The Washington Capitals' minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears, have managed to stay atop the American Hockey League's Eastern Conference despite a constantly changing roster.
One of the biggest problems AHL teams face is that they never know when their most important players maybe called up to the NHL. The AHL is a league strictly created for player development and sometimes suffers because of it. Organizations are more concerned about who is playing well in the AHL then who is winning the Calder Cup - the AHL's Stanley Cup equivalent.
The Washington Capitals organization is one major exception to that standard. While the Caps will call up players when they need them, General Manager George McPhee is still concerned with Hershey. Players are returned to Hershey sometimes immediately after the Capitals play so Hershey can use them the next night.
Netminder Simeon Varlamov is just one player caught in this revolving door. With the Brent Johnson out for the Capitals, Varlamov has been their backup goalie for much of the second half of the season. It's important for him to be in D.C., but he is returned to the Bears after almost every game so he can play there. It is a strategy that allows Hershey to keep winning as well as keep Varlamov fresh.
The Bears play host to some of the Capitals most promising prospects. Many Caps fans will be familiar with players such as Alexandre Giroiux, Jay Beagle, Chris Bourque, Tyler Sloan and a somewhat unknown defenseman Karl Alzner - note the sarcasm there. If someone was to watch Hershey, they are literally watching the future of the Capitals. These will be the players that will take over for Tom Poti, Sergei Fedorov and Jose Theodore in the future.
Hershey is perhaps the most historic franchise in the league. The team itself was founded in 1938 as part of the I-AHL. Today, the Bears are the only team from the I-AHL to have played uninterrupted since its founding. The league was renamed in 1940 to what we know today as the AHL. Hershey has been affiliated with five different organizations other than the Capitals, including the Boston Bruins, the Philadelphia Flyers, Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres.
Not only have the Bears played for the longest amount of time in the AHL, they have also played host to some of hockey's biggest names. Their most famous player is Hockey Night in Canada's Don Cherry. Cherry was signed to a contract in the mid-1950's and would play four years with the team before the Bruins called him up.
With all of this talent running through their system they are no strangers to winning. They have won six regular season titles, 13 Division Championships, three Conference Championships and nine Calder Cups. Their latest Calder Cup win came in 2006.
After missing the playoffs for two seasons, the Bears stormed through the Eastern Conference playoffs sweeping their first two series. They had a tough seven game series with the Portland Pirates and eventually advanced to the AHL Calder Cup Finals. There they went toe to toe with the Milwaukee Admirals for six games.
The two heroes of that series are names that the Washington faithful are familiar with. Eric Fehr was the first hero who sealed the Bears ninth Cup win with a goal late in the game and the other was Bears coach Bruce Boudreau. It was Boudreau's performance that year in Hershey that allowed the Capitals management to trust the team in his hands.
Now only three years later, Boudreau is leading the high flying Capitals to the playoffs for the second time in two years and Eric Fehr has exploded with some huge offensive numbers. These are just two members of the current Capitals roster that have played in Hershey. Mike Green and Boyd Gordon both also played in Hershey.
Even with all of the personnel rotations, the Bears have still been able to win and are the heavy favorite coming into the AHL playoffs. Baring any unforeseen circumstances they should be able to keep their core line up together. With all of this down time in between Capitals games, fans hungry for Washington hockey should look no further than Hershey, PA, because after all, this is where the Capitals' future lies.
You can reach this columnist at atomlinson@theeagleonline.com.
