About Me
HERSHEY BEARS FACTS
The sport of ice hockey came to Hershey, Pennsylvania during the depths of the Depression in 1931. The first game was played on February 18, 1931, when Penn A. C. faced off against Villanova in the Convention Hall/Ice Palace. The first team to officially call Hershey its home was the Swathmore A.C., playing in the 1931-32 season. They continually played before sellout crowds. Milton S. Hershey and John B. Sollenberger then determined that hockey was here to stay. The following season, the HERSHEY B'ars joined the Amateur Hockey League and played regularly scheduled games against teams from Baltimore, Atlantic City and Philadelphia. In 1938, the BEARS officially joined the American Hockey League and have remained a fixture in the AHL for 61 consecutive seasons. At the start of the 1936 season, the B'ars were officially renamed the HERSHEY BEARS because the New York sportswriters and the Eastern Amateur League felt the name HERSHEY B'ars was too commercial. The name the "BEARS" originated from being referred to as "the Bears from Penn's Woods" when the team played at Madison Square Garden. The BEARS were also the first, on December 19, 1936; to skate onto the ice of newly built Hershey Sports Arena, now referred to as HERSHEYPARK Arena. Since that time, over seven hundred men proudly wore the HERSHEY BEARS' sweater.CALDER CUP CHAMPIONS
The HERSHEY BEARS have claimed the Calder Cup eight times in their illustrious existence. The winning tradition started when they clinched the Eastern Amateur Hockey League championships in 1935-36, 1936-37 and 1937-38 and concluded their last year in the amateurs by winning the 1937-38 National Amateur Championship. The winning continued in the American Hockey League when the BEARS won three regular season division titles and pressed on to the playoffs every season between 1938-39 and 1945-46. Finally, the BEARS brought their first Calder Cup to Hershey in 1946-47. The BEARS successfully clinched Calder Cup titles under the coaching of Don Penniston in 1946-47; Frank Mathers in 1957-58, 1958-59, 1968-69; Chuck Hamilton in 1973-74; Doug Gibson in 1979-80; John Paddock in 1987-88; and most recently Bob Hartley in 1996-97. The HERSHEY BEARS will continue to provide fans with the excitement of watching a team with a true desire to obtain the prized Calder Cup time and time again.HERSHEYPARK Arena
At the time of its construction in 1936, the Hershey Sports Arena (now known as HERSHEYPARK Arena) was the largest monolithic structure in the United States and was considered the "finest rink in America." The arena was built to accommodate the hundreds of ice hockey fans that were being turned away from the sold-out games at the Ice Palace/Convention Center. HERSHEYPARK Arena was designed and constructed by Hershey Lumber Products and is built entirely from concrete. Ten thousand bags were used on the roof alone. Amazingly, the arena was completed just eight months after ground breaking. The arched roof of the arena rests on a series of hinges, where the total weight is brought down to one point. The hinge itself rests on a lead plate which helps prevent any cracking of the reinforced concrete structure. The roof of the arena was constructed to allow for contraction and expansion in two directions. Concrete was poured continuously for all five sections; after setting fourteen days, the scaffold was lowered into place. Cold weather was almost destructive to the completion of the last section of the roof. Fortunately, designer and Lumber Products Manager, D. Paul Witmer, thought quickly enough to utilize the combination of horse manure and plenty of straw and to place it on the newly poured concrete. Aside from being the former home of the HERSHEY BEARS, HERSHEYPARK Arena has hosted the Ice Capades, Ringling Bros., Barnum and Baily Circus, as well as gigantic Christmas parties for employees of HERSHEY Estates and Hershey Chocolate Company. It has been said that there is not a bad seat in the house, offering spectators a view totally unobstructed by pillars. The arena has been refurbished and new seats have been added since its construction in 1936.
