- Ovechkin made a surprise appearance at Giant Center for Game 2 of the Atlantic Division First Round
- The Bears won 5-2 to sweep Bridgeport out of the Calder Cup Playoffs and out of existence
- Read below for reactions from Andrew Cristall, Sam Bitten, and head coach Derek King
Ovechkin got the Hershey Bears fired up just by showing up.
The Capitals captain made a surprise visit to Giant Center on Thursday night for Game 2 of the Bears’ Atlantic Division First Round series against the Bridgeport Islanders, per RMNB. Ovechkin sat in a suite above section 107 with Aliaksei Protas, a Calder Cup champion in Hershey back in 2023, who was there to watch his younger brother Ilya.
Hershey pounced on the energy.
The Bears torched Bridgeport 5-2 to sweep the best-of-three series. The Islanders are relocating to Hamilton, Ontario next season, so Thursday also closed the franchise’s book. Andrew Cristall scored twice, and Sam Bitten broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and took home the team’s firefighter helmet as Players’ MVP.
Cristall said playing in front of the greatest goal scorer in history gave the room a jolt.
“It’s pretty cool,” Cristall said after the win. “It’s the greatest goal scorer of all time, watching you play. I was joking with Pro, I think he knew before that he was going to be at the game, so I was like, now I know why you had so much energy to go right from the start.”
The Bears greeted Ovi with bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in the luxury box, and fans roared when he was announced during the first TV timeout. Ovechkin even pulled off the team’s ROAR celebration, wearing a Hershey Bears jacket over an Air Jordan shirt.
Sam Bitten took it a step further when he accepted his MVP honors.
“As I got the Player of the Game, I mentioned that Big O, he needs to come back every game now,” Bitten said. “It was nice to see him and meet him for the first time.”
Bears head coach Derek King had a bigger ask in mind.
“I was hoping we were signing him to a PTO or something like that, and get him in the lineup or at least take warm-up,” King quipped. “That just says a lot about the guy.”
Ovechkin hadn’t set foot in Hershey since 2005, when the Capitals played a preseason game against the Penguins ahead of his rookie season. He recently left the door open on his NHL future after potentially playing his last game in Washington’s first-round exit to Pittsburgh.
The Bears, meanwhile, roll on to the Atlantic Division Semifinals.
