Hershey Bears Win The Calder Cup On Mike Vecchione’s Overtime Goal

(CTN News) – He led the Hershey Bears to their first Calder Cup championship since 2010 with a game-winning goal at 16:19 of overtime in Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals, which was scored by former Union College men’s hockey captain Mike Vecchione ’17.

Recap of the Hershey Bears game

In his first year in the Division I era of Union, Vecchione becomes the second alumnus from Union to win the Calder Cup.

With his induction, he joins fellow Union Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Steve Baker ’85, who tended the goal for Union from 1975-78 and later won the Calder Cup with the Maine Mariners in 1984.

Congratulations to Mike and the Hershey Bears on their success in winning the Calder Cup,” said head coach Josh Hauge in a statement.

“I could not be prouder of him. He represents our program in an excellent way. Seeing him grow from when I first met him as a junior to winning not only a national title, but now a Calder Cup, is something I will always cherish.”

He skated in all 20 playoff games for the Hershey Bears, scoring five goals and adding three assists for an eight-point performance.

A former Union player, Vecchione is one of three former Union players to appear in the Calder Cup Finals, along with Baker (New Haven Nighthawks, 1979, and Maine Mariners, 1984), and Daniel Carr ’14 (Chicago Wolves, 2019).

The Hershey Bears are an AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals, and they dropped the first two games of the series to Coachella Valley before Hershey went on a three game winning streak to take a 3-2 series lead.

With two goals and an assist on the game-winner in game four, Vecchione played a pivotal role in evening the series.
As a first-year affiliate of the Seattle Kraken, the Firebirds forced the series to go to seven games after winning game six in California by a score of 5-2.

A two-goal lead had been built by Coachella Valley before Hershey scored a goal to tie the game in the final game to force overtime.

As a result of this championship, the Hershey Bears have captured the 12th Calder Cup in the American Hockey League, the most in the league’s history.

SEE ALSO:

Celtics Trade Marcus Smart To Memphis, Get Kristaps Porzingis From Wizards