The Hershey Bears defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-0 during Saturday's matchup, but it was the first goal that was most memorable.
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby's goal set off the annual Teddy Bear Toss for the Washington Capitals' AHL affiliate in which fans throw stuffed teddy bears onto the ice. There was a lengthy delay as players on the Bears dove into the piles of stuffed animals in celebration.
It ended up being a world-record celebration, as fans threw 52,341 stuffed animals onto the ice:
Chris Mautner of Penn Live noted the previous record was 45,650 from the 2019 Teddy Bear Toss game.
The annual tradition calls for fans to bring the stuffed animals to the game and throw them onto the ice after the Bears' first goal. They are then collected and donated to local organizations.
Former AHL coach Clark Donatelli has been indicted on four counts of sexual assault for allegedly touching the breast and vagina of Erin Skalde, the wife of Donatelli's former assistant coach Jarrod Skalde, in 2018, per Katie Strang of The Athletic.
At the time, Donatelli was head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, an AHL affiliate for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The indictment was issued by a Rhode Island grand jury in July, but he wasn't arraigned until Nov. 10 after he returned to the United States from Germany, where he had been coaching.
The report was filed by Erin Skalde, who has consented to be identified.
Skalde reportedly told the police that "Donatelli grabbed her breast and shoved his hand down her pants while Skalde, her husband and Donatelli went out together following a road game against the Providence Bruins," per Strang.
Skalde had also told Penguins officials of the alleged assault in June 2019, leading to Donatelli's departure from the organization. A lawsuit against the team also alleged the coach was a "serial harasser" who assaulted "numerous women."
The Penguins reached an undisclosed settlement with Erin and Jarrod Skalde last week.
"We are pleased to announce the resolution of the matter involving Erin Skalde and the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, which has come to a satisfactory conclusion for all parties involved," Erin Skalde’s attorneys, Gina A. DeBoni and Jason J. Friedl, said in a statement Tuesday. "We appreciate the collaboration the team has shown in acknowledging the concerns of our client."
Donatelli was released on a $10,000 bond and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing in December.
The American Hockey League has created a path for women to one day officiate in the NHL.
Ten women are on the roster to officiate AHL contests during the 2021-22 season, the league told ESPN's Emily Kaplan. Katie Guay will get the first assignment, refereeing Saturday's matchup between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The women have officiating experience across all levels, including the Olympics and World Championships, in men's and women's college hockey and in NHL prospect tournaments.
In addition to Guay, Kelly Cook, Samantha Hiller, Jacqueline Zee Howard, Elizabeth Mantha, Amanda Tassoni and Laura White will appear as AHL referees this season. Alexandra Clarke, Kendall Hanley and Kirsten Welsh will serve as lineswomen.
"It's time," AHL President Scott Howson told ESPN. "We're a development league, so it's time to give these women a chance and let them advance their careers. I think it's great for our fans to see it. The example that these women are setting for young women all over the world is that sports is wide-open for everybody really at all positions."
The AHL's announcement of women officiating games during the 2021-22 season comes as no surprise. TSN's Darren Dreger reported last month that it was "very likely" women would be refereeing games this year.
Guay grew up playing hockey in Western Massachusetts and went on to play Division I hockey at Brown University. She got into officiating when her college career was over and told Sports Illustrated Kids in a 2019 interview that she wished she began refereeing games sooner.
There is no timeline for an AHL official to be promoted to the NHL, according to Kaplan.
The American Hockey League canceled the remainder of its 2019-20 season and the Calder Cup Playoffs Monday due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“After a lengthy review process, the American Hockey League has determined that the resumption and completion of the 2019-20 season is not feasible in light of current conditions," AHL
President David Andrews said in a statement. "The League’s operational focus has turned toward actively preparing for the 2020-21 season.
"We are very grateful to the National Hockey League and its teams for their support and leadership in navigating through the challenges faced over the past two months. The AHL continues to place paramount importance on the health and safety of our players, officials, staff and fans and all of their families, and we all look forward to returning to our arenas in 2020-21.”
The AHL indefinitely suspended its season March 12 as major team sports across the country shut down due to the pandemic. This is the first time in the AHL's 84-year history no champion has been crowned.
The ECHL, one of the NHL's other minor league systems, already canceled the remainder of its season in March.
If the NHL resumes its season, it is possible some AHL players are called up as part of an expanded roster. The NHL has not given a timetable for a potential return to the ice, as it is heeding the advice of medical professionals.
Resuming the NHL season may be more difficult than MLB or the NBA given the proliferation of Canadian players. The border between Canada and the United States is currently closed.
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms beat the Charlotte Checkers 2-1 in five overtimes Wednesday at Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the longest game in the 82-year history of the AHL.
The contest lasted six hours before Alex Krushelnyski scored early Thursday morning at the 6 minutes and 48 seconds into the fifth overtime, as seen in the following video courtesy of the AHL:
Lehigh Valley's win gave it a 3-1 series lead over Charlotte in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
The most impressive performance was delivered by Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon, who stopped 94 of the 95 shots he faced.
According to ESPN.com, Lyon recorded the second-most saves ever in an AHL game.
The previous record for the longest game also included the Phantoms (then known as the Philadelphia Phantoms), who defeated the Albany River Rats 3-2 in a 2008 first-round playoff game that ended 2 minutes and 58 seconds into a fifth period of overtime.
After a heartbreaking loss, Charlotte will look to keep its Calder Cup hopes alive when it hosts Lehigh Valley in Game 5 on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
Line brawls happen from time to time in hockey, but it's not every day when coaches get involved in the action.
That was the case, however, during Saturday's American Hockey League game between the Albany Devils (a New Jersey Devils affiliate) and Bridgeport Sound Tigers (a New York Islanders affiliate), which got so out of hand that there was even action on the benches.
Tempers flared in the final minute of the second period when, according to the Sound Tigers' official website, the Devils looked to get even for a hit the referees let slide. It was just a mild scrum at first, but once the action heated up, the referees had their hands full.
While the players fought on the ice, coaches on the bench had to be restrained. A couple ended up getting ejected:
Once order was restored, the referees decided to end the period and send the teams to their respective locker rooms for intermission. They finished the second period after the break—but not without more fighting.
A second line brawl broke out around 20 seconds of game time after the first one. And the penalties piled up.
Let's take a look at the stats:
There is a chance the Devils and Sound Tigers meet in the first round of the playoffs, depending on the results of Sunday's games.
[YouTube, Twitter; h/t CBS Sports]
Everyone knows that hockey players are tough.
And apparently that toughness can extend into the stands, as one young hockey fan could attest to this past weekend.
On Sunday, five-year-old James Evans went to the AT&T Center to watch his San Antonio Rampage host the Texas Stars. Unfortunately, the trip to the game led to a trip to the emergency room when the youngster got hit in the head by a puck.
But as a true hockey lover, James only had one concern as he was getting treated at the hospital: getting back to the game.
A few staples, and he was back at the arena. Good luck finding someone tougher than that.
Some may let a situation like that deter them from attending future games, but according to Madalyn Mendoza of MySanAntonio.com, the Evans family sees the accident as exactly that—an accident.
Was it worth going back to the arena? You bet it was. The Rampage pulled out a 3-2 overtime victory against the Stars. And you better believe James is keeping his bloodied shirt as a memento of his toughness.
As long as Bud Holloway is on the ice, the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League can afford to pull their goalie to bring on an extra skater.
Because Holloway has the net on lockdown.
During Saturday night's game against the Binghamton Senators, Holloway made what should go down as the best save of the year. He went from center to Superman in the blink of an eye.
When the Senators' Cole Schneider took a shot at the empty net, Holloway dove to swat the puck away with his stick. Goal denied.
The IceCaps lost 4-1. But even if it came in a losing effort, this save is worthy of being on highlight reels for years to come.
[SJIceCapsAHL, h/t Deadspin]
Providence Bruins goalie and Boston Bruins prospect Malcolm Subban was struck in the throat by a puck during warm-ups before the game against the Portland Pirates on Feb. 7 and has been diagnosed with a fractured larynx, the team announced in a statement. He underwent surgery and it is unknown when he will return to the ice.
Continue for updates.
The Bruins provided an update on Subban's surgery and timetable to return:
"Malcolm underwent successful surgery on February 8 at Mass Eye & Ear Hospital in Boston to repair his larynx fracture. He is doing well and has been released from the hospital. While there is no definitive timetable for his return at this time, he is expected to be out a minimum of eight weeks."
According to the Bruins' statement, Subban will be out indefinitely.
Malcolm, the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens star P.K. Subban, sent a picture to fans after being admitted to the hospital:
"He's a Subban," P.K. said Sunday, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston. "We're built tough."
A first-round pick by the Bruins in the 2012 draft, Malcolm has made one NHL appearance to date. In the February 2015 tilt against the St. Louis Blues, Subban saved three of six shots while allowing three goals and picking up the loss.
