Hershey Bears

Lore & Background

The origins of Hershey hockey date to amateur matches in 1931 at the Hershey Ice Palace. Chocolate manufacturer Milton S. Hershey established the Hershey Hockey Club in 1932, which first iced the amateur Hershey B'ars in the Tri-State Hockey League. The team later played in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League as the Chocolate B'ars, B'ars, and finally as the Hershey Bears from 1936, a name adopted after criticism that the 'B'ars' moniker was too commercial. The Bears moved into Hersheypark Arena in 1936 and played there for 66 seasons before moving to Giant Center in 2002.

The Bears joined the International-American Hockey League (renamed the AHL in 1940) in 1938, replacing the defunct Buffalo Bisons. Defenseman Hank Lauzon was the first player signed to the new Bears. Under coach Herb Mitchell, the Bears won the West Division in their first season. The Bears won their first Calder Cup in 1947 under coach Don Penniston. Notable players include Arnie Kullman, who played 753 games for Hershey, and Wally Kilrea, who set a club scoring record of 99 points in 1942–43.

Reader's Guide

The Hershey Bears are the most successful franchise in AHL history, with 13 Calder Cup championships, more than any other team. Their longevity is unmatched: they have continuously operated in Hershey since the league's fully merged inaugural season in 1938, making them the only original AHL club to remain in its original city. The Bears have served as the primary development club for the NHL's Washington Capitals since 2005–06. The organization, now called the Hershey Bears Hockey Club, is a subsidiary of the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company, itself part of the Hershey Trust Company. The team's history includes a 1937 EAHL championship and participation in an international tournament in Toronto. Gordie Howe once remarked, 'Everybody who is anybody in hockey has played in Hershey,' though he himself did not play there.

Did You Know?

• The Hershey Bears have won 13 Calder Cups, the most of any AHL team.
• The team has played in Hershey, Pennsylvania, since the 1938–39 season, the longest continuous tenure of any AHL club in its original city.

Roots in Penn's Woods

The story of Hershey hockey begins not with a pro team but with college clubs. On February 18, 1931, Penn A.C. and Villanova University laced up for the first formal hockey game ever played in the town, inside the 1,900-seat Hershey Ice Palace. The buzz from those amateur matchups caught the eye of chocolate magnate Milton S. Hershey and his entertainment chief John B. Sollenberger, who decided to sponsor a permanent pro outfit. In 1932, Hershey founded what is now the Hershey Bears Hockey Club, making it the oldest continuously operating professional ice hockey management organization in North America outside the NHL's Original Six. The first team iced was the amateur Hershey B'ars in the Tri-State Hockey League. Over the next few seasons, the moniker shifted — "Chocolate B'ars," then simply "B'ars" — before New York sportswriters and league officials pressured the club to drop the commercial-sounding name. By 1936, the team was officially the Hershey Bears, a name that has endured for nearly a century. The club remains a subsidiary of the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company, the hospitality arm of the Hershey Trust Company.

A Dynasty of Calder Cups

Few professional sports franchises can boast what the Bears have: thirteen Calder Cup championships, the most of any team in American Hockey League history. Their most recent triumph came in 2024, capping a streak of excellence that stretches back to the league's earliest days. The Bears have been a member of the AHL (or its predecessor organizations) since the 1938–39 season, and they hold the distinction of being the longest continuously operating member club still playing in its original city. That longevity has made Hershey a pilgrimage site for players across generations. Gordie Howe, enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 and widely known as "Mr. Hockey," captured the town's reputation with a line that has echoed through the sport: "Everybody who is anybody in hockey has played in Hershey." The irony that Howe himself never suited up for the Bears only makes the quote more memorable. Now in its ninth decade of operation, the organization has fielded four teams across three professional leagues, a breadth of experience that few rivals can match.

Three Arenas, One Town

The physical home of Hershey hockey has evolved across three distinct venues, each telling a chapter of the club's story. It all started in the Hershey Ice Palace, a modest 1,900-seat rink where the first-ever Hershey hockey game was played in 1931. When the EAHL Bears moved into the newly built Hersheypark Arena in December 1936 — a 7,286-seat facility constructed right next door to the older venue — the team gained a proper professional home. Over the following 66 seasons, Bears teams played a staggering 2,280 regular-season and playoff games at that arena, which served as the town's hockey headquarters from 1936 through 2002. In 2002, the club transitioned to Giant Center, located less than half a mile west of the old arena. Hersheypark Arena was not abandoned; it was repurposed as the Bears' practice facility, keeping the two venues linked in daily operations. The original Ice Palace, meanwhile, had already hosted the EAHL Bears from 1936 to 1938 before giving way to its larger neighbor. This layered geography — old rink, practice space, and current home — gives Hershey a hockey landscape unlike any other small town in North America.

From Local Rink to NHL Pipeline

The Bears' role in the broader hockey ecosystem has grown dramatically over the decades. Since the 2005–06 season, the organization has served as the primary development club for the NHL's Washington Capitals, funneling young talent into one of the league's most competitive franchises. That relationship builds on a foundation laid in 1938, when the newly merged International-American Hockey League (which became the AHL in 1940) granted Hershey an expansion franchise, slotting the Bears into the West Division in place of the defunct Buffalo Bisons. Even before that, the club had made international noise: in 1937, the EAHL Bears traveled to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto for a CAHA-organized world amateur championship tournament, competing against the Sudbury Tigers, Winnipeg Monarchs, and Wembley Lions in a double round-robin format. Though the series was cut short by poor attendance and the Hershey-Winnipeg game was cancelled, the Bears' participation in that early international showcase underscored how quickly a small Pennsylvania town had become a recognized name in the sport.

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