^ Posted by Patrick Williams
Palm Desert, California. … So many hockey cliches surround the highs and lows of the game.
But clichés can also contain facts. Forward Hershey’s Bears Mike Vecion is one example.
Vecchione went to the AHL All-Star Classic in Laval in February, his first invitation to the event. Definitely high.
Just over a week later, he had a new two-year AHL contract with Hershey, just days before he turned 30. It’s an important climax, for sure.
He put together a 44-point season (16 goals, 28 assists) for the Bears, which finished second overall in the Eastern Conference in the regular season. good.
But he went 10 games without a goal in the Calder Cup playoffs. Definitely low. Coach Todd Nelson He noted several times throughout the post-season that the team needed more production from its top players. No one had to risk much of a guess that the words refer in part to Vecchione.
None of that compared to Wednesday night, when Vecchione hit the puck in overtime of Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals to win the Bears their 12th league title.
Somehow, some way, the Bears have continued to take the best the Coachella Valley Firebirds have to offer. Continuing to stand, they continued to give her back. Halfway through Game 7, Hershey won 16-2 at Accresor Arena in the series. But then a first-rounder in the Washington Capitals Conor McMichael And Hendrix Lapierre He scored a goal to tie the playoff contest, and Vecchione finished off one of the wildest finals in AHL history after 16:19 of overtime.
“They are very skilled. You give them an inch, and they take a mile.”
Vecchione said those words standing outside Hershey’s dressing room Wednesday night, still dripping champagne. Game 7 was the only win of the series by a road team. The Bears’ three losses were decisive, but their four wins were all by one goal, including three in overtime.
And nobody had to say it, but losing 2-0 in Game 7 against a Coachella Valley team that had already won five playoff games didn’t feel good. But throughout the postseason and especially in the Finals, no one could put the Bears away forever. Now Vecchione can win his first Calder Cup title and a new contract in the summer.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better year,” said Vecchione. “This team they put together, it’s the definition of a top-down team. There’s not one guy who’s going to go out there and do it. We saw all season, all post-season, it was everybody. Defenders, forwards, [goaltender Hunter Shepard] He stands on his head every night.”
A highly sought after free agent out of Union College in 2017, Vecchione signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and spent two seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He played a year in both the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche systems, and when he was a free agent two years ago, the Hershey Legends Keith Aucoin And Chris Burke They had advice for fellow Massachusetts citizens.
“They said if you have a chance to play here, definitely do it,” said Vecchione. He signed a one-year deal with Washington on August 5, 2021, and agreed to a one-year extension for 2022-23. With the AHL contract he signed in February, he will be a Bear through the 2024-25 season.
The Washington Hershey affiliation has four Calder Cup championships since its inception in 2005. The Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018. It’s a blueprint for how they balance developing NHL talent with winning. Easy to target. more difficult to implement.
“They are trying to win trophies,” said Vecchione. “They are all here to win. Last year was amazing. This year was even better.
“I feel like [NHL] atmospheres. Fan dedication is everything. We want to do everything we can to win for them. We are excited to bring this home.”
Patrick Williams has been in the American Hockey League for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, and SLAM! Sports, and she is currently the co-host of Hockey news on the “A” podcast. He was awarded the James H. Ellery Memorial Award from the AHL for his excellent coverage of the league in 2016.