posted by Hershey Bears on Apr 3
Posted by Hershey Bears
Cory Conacher is the most prolific player for the league’s most dominant team.
It has been a remarkable regular season for the Norfolk Admirals.
They fashioned an AHL-record winning streak and will finish with the league’s top record.
Expect that success to be reflected by the AHL’s 2011-12 postseason awards.
The Hershey Bears media corps compiled our collective postseason awards ballot on Sunday.
Here are my personal, Norfolk-flavored awards choices. Please note that we are not allowed to vote for any Bears.
Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award (outstanding rookie): Cory Conacher, Norfolk.
The winger is the runaway scoring leader among rookies. His closest pursuer is teammate Tyler Johnson.
Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award (outstanding goaltender): Ben Bishop, Binghamton Senators/Peoria Rivermen.
Bishop, traded to the Ottawa Senators organization during the
season, owns the AHL’s top save percentage (.930) among goalies who have
made more than 30 appearances. He’s fourth in goals-against average
(2.27) and third in wins (26-15-0).
Eddie Shore Award (outstanding defenseman): Mark Barberio, Norfolk.
Barberio is the AHL’s top-scoring defenseman. And Norfolk has allowed the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference.
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award (outstanding coach): Jon Cooper, Norfolk.
I expected the Admirals to be a playoff team, but not a runaway
freight train. And Cooper has six rookies playing major roles.
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award (sportsmanship, determination,
dedication to hockey): Ryan Craig, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The 30-year-old captain of the Baby Pens has been a class act
and a leader everywhere he’s been during a nine-year pro career. He was a rookie in Hershey in 2003-04.
Les Cunningham Award (MVP): Conacher.
The most prolific player for the league’s most dominant team.
Conacher ranks second in AHL scoring to Hershey’s Chris Bourque, who is
also an MVP contender.
ADMIRABLE MAN
Joel RechliczAs a kid growing up in Wisconsin, Bears tough-guy winger Joel Rechlicz used to attend Milwaukee Admirals games.
“I just looked up to those guys,” Rechlicz said Tuesday. “I
thought they were the greatest in the world. I wanted to be like them,
and now here I am today an American Hockey League player.”
Rechlicz was named Hershey’s IOA/American Specialty Man of the
Year for his contributions to the Hershey community in 2011-12. The
team’s leader in penalty minutes (235) attributes his civic spirit to
his youthful memories of the Admirals and wanting to be a player who
could be admired like he admired them.
“When you see kids, you’ve got to give back because they’re the
future and everything,” Rechlicz said. “That’s, I guess, how to explain
it the best. You want to take your time. The kids all look up to you as
role models, so you’ve got to make sure that you’re a pro off the ice
and on the ice.
“Everything you do is shadowed by the kids, so you’ve got to
make sure you’re setting a good example. I know I’ve got a job to do on
the ice. But, at the same time, I like to tell them off the ice that
fighting is not a part of the game. It’s about them becoming better
hockey players.”
Bears broadcaster and media relations manager Scott Stuccio has
worked closely with Rechlicz in his charitable endeavors.
“He’s got the infectious laugh and personality,” Stuccio said.
“It stands out above anybody that I’ve known in terms of the [enforcer]
role that he has on the ice. It’s totally, totally opposite.
“He tends to get on the bad side of other fans because of his
role with the Bears. But he has done nothing short of using all of his
time and more to dedicate it to the community. The guy never says no to a
request of anything — time of day, time of night, day of the week, day
off. He’s always been there.”
The honor makes Rechlicz one of 30 league finalists for the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as the AHL’s Man of the Year.
“I just want to thank everybody in the organization that has
helped me out and all the fans and the kids,” Rechlicz said. “It’s a
great honor, and I’m very lucky and fortunate.”
READY FREDDY
Retired Bears goalie Frederic Cassivi filled in for absent Matt Tendler
at practice Tuesday. Tendler, who had to fulfill some academic
obligations at Neumann University, is scheduled to return Wednesday.
Cassivi said he felt out of shape. The 36-year-old last wore his pads in
March of 2011 when he practiced with the ECHL’s Reading Royals.
“For the shots, I felt all right,” said Cassivi, who reported back to work as a Wells Fargo financial advisor Tuesday afternoon. “It’s just my feet are
slow. It’s a matter of not having the goalie gear on for a year. Plus,
another 25 pounds more than I used to [weigh]. Plus, my legs were tired
after three minutes out there. A little slow with my feet, but it was
fun. I enjoyed it.”
