The Hershey Bears finished up a perfect pre-season on Saturday night at Giant Center by pounding the visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 8-2.
Hershey rookie defenseman Josh Godfrey, looking to make his mark on the Hershey Bears’ coaching staff and create a little more distance between himself and the others competing for a highly coveted spot on the opening night roster, attained both goals on the evening by registering his first career hat trick.
Godfrey, a second–round selection of the Washington Capitals in the 2007 NHL entry draft, and the owner of a cannon-like shot, launched a team high six shots on goal against starting WBS goalie Adam Berkhoel.
Hershey head coach Bob Woods, when asked to assess Godfrey’s performance said, “Everybody knows he can shoot the puck. The big thing we’ve been talking to him about is to get the puck on net, and when he does, you saw what happened.”
If not for Woods’ decision to “bench” his number one line of Alexandre Giroux, Graham Mink and Keith Aucoin, who accounted for eight points in the game (2g, 6a), the final margin of victory could have been larger than it was. “They did what we expected, and they are all dynamic players. Every time they are on the ice they should be able to create something”, he said. “We benched them in the third (because of risk of injury and the lopsided score); hopefully that’s the only time we need to do that all year.”
Despite the lopsided victory over the Penguins’, Hershey’s opponent in their upcoming season opener on Wednesday evening, Woods was careful to put the win in perspective. “We saw a lot of good things tonight, but again we are not going to put too much weight into it” he commented. “It was a pre-season game where we experimenting with a lot of stuff. We liked a lot of what we saw, but there is definitely some stuff we need to clean up.”
In typical Hershey-WBS fashion, this game featured it’s share of physicality, including five fights. Woods was impressed with his team’s ability to counter the Pens’ aggressive tactics with a united stand. “That was an area that we were concerned about last year and we wanted to improve on and I think we’ve done that” he said. “These are guys who are not going to let anybody mess with anybody and I look at it as team toughness; I thought we saw a lot of things tonight in that aspect.”
Hershey goaltender Daren Machesney, making his first appearance of the pre-season, faced down an early WBS offensive onslaught, not allowing a goal against through two periods. “I felt pretty good; there was a little bit of work early and that made me comfortable. It was a pretty easy night after that,” Machesney said. “When you see rubber quickly like I did tonight, it settles the nerves early, but you have to prepare for any circumstance and do your best to stop whatever they throw at you.”
Machesney, likely to face the challenge of being the “go-to-guy” between the pipes for the Chocolate and White this season without the presence of veteran Frederic Cassivi, had kind words to say about his mentor. “I learned a lot from Freddie and there was no better guy to learn from”, he said.
When asked if he was ready to assume the position of the number one goaltender this season, Machesney said, “I think I’m ready. Over the course of the summer that was my goal; whatever has been said, my job is to be the number one goaltender here. I know that I’m going to have competition from the young kids. They are both really good goaltenders and I know that they are going to push me to my limit. I think it’s going to work for everyone. We are going to compete with each other and make each other better.”