The Hershey Bears

Book excerpt: Hershey, Pennsylvania, and hockey have been synonymous since the early 1930s. The small town Milton S. Hershey made famous with chocolate has also earned a place of honor on the sports map with its tradition-rich hockey club, the Hershey Bears. The Bears, eight-time winners of the Calder Cup, established an unparalleled puck legacy in the twentieth century. They continue to etch ice history in the twenty-first century at Giant Center. The Hershey Bears: Sweet Seasons tells the story of the oldest and most celebrated franchise in American Hockey League history. Venerable Hersheypark Arena opened on December 19, 1936, and the Bears played their last game there in 2002. With steeply graded seats and unobstructed views, the more than seven-thousand-seat arena was regarded by many as the best facility ever built for watching hockey. Lloyd Blinco, Arnie Kullman, Frank Mathers, Willie Marshall, Ralph Keller, Tim Tookey, and Mitch Lamoureux are a small fraction of the line of great players and coaches spanning more than seven decades who have earned hockey immortality in Hershey.