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.<\/p>\n
Hershey rookie defenseman Josh Godfrey, looking to make his mark on the Hershey Bears\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
Godfrey, a second\u2013round 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.<\/p>\n
Hershey head coach Bob Woods, when asked to assess Godfrey\u2019s performance said, \u201cEverybody knows he can shoot the puck. The big thing we\u2019ve been talking to him about is to get the puck on net, and when he does, you saw what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
If not for Woods’ decision to \u201cbench\u201d 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. \u201cThey did what we expected, and they are all dynamic players. Every time they are on the ice they should be able to create something\u201d, he said. \u201cWe benched them in the third (because of risk of injury and the lopsided score); hopefully that\u2019s the only time we need to do that all year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the lopsided victory over the Penguins\u2019, Hershey\u2019s opponent in their upcoming season opener on Wednesday evening, Woods was careful to put the win in perspective. \u201cWe saw a lot of good things tonight, but again we are not going to put too much weight into it\u201d he commented. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
In typical Hershey-WBS fashion, this game featured it\u2019s share of physicality, including five fights. Woods was impressed with his team\u2019s ability to counter the Pens\u2019 aggressive tactics with a united stand. \u201cThat was an area that we were concerned about last year and we wanted to improve on and I think we\u2019ve done that\u201d he said. \u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. \u201cI felt pretty good; there was a little bit of work early and that made me comfortable. It was a pretty easy night after that,\u201d Machesney said. \u201cWhen 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Machesney, likely to face the challenge of being the \u201cgo-to-guy\u201d 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. \u201cI learned a lot from Freddie and there was no better guy to learn from\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
When asked if he was ready to assume the position of the number one goaltender this season, Machesney said, \u201cI think I\u2019m 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\u2019m 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\u2019s going to work for everyone. We are going to compete with each other and make each other better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"