Bob Woods’ Hershey Bears enter the weekend facing a tough task: facing three quality opponents in three nights, and starting the stretch without three key players.
When the Bears departed Chocolatetown on Thursday, they did so without Dean Arsene, Graham Mink and Tyler Sloan.
Arsene, expected to miss at least the next couple of weeks after being prescribed total rest, is still feeling the effects of the sports-hernia surgery he underwent last season. The Hershey alternate captain has not played since Oct. 29 in Hamilton.
Mink, who also underwent sports-hernia surgery earlier in his career, played in the Bears last game in Philadelphia on Sunday, before departing early from the game with a “lower body injury”. Mink’s prognosis is much brighter than that of Arsene, with a possible return to the Hershey lineup later in the weekend.
Sloan, appearing last Sunday in his second game with the Bears after being reassigned from the Washington Capitals, also suffered his “upper body injury” in the game in Philadelphia. Sloan, like Mink, could also return later in the weekend. The 27-year-old defenseman made his NHL debut with the Washington Capitals in late October, scoring the game-winning goal against the Dallas Stars during his NHL stay.
Simeon Varlamov, Hershey’s rookie net minder, who has been sidelined since suffering a groin injury in Philadelphia on Oct. 17, is expected to get his third start of the season.
Albany, 2-5-1-1 on the season under head coach Jeff Daniels, defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday, in a come-from-behind fashion in their last outing.
In that victory, the River Rats were down 3-0 late in the second period, before getting a goal from Brett Carson at 18:17 to cut the deficit to 3-1. Still trailing 3-1 entering the third period, the River Rats score three unanswered goals and received some outstanding goaltending from Daniel Manzato (12 saves in the period, including a breakaway snuffing of Blake Comeau) to leave Harbor Yard with two points.
Albany’s lineup should be significantly improved from the 18 skaters that took the ice in last Friday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Bears, with the possible addition of three players who were not in the lineup on that occasion at Times Union Center.
The expected additions are: Michael Ryan, Dan LaCouture and Joe Jensen, all of whom have NHL experience.
Ryan, who spent all of last season with the Buffalo Sabres, tallying 8 points (4+4) in 46 games, has a total of 65 games on his NHL résumé. After being held scoreless in his Albany debut on Saturday in Hartford, Ryan exploded for three points (1+2) against Bridgeport on Sunday, including the game-winning-goal with 2:41 to go in regulation time.
LaCouture, a veteran of 337 NHL games, cleared waivers earlier this week. Attending the Carolina Hurricanes’ training camp on a tryout basis, he was a surprising member of their opening night roster. The 12-year pro scored two goals in 11 games with Carolina before being assigned to Albany.
Jensen, a teammate of Hershey’s Andrew Gordon at St. Cloud State, was obtained in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season for Dave Gove. The third-year pro has yet to play this season, after sustaining a hip injury during training camp. Appearing in six contests with the Hurricanes last season, Jensen scored his first NHL goal against the Atlanta Thrashers.