Speculation: Hershey Bears/South Carolina Stingrays 2019-2020 Vol. 1

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AlexBrovechkin8

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Caps AHL team used to be in Baltimore. The Skipjacks. From 88-93.

Baltimore also used to have the Baltimore Bandits. The Bandits were Anaheim's AHL team during the 1995-95 and 1996-97 seasons. They weren't very popular, or good, or well located for an affiliate so they relocated to Cincinnati until 2005 and now they're the Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate for the Blackhawks.

Loved the Bandits jerseys.

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AlexBrovechkin8

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Being reported that the Hurricanes are going to transfer their AHL affiliation from the Charlotte Checkers to the Chicago Wolves. I think Washington and Hershey are happy with each other and should remain affiliated but if there was one other minor league team that made sense for the Caps it’d be the Checkers, so this could be interesting.
 

hb12xchamps

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Some interesting quotes from the most recent 31 thoughts

The AHL has not officially cancelled the rest of this year, but that’s a formality. One theory as to why that hasn’t happened is some AHL players could end up playing for NHL teams, and, as a result, there’s no point in giving them the mindset their year is over. Over the last week, however, NHL GMs were warned about concerns that the AHL could potentially go without playing next season if fans were not allowed into buildings. That is an absolute worst-case scenario, but it exists.
Not having a season next year would be horrible for the teams, fans and most importantly the players. Huge developmental risk.

Nineteen of the AHL’s 31 teams are owned by their NHL parents (three have local groups that operate those teams). The other 12 are locally owned. That group includes Hershey (Washington’s affiliate) and Syracuse (Tampa Bay).
Andrews would not go into it, but it is believed those locally owned organizations are most concerned about playing without fans. It may not make sense for them to operate unless their NHL partners are willing to increase financial support.
Hershey is probably the exception considering they are backed considerably by HERCO. Although, Hershey Park should have been open and operating right now so they are losing a lot of revenue. Hershey Park also just went through some major work with expansion, adding shops and restaurants and a brand new coaster.

One executive proposed “merging” locally owned teams with the others for one year. It’s tricky and far from ideal — that must involve making sure both “parents” are satisfied with the amount of ice their prospects see. Andrews, however, replied that split teams are “not high on the list of solutions.
This wouldn't work for Washington. More than half of Hershey's team are prospects so developmental time is a key component
 

hb12xchamps

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Being reported that the Hurricanes are going to transfer their AHL affiliation from the Charlotte Checkers to the Chicago Wolves. I think Washington and Hershey are happy with each other and should remain affiliated but if there was one other minor league team that made sense for the Caps it’d be the Checkers, so this could be interesting.
Charlotte most likely signs a deal with Florida, who is without an affiliation agreement.

Vegas left Chicago and bought San Antonio who was affiliated with St. Louis and moved them to Henderson, NV. St. Louis announced a partnership with the Springfield Thunderbirds who were affiliated with Florida. Carolina goes with Chicago so Florida ends up with Charlotte.
 
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hb12xchamps

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Just coming in to post this. I’ll add in Helmers quotes from the other day as well. Already talking about starting up Hershey’s offseason:

“We’re moving forward with talks and they’re going really well,” Helmer said. “We’ll hopefully have something done here soon and get some good back into hockey announcing something like that. We’ll see. The relationship right now is so good that we’re on good terms and everything at this point is going smooth.”
Helmer added that Hershey and Washington are having “an ongoing discussion… about who we’d like to bring back and when is that time that we can bring them back or even negotiate new contracts.”

Moulson wants to return and that seems like a no brainer to have him around. Mentioned he probably would have retired if Hershey won the Calder Cup.



Copley and Malenstyn will be a part of the Caps black aces if the season restarts

 
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CapitalsCupReality

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4 years in South Cackalaky with no chance for escape (professionally)....I guess he finally saw the writing on the wall.
 

AlexBrovechkin8

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TWO-TIME ALL-AMERICAN SHEPARD SIGNS WITH AHL'S BEARS - UMD Athletics

Lo0ks to have pretty solid NCAA numbers. I'd assume this is a VV/Copley replacement and adds depth with Milner retiring
Impressive resume but his height likely kept him off of many scouts' lists. Found an article positing on why he went unsigned for a while. And here's a glowing review on him from a Sabres blog. Hoping the Caps' goaltending factory can make him into something productive.
 

hb12xchamps

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Impressive resume but his height likely kept him off of many scouts' lists. Found an article positing on why he went unsigned for a while. And here's a glowing review on him from a Sabres blog. Hoping the Caps' goaltending factory can make him into something productive.
Digging that second article. Even a solid backup goaltender would be great, especially with Sammy looking like a possible stud for years to come.
Shepard played 4 years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and was a full time starter for 3 seasons beginning in his sophomore year. During this time he compiled a record of 76-37-5 which includes (2) NCAA National Championships, (2) NCHC Goaltender of the Year Awards, and an NCAA record 115 consecutive starts. He boasts a career 0.922 Save %, 1.94 GAA, and accumulated 17 shutouts in his time with the Bulldogs.

While he stands relatively short (6′ 1″) for what NHL teams are looking for in a starting goaltender, Shepard more than makes up for his “lack” of height with his quick lateral movements and puck tracking ability. He’s very good at seeing the puck through screens and has been known to make acrobatic saves when all hope of stopping the puck seems lost. Having to make such miraculous saves can sometimes be an indicator that a goaltender is out of position frequently or gives up big rebounds but that is not the case for Shepard.
 

Langway

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Former Bulldogs, Thunderhawks goaltender Hunter Shepard signs AHL contract | Duluth News Tribune
An undrafted free agent, Shepard is coming off a historic college career with the Bulldogs that includes back-to-back national championships and an NCAA-record 115-straight starts by a goaltender dating back to Oct. 21, 2017.
A pandemic proved to be the only thing that could get the Cohasset native out of the net and derail his run of NCAA titles. Shepard leaves the college ranks as one of the great goaltenders in NCAA tournament history, posting an 8-0 record with a .953 save percentage and 0.97 goals against average. He gave up just a single goal in two NCAA championship wins.
A bit more on Shepard.
 
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hb12xchamps

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SC Head Coach Steve Bergin steps down. Says in the press release that he has accepted an opportunity outside of the ECHL. Maybe an assistant coaching gig in the AHL?

Edit: Looks like the college ranks:

 
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