Alexandre Giroux holds the Calder Cup. (Photos by Kyle M.)

One of the greatest Bears of all-time has finally left for a legitimate shot to stick in the NHL. Bears first line Left Wing Alexandre Giroux signed a one-way NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers early Saturday morning.

Per Mitch Beck of Howlings, Giroux had several good offers on the table and chose Edmonton because he gets to play in front of an old mentor:

The Quebec City native will be reunited with ex-Rangers coach Tom Renney. The left handed shooting Center played for Renney in the one game he got in with the Rangers back in 2005. In that game he played just three shifts and drew a key penalty on the second shift that led to a power play goal.

Giroux told Howlings, that he had other NHL options, including an offer from the New York Islanders. He also had a much more substantial $1.3mm offer from the KHL that he leaves on the table in order to complete his dream of being a regular NHL player. He does it with no regrets. “It was a lot of money and it was a hard decision, but I’m really excited to have this chance to make an NHL roster,” the recently turned 29-year old said. “Coach Renney is a great coach and the organization has such a great history. I’m looking forward to going there and giving it everything I’ve got to help the team become a contender once again and prove I belong there.”

Giroux leaves behind a league in which he completely dominated. His vast accomplishments in Hershey include the following:

• In 2008-09 Giroux was named the AHL MVP. He lead the league in goals (60) and points (98) while playing an abbreviated schedule (69 games) due to an extended 12 game stint in Washington. In total he played 21 games with the Capitals where he totaled 2G and 3A.
• His 60 goal achievement in 2008-09 was an AHL record.
• Also an AHL Record: The Rooster scored goals in 15 consecutive games. The previous owner of the record was none-other-than Brett Hull.
• In 2009-10, Alexandre followed up his MVP season by once again leading the league in goals with 50. The next closest AHL player was his own linemate in Andrew Gordon, who finished the year with 37.
• Giroux also managed to score 5 more points than he did in 2008-09 and go over the century mark (103) for the first time in his 6 year professional career.
• Giroux leaves the Bears second all-time in playoff scoring. He was only four points off Mike Nykoluk for the franchise lead.
• He won back-to-back championships with Hershey in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

I will always remember Giroux as a player who simply was a scoring machine. I will also remember him for being the guy that almost ran me over on the ice after the Bears won the Calder Cup again this year. Well good luck G and I hope to see you return to Washington in an Oilers jersey sometime soon! You’ll be missed!

Other Notes: The Washington Capitals – who have been asleep at the wheel since the Free Agent Doors opened Thursday – signed Goalie Dany Sabourin who is expected to back up Braden Holtby in Hershey next year… Hershey’s third string goalie Jason Bacashihua signed with the Colorado Avalanche today and will play in Lake Erie next year… Kyle Wilson, who had a multiple game stint in Washington last year, was signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wilson was a 50pt producer in Hershey. His departure further hurts the Capitals’ center depth… Count out Brendan Morrison as one of the options to return to the Capitals via free agency. In this in-depth interview with The Province, B-Mo rips the organization and stresses the team made no adjustments to it’s 1 for 34 powerplay in the playoffs. Worth a read.

Here is Kyle’s video:

Glorious stills after the jump!

Keith Aucoin with the familiar “Are you not entertained?” pose.

Andrew Gordon waves at his– dear God look at those arms!  It’s like someone transplanted horses’ legs on his shoulders.

Alexandre Giroux has been doing this for three days straight.

Probably because it looks so cool.

Imagine a Kid Rock song playing in the background.

Center Andrew Joudrey incognito as a goalie.

I would do anything to get ahold of Braden Holtby’s video camera from the last week.

Bryan Helmer, portrayed here by Ted Nugent, celebrates with his daughter.

Chris Bourque holds aloft the Calder, seemingly undamaged.

Things take an odd turn as Chris Bourque’s teammates decide the celebration must continue shirtlessly.

BONUS:  Andrew Gordon Hugs Someone’s Grandmother
RMNB reader Sarah shares her celebration story:

I’m a fan of your site and follow you on twitter. A hockey fan, I’m from the Hershey area. I was in attendance at game six and also made it to Giant Center last night for the celebration. I love that you guys got Andrew Gordon to blog for you – it’s easy to see he’s genuinely nice. Last night he proved that and did something so sweet that I felt like I should share.

Yesterday happened to be my grandmother’s 80th birthday. A long time season ticket holder, she’s one of Gordon’s biggest fans. After waiting over an hour in line to see him, not only did he sign a card saying happy birthday to her but I asked him to turn around a wave to her in the stands (as she was unable to stand and wait in line with me). He initially waved to her, but then he got up out of his chair, climbed over the boards, and got up onto the visitor’s bench to reach over to hug her. It absolutely made her day, and I was able to get a photograph of it for her to remember.

What a boy scout!  Dude is making the rest of us look terrible by comparison.  Maybe we can dig up some dirt on Gordo to even it out.  We’re hovering dangerously close to Tiger Beat territory lately.

Tonight, we had the pleasure of having our own Hershey Correspondent Kyle M. down on the ice as the Hershey Bears celebrated their 11th Championship in Franchise History. And boy did he get some great photos.

Below the jump, check out Bryan Helmer hoisting the Calder Cup, the Bourque family celebrating Chris’s MVP Award, Doug Yingst getting a champagne shower from Michal Neuvirth and Francois Bouchard losing his dang mind. The overriding theme of these photos is “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

Via his Flip Camera, Kyle M. captured the scene at Giant Center as the Hershey Bears celebrated their back-to-back titles.

Giant Center was rocking on Friday night. A crowd of 2,000+ came to GC to cheer on their beloved Bears and watch Game 5 on the big screen. By games end, it sounded more like 10,000. Thanks Alexandre Giroux.

Hershey will try and win the Calder Cup Monday in front of a crowd of nearly 11,000. Tickets for Game 6 sold out in a little under three hours.

Cumberland Valley High’s Class of 2010 Graduation Ceremony will have to wait. The Bears have some unfinished business to take care of.

• 8-2 at home
• 8-2 scoring first goal
• 7-3 allowing first goal
• 11-2 when out shooting
• 3-3 when out shot
• 2-1 leading after 1
• 3-1 leading after 2
• (6-0 leading after 3)
• 7-1 Trailing after 1
• 5-2 Trailing after 2
• 6-3 tied after 1
• 7-2 tied after 2
• 9-4 one goal games
• 2-0 two goal games
• 8-1 overtime
• And oh yeah, if the Bears are forced to play a Game 7, Hershey is 4-0 on Wednesdays.

Francois Bouchard and Mathieu Perreault do the Bears only celebrating of the night after Bouchard's second period tally. (Photo by Kyle M.)

The hockey gods must be playing a cruel trick on us. Why? Because for the first time in the postseason and the second time in 39 games this year, the Hershey Bears lost in front of their home fans at Giant Center. (And no, we weren’t there to curse them!)

Yet before you hit the panic button and start considering doomsday scenarios, we must acknowledge that this was the first time the Bears had played a game in 11 days. During that period, celebrities Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper died, May turned to June, BP ruined the entire Gulf of Mexico three times over, Team Russia was humbled in another International Tournament and Bret Michaels nearly died from a brain hemorrhage, recovered and then won Celebrity Apprentice. So rust obviously could have been a factor tonight. It’s hard to have your mojo going after that long of a layoff.

The first 30 minutes of tonight’s Calder Cup Finals exhibition played out much to that effect as both teams treated the first half of the game like a chess match. Both clubs tried desperately not make the game’s first, crucial mistake. However despite being outshot 12-2 after one period of play, the Bears were the ones to score the game’s first goal in the second period. The ever-darty and creative Mathieu Perreault found Francois Bouchard wide open in front of the Stars’ net and the Sherbrooke, Quebec native buried it past Texas Goaltender Matt Climie. Yet, Texas was unfazed. Tonight was the 11th straight game they had given up the game’s first goal and during that span they are 7-4.

5 minutes after Bouchard dented the twine, Stars’ center Greg Rallo responded by beating Michal Neuvirth glove side with a sick wrist shot from the top of the circles. Then in the third, Scott McCulloch backhanded home what turned out to be the eventual game winning goal on a semi-breakaway. As Bears’ Radio Announcer John Walton so eloquently put it, the Bears turned it on too little, too late tonight. Hershey falls 2-1. To the bullets!!

• After tonight’s loss, this is the first time that the Chocolate and White have actually trailed in a series during the postseason. Hmmm. Sleeping Giant = Awoken?
• 

  Doc in the house!

  The best The second best The third best play by play man in the NHL, Mike Emrick was in the house and dropped the ceremonial first puck. Kyle caught the scene in this awesome photo to the right.
• Just a simple request: Can someone turn off the disney channel next time they have a serious hockey interview during intermission? Poor Bob Woods.
• Not only was Elvis in the house wearing a sweet Hershey sweater, he was also frenching all ladies in sight.
• First line right winger and fan of the blog Andrew Gordon returned to the Bears lineup for the first time in four games after suffering a knee injury, and was one of the best players on the ice. He had numerous scoring opportunities in the first and second periods, and in the third, he leveled Andrew Hutchinson, the Stars’ most steady defenseman, along the dasher boards. The hit, which was deemed legal, caught Hutchinson awkwardly from the side and started a brawl that woke up the Bears during the final minutes of play.
• Despite getting the L, Michal Neuvirth was especially solid in goal making 24 saves. At times, I would even say he was spectacular. It’s like he’d be a great back-up goaltender in DC next year, no?
• One thing that seriously bugs me about the AHL is how goalies intentionally knock the net off its moorings when danger approaches. There’s never a delay of game penalty. Ever! Tonight, Matt Climie flung himself into the cage several times to get a whistle. If the AHL had more than one referee, as Corey Massisak so intelligently pointed out, maybe they could make this call consistently. But all I can say for now is: It. Drives. Me. Insane.
• Comcast Sportsnet’s Allen Pope reports that Games 3 through 5 from Texas will be shown live by Comcast. Make sure you join us Monday, Wednesday and Friday of next week to watch almost Caps hockey on TV again!!

Hershey will look to rebound and tie the series Saturday night in front of a sold out Giant Center at 7pm. We’ll talk to you then. Keep your heads up!

Bourque Scores, Bears Win. Hershey only 2 more victories away from returning to the AHL Finals. (Photos by Kyle M.)

For Game 2 of the AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Hershey Bears were in front of a sold-out and enthusiastic Saturday Night crowd of 10,726 and they did not disappoint. Chris Bourque tallied the game’s first goal with a slapshot from the right faceoff dot. The Monarchs’ Gabe Gauthier would then score back to back goals to make it 2-1. It would stay that way until the 3rd period when Hershey’s Steve Pinizzotto would score his second goal in two games and send it into overtime. That’s when the miniature-sized Chris Bourque would take in a pass from Keith Aucoin on a 2 on 1 and score short-side at 10:28 of the first OT giving Hershey their 5th playoff OT win of the year. Bourque’s (6g 12a) clutch second goal of the night also tied him for first place in the AHL Playoff Scoring Race with teammate Alexandre Giroux (10g 8a). Both have 18 points a piece and are now 1 point ahead of the Texas Stars’ Jamie Benn (who none of us have ever heard of).

Hershey now has a record of 10-1 in the playoffs and have won all 5 games that have gone into OT. The Bears will now travel to Manchester, New Hampshire and try to take a 3-0 series lead Monday.

Take a look at the rest of Kyle’s incredible photos from the game after the jump.

Here’s a photo of the first faceoff of Game 2 at the Giant Center.

Manchester Goaltender Jonathan Bernier whacks Alexandre Giroux in front of the net.

Michal Neuvirth makes one of his 31 saves on the night.

Chris Bourque’s OT Game Winner went in as the net came off its moorings behind Monarchs goaltender Jonathan Bernier, but it was determined that the net had been pushed off by Manchester defenders, allowing the goal to stand.

Michal Neuvirth and Karl Alzner, Key catalysts in tonight's game, celebrate a job well done. (Photos by Kyle M.)

It had been 12 days since the Hershey Bears last played. And tonight it only took 16 seconds for them to shake off the rust.

Sean Collins wicked shot from the point opened the scoring in Game 1 of Hershey’s Eastern Conference Finals Series against the Manchester Monarchs, and Andrew Gordon’s rebound tally on the powerplay 10 minutes later in the first period gave Hershey a 2 goal lead they’d never relinquish. Steve Pinizzotto (GWG) and Karl Alzner also chipped in with goals for the Bears on a night where they improved to 9-1 in this year’s postseason and won their 6th consecutive playoff game.

Michal Neuvirth got the start tonight and played big making 24 saves and stopping 3 breakaways. The third period was Hershey’s only bad period, as they seemed to come out of the lockerroom fatigued and a little overconfident with a 3-0 lead. The Monarchs managed to score twice and outshoot the Bears 11-6 in the period, but Karl Alzner’s late goal sealed the game for the Chocolate and White.

Hershey will now go for a 2-0 lead Saturday Night in front of their home fans at Giant Center.

Make sure to check out the other fantastic photos RMNB correspondent Kyle M. took from tonight’s game below and make sure to follow him on Twitter for all your Bears Updates.

Other Photos:

Mathieu Perreault praises God after scoring the game winning goal in OT. (Photo by The Patriot-News)

Tonight, the Hershey Bears rallied to win 5-4 in OT and swept the Albany River Rats in their second round series four games to none. With the thrilling victory, the Bears now advance to the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals for the fourth time in five years! HERSHEY RUSSIAN MACHINE NEVER BREAKS!

Left Wing Chris Bourque accumulated a third of his 15 total points in the playoffs tonight, as he scored or assisted on every Bears goal. He finished the game with 2 goals, 3 assists and 5 points. Bourque scored at 8:23 in the first period and then again 59 seconds into the second frame. However, the River Rats answered each of Bourque’s talleys with two goals of their own, and entered the third with a commanding 4-2 lead.

But the Bears battled back, just like they have all year long. Alexandre Giroux cut the Albany lead to one with just over three minutes left in regulation and then Mathieu Perreault took over. The Washington Capitals’ fan favorite scored the tying goal to force overtime, and then after only 2:23 into the extra period, the 22-year-old Quebecois ended the River Rats season and its franchise existence (Albany will relocate to Charlotte, North Carolina next year, becoming the Charlotte Checkers) with the biggest goal of his young career. The Bears win 5-4. Time to party!

Due to the frantic schedule of AHL PLayoffs, Hershey will have to wait a week to find out their opponent from the Worcester-Manchester series but they’ll be ready. John Carlson and Karl Alzner, the future #1 defensive pairing of the Washington Capitals, returned to the Bears before the game and combined to have 6 shots and an assist.

The Hershey Bears concluded a brutal stretch of four games in five mornings/nights today, as they took on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 1:00 p.m. The game, originally scheduled for 3PM, was bumped up two hours early to accommodate the Gold Medal Game between the United States and Canada.

In his first start since returning from the Russian National Team in the Olympics (and eating McDonald’s everyday), Semyon Varlamov played splendidly against the Baby Pens stopping 30 shots and thwarting three consecutive opportunities in the shootout as the Bears prevailed 2-1. After falling behind 2-0 in the shootout, clutch goals by Keith Aucoin, Alex Giroux and the previous night’s hero (more on that later) Mathieu Perreault allowed Hershey to win the shootout 3-2. Kyle Wilson scored Hershey’s lone goal of the game during regulation, despite the Bears peppering Baby Pens goalie Brad Thiessen with 33 shots. The win was Hershey’s 46th on the season.

Bruce Boudreau and Bears President Doug Yingst take in the 9-2 Beatdown (All Photos by Kyle M.)

Saturday night with Bruce Boudreau in attendence for a pregame book signing, the Hershey Bears pushed their incredible AHL Record home winning streak to 21 with a resounding 9-2 victory over the New York Islanders farm team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Hershey jumped out to a 5-1 first period lead on the heels of a first period hat trick by everyone’s favorite miniature-sized-center Mathieu Perreault.

Perreault ended the night with an incredible four goals, including one on a penalty shot in the second period. Other crazy stats accumulated during the night? Prepare yourself:

• Two lines for Hershey accumulated more than 10 points: Andrew Gordon, Keith Aucoin and Alex Giroux accounted for four goals and 11 points, while Mathieu Perreault, Chris Bourque and Steve Pinizzotto combined for five goals and 12 points.
• Steve Pinizzotto had four assists.
• Chris Bourque had a goal and three assists.
• When leading after two periods the Bears are now 35-0.
• On the season the Bears are scoring on 13% of their shots, but last night Hershey managed to score on 18% of them.
• Saturday’s total of 50 shots and four goals by Perreault were both season highs for the Chocolate and White.
• They also tied the largest margin of victory with seven goals in front of this year’s 3rd largest crowd with 10,703, Hershey’s 9th sell out this year.

I guess the little brother Hershey wants more attention.

Meanwhile, Capitals chronic-scratches Tyler Sloan and Quintin Laing played in Hershey on conditioning stints. We have the photos from Kyle M. below.

Kyle’s Photos from Saturday Night’s Bears/Tigers Game:

Bryan Helmer and his family on the ice for Post Game Jersey Auction

Captain America post game as well.

Saturday night, Braden Holtby won his 18th game of the year. Ladies begin swooning: now.

Quintin Laing on a conditioning stint with the Bears.

Tyler Sloan on conditioning stint as well.

Yes, the 9 goals and 50 shots really happened.