The Hershey Bears weren’t always the Hershey Bears. When chocolate magnate Milton Hershey – the team’s founder, as well as the founder of Hershey park – founded the team in 1932, he called them the “Hershey B’ars.” They also played briefly under the moniker “Chocolate B’ars” – get it? It wasn’t until 1936 that the team took on its current name, in response to complaints that former name seemed like too much of an advertisement for Hershey’s chocolate. The relationship between professional sports and advertising easily recovered.
The Hershey Bears’ home rink wasn’t always so giant. Today the Bears play at GIANT Center, and before that they played at the Hersheypark Arena. But before that, they played at the Ice Palace, on a rink of only 60 by 170 feet. That didn’t sit well with Milton Hershey: A stadium was needed, he thought. He built the Hershey Sports Arena, and the Bears played their first game there in 1936.
The Washington Capitals aren’t the Hershey Bears’ first NHL affiliation. The Hershey Bears have previously been affiliated with the Boston Bruins, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Colorado Avalanche, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres. The Bears get around.
The Hershey Bears share the top spot for consecutive Calder Cup playoff series wins. In 2007, the Bears tied for consecutive series wins with the Springfield Indians. Sadly, the Hamilton Bulldogs took the cup that year, preventing the Bears from shattering the record.
The Hershey Bears once belonged to a league that had American teams, but no Canadian teams. This wouldn’t be a big deal if the name of the league hadn’t been the Canadian-American Hockey League. Member teams agreed to rename it the International-American Hockey League in 1938, then hastily renamed it again in 1940 when they realized there still weren’t any Canadian teams involved. It was either that, or let Ontario annex Cleveland, and nobody wanted that. Least of all the Canadians.
Even in the 1930s, Hockey fans were rough around the edges. During the 1936 grand opening of the Hershey Bears former playing rink, the Hershey Sports Arena, figure skater Evelyn Chandler received a standing ovation – when she fell down while attempting a spiral.
