HERSHEY, PA- After being forced to witness from afar as their beloved Bears opened the season with four straight road victories, the fans in Hershey were finally able to witness in person the offensive juggernaut on Saturday night at Giant Center as the Bears cruised to a 7-1 victory over the previously unbeaten Syracuse Crunch.
Hershey, led by a two-goal effort from Alexandre Giroux, and single tallies from Keith Aucoin, Graham Mink, Francois Bouchard, Sami Lepisto and Andrew Gordon, continued a season long trend of getting goals from multiple sources, but it may have been the play of Grant McNeill, who was not one of the goal scorers, that was most crucial in the victory.
McNeill, who did not play the previous night in Philadelphia, was inserted into to the lineup by Hershey coach Bob Woods in an attempt to counter Syracuse’s noted tough guy John Mirasty, and it did not take long for Mirasty and McNeill to square off, as they dropped the gloves 2:08 into the contest.
After a lengthy tussle, in which McNeill more than held his own, Mirasty was able to get the takedown to end the festivities. While acknowledging that his strong showing against the tough-as-nails Mirasty helped get his team going, McNeill was also quick to point out the plethora of talent that his team possesses.
“It got the guys going and the crowd into a bit,” McNeill said. “Our team is so deep in all aspects from toughness to skill. If we work hard, we have a good shot of winning every game.”
A versatile performer who has played both defense and forward, McNeill was rather candid when asked which of the positions he prefers to play. “Either, but defense is my natural position throughout my junior career and into my pro career,” McNeill said. “However, playing forward is a fun game because you just run around and hit guys. It’s also probably going to be better for my career as far as moving up, because it’s easier to be an enforcer as a forward”.
If McNeill’s actions continue to get the instant results that the bout with Mirasty achieved, with Gordon starting the Hershey scoring parade only 26 seconds after the end of his bout, the man they call “G-Mac” could be having fun in the nation’s capital sooner than a lot of people ever imagined.