uncharacteristic of how the Bears played all season, but one had to wonder if the grind is starting to affect the Bears. Yes, Coachella Valley gave up two goals off limbs of their defenders, but they simply executed better and wore the Bears down with their defensive play, limiting Hershey to just nine shots over the final 40 minutes of play.

"When you look at the four goals against, they're all preventable," Nelson said. "A team like Coachella, you have to make them earn their goals because they're a highly talented team, and they can finish. Just like we saw last year. We've got to make it tougher on them."

The Firebirds, however, know that there will be a hungrier Bears team in Game Two, but they'll take this win against a good squad.

"It's not just another win, that's for sure," Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma told Andrew John of the Palm Springs Desert Sun. "We're racing to get to four wins to win a Calder Cup, and it was huge to be able to come out in a tough place to play and be able to get the win right off the hop in Game 1."

Nothing is decided after Game One, and I expect the Bears will want to answer in Game Two before heading to Palm Springs for three games. Coachella Valley is gunning for a first Calder Cup after losing to Hershey last season, so they'll be motivated for Game Two as well. It should be a beauty tomorrow at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania as these two teams dig deep for wins!

By the way, highlights of this game are below!


Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!